«

»

Baby Boy Bucket Sunhat: A Tutorial

Categories:

Children and Babies, Make, Sewing

09/01/2011

A few months ago I posted a tutorial for a baby sunhat, which is a very simple pattern for that little noggin.  But for creativity and variety, I decided to modify the sunhat for my 8 month old.  Sunhats look a bit girly on him, so I incorporated the bucket hat look with a sunbrim.  This brim is lined with felt to provide a sturdy rim that will stay ridged to shady baby’s face from the sun.

I am a visual learner, so I’ve got a little more fancy with the tutorial pictures to help speed you along.  You may choose whatever combo of fabrics you like.  I am using the sailor print for the cap and inside of the brim and the royal blue for the outside of the brim. Measure your baby’s head at the widest point and then bust out the calculator.  This measurement is the basis for the rest of your hat pattern.

Cut out your pieces (see pictures for sizing).  Basically, you need to employ elementary math (pi and division oh fun!) Kitty will show you how it’s done:

Next take your top hat piece and the band and sew them together wrong sides facing out.  Sew the edges of the band together as well so you have a complete circle.  When sewing the band to the top circle, you may need to tuck at a few spots evenly through the stich so that the edges match up, as the circumference of the top piece is going to be smaller than that of the band.

When you turn it right side out it will look like this.

Then take your brim pieces and lay them wrong sides facing and sew the outside edge.

Cut the extra fabric off this edge so you get a tight turn when you turn the fabric right side out.

Then sew or serge the edges together.  Be careful not to sew them TOGETHER, because you want to turn this all right side out.

Ok, so you turn it right side out and it looks like this:

On the side you want to be the top of the brim, sew with a straight stitch around the brim in circles like this with contrasting thread.  This is both cute and makes the brim more ridged.

Next pin the brim to the cap piece so your stitching will be on the inside.  Sew the pieces together and your done!

Thank you Ann for the CraftGossip.com repost!

facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterest
  • Pamela

    I love the pi! It is so expensive to buy patterns, it’s great to find something that I can make a pattern out of myself :) Thanks!

  • Susanne

    That’s a good idea to combine the bucket hat top with a sunhat brim, it looks more “boyish” than the sunhats usually do :)

  • Pamela

    Love the print! Where did you find that?

  • Barb

    Cute baby! He looks so grown up in that polo :) I started following your blog, thanks!

  • Nicole

    haha! does your cat lay on your fabrics while you try to work like mine?

  • Fotomichelle

    Very nice tutorial! One question and maybe I missed it somewhere but what is the width for the hat band? I see the length is circumference plus 1″ but no width. Thanks!

  • LibMindcom

    The print was actually a Joanne Fabrics find!

  • LibMindcom

    Great point! I didn’t realize that wasn’t included in my goofy drawings :) The hat band width I used was 3″. This seemed to be a great height for a 8-10 month old head size, but you would want to increase the height as the hat size gets bigger. My guess is that 1/2 inch-1 inch more than the brim width would work nicely.

  • http://savingbymaking.com/ Diana

    Thank you! I was looking for a pattern that didn’t use the 4 rounded-triangle pieces (like the sunhat was), and now I don’t have to make up my own! Can’t wait to get sewing–my little guy needs a hat!! :)

  • http://savingbymaking.com/ Diana

    Yay! Loved it! I would NOT recommend making the band any narrower than 3″, even if your child is younger than 8-10 months. I made mine 2.5″ and it’s definitely too narrow. I posted my modifications to your method but linked back here…hope that’s ok! :)

  • LibMindcom

    Totally, I’m pretty sure she thinks I lay them out just for her royal highness to lay upon :)

  • LibMindcom

    Diana, thanks for the update after you made a hat! Thanks for the link back too! A 3″ band would definately give you more sun coverage for baby, I may have been a bit short on that, but then again I did stitch dangerously close to the edge of my fabric before doing the brim inside out turn. :)

  • Mizzie52

    I am want to make one for my grandson but what is the seam allowance .

  • LibMindcom

    Depends on your sewing style and how close you like to stitch to the edge, but I think 1/2 inch would be a good place to start. :)

  • Emma

    Love this tutorial! Quick question though. Have you included seam allowance in the pattern or does it need to be added? Made a hat for my son last night but it has come up too small. Could be my measuring of his head of course! Aside from that I love the hat and was amazed how simple the tutorial was to follow, thank you! :)

  • LibMindcom

    I’ve had that question asked a few times, so I suppose I should just update the post, right? :) I actually stitched really really close to the edges, so I used like a 1/8 inch seam allowance, but I have been telling people to use 1/4 to 1/2 depending on your sewing style. For the pieces that turn inside out, I stitched really close to the edge of the fabric and then for the other sections where the seam was on the inside, I used a serger, so I didn’t need much seam allowance. Adjust as you need to. I found that when making these little hats, the smallest measurement change can translate to a big fit difference in the final product – because everything is so tiny! Also, some people have tried this pattern and like a wider brim, but that is all up to you.