Fleece Hat for Kids

So it was a balmy -10 here this morning, and we are pulling out all our hats, scarves, and gloves just in case (for some reason) we have to go outside in the next week. It might warm up to freezing on Tuesday (yay!). When it comes to cozy hats, fleece is the best! You don't have to hem, it's stretchy and forgiving, and warm and cozy. I've made a lot of fleece kids hats, but this by far is the fastest and easiest method. You can sew up a bunch of fleece hats in almost no time, and have a great handmade gift. I used a sewing machine for parts of this, but you could easily make these without one. Here's the quick run down:

For this mistletoe hat I used mostly grey fleece, with a little bit of army green for the brim and accents. You should be able to make 3 hats out of a yard of fleece. If you want to use an accent color, like I did, also get a quarter yard of a complementing color.  

You can measure your kiddo's head for a perfect fit (just add 1 inch to the circumference for seam allowance), or use these measurements as a guideline:

For kids 4/5: cut a rectangle 22.5" long and 12" tall, + a strip (other color) 22.5" long and 1.5" tall. 

For size 18mo.- 3T:   21.5" x 11"+ strip: 21.5" x 1.5"

For size 12 mo: 19.5" x 9.5"+ strip: 19.5" x 1"

* make sure to cut your fleece so that it stretches side to side, not up and down. Stretch to check, then cut. : )

- If you want to sew on mistletoe or another design, do that first. I just hand-stiched on the leaves. 

- Flip it over and sew the colored strip to the bottom inside. 

- Flip the strip down, fold right side (mistletoe) in, then sew the two grey sides together. (This might feel wrong because your brim seam will be on the "right side" of the hat, but it works out once you roll up the brim at the end.)

- Flip the hat right side out.

- Fold the bottom over to form the brim. Now your seam is back on the inside, see I told you it'd work out. : ) 

- Starting at the back seam, hand stitch, two inches from the top with a large running stitch. 

- When you get back to the seam, pull to gather the top. 

- Then sew around again going though two folds at a time, pulling tightly, then back and forth through the middle, to really secure it. 

- Knot and trim thread when finished. 

Almost done...Now just clip the top into 1/2 inch strips all the way around. Make sure you don't cut too far and snip your gathering stitches. 

And you are done! I added some buttons for berries and a little bit of bakers twine to tie the mistletoe branch. Add an easy (and reversible!) kid scarf (find the tutorial here), and you are ready for caroling and Christmas parades!

 Thanks for reading!
- Haley


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