sunhat | Little Button Diaries

Oh dear me…I’m ashamed to say that my little one got a bit of a burnt head the other day! It was only a tiny bit… but I feel very guilty. So to make up for it, I decided to make her a nice new sunhat. I find the ones in the shops are all a bit samey and boring. This one is bright, reversible and SO easy to make (so easy in fact that I made two). I found a really lovely tutorial and template here on www.purlbee.com.

This hat is to fit a baby aged 0-3 months.

You will need:
2 contrasting pieces of fabric (about a fat 1/4 of each)
Iron on interfacing
Bias binding
Ribbon
Sewing machine

1) begin by printing out Purlbee’s brilliant template (available here). Cut 4 dome pieces from the outer fabric and 4 from the lining. Then cut the rim pieces – two of each from the outer fabric, lining and interfacing, as shown below.

2) Put the outer pieces together in pairs, right sides together. Pin and sew along one side with a 1/4 inch seam allowance (which will be the allowance for the whole project). Open out and press with the iron. Pin the sewn pieces right sides together and sew all the way round the curved edge to create the basic hat shape. NB its a good idea to test this out on your child at this point, bearing in mind that the finished hat will be smaller still. But if it doesn’t fit now… you want to know NOW!

3) repeat the above process with the lining pieces, so that you have two domes.

4) Attach the interfacing by pressing with the iron onto the outer rim pieces. Then pin these, right sides together, along the flat edges and sew. Press flat.

5) Attach to the hat by pinning the inside of the rim to the edge of the dome, right sides together (bit confusing… see the pic below!). Sew in place. Repeat the process with the lining BUT this time, attach the ribbons along the seam before sewing, as below.

6) Now to attach the inner and outer pieces. Place each piece wrong side together and sew a small stitch at the very top centre of the hat to hold in place. Now, lining the seams up, pin the rim pieces together. Sew along the inside of the rim.

7) Finally, attach the bias binding by pinning all the way along the rim as below. Sew, fold over and sew once more. If you haven’t used binding before there are some great Youtube tutorials that can explain the process way more clearly than my brain is capable!