HATS & NECK WRAP

There are four hat patterns in the Sewgirl collection:

BROMPTON Military Style Hat,

CHELSEA GIRL Hat,

BRIGHTON Hat and

LE CHIC BERET.

BRIGHTON HAT

CHELSEA GIRL HAT

BROMPTON MILTARY STYLE HAT

LE CHIC BERET

ALSO A WRAP SCARF AND BAGUETTE PURSE TO MATCH YOUR HAT !

I really love making hats! Tweed ones or cotton prints, denim and velvet or needlecord, a hat is an all year round wardrobe essential for any occasion and time of the year.

This blog will show you some of the step by steps to give you an idea about whats involved. To buy any of the patterns, please click any of the Etsy shop links.

BUY HAT PATTERN

BUY NECK WRAP & PURSE PATTERN

Sewgirl hat patterns are available either as a PDF digital downloads or as a paper pattern (link above to my Etsy shop). All hats can be made in sizes small, medium or large. To measure around your head , extend a tape measure around your forehead and above your ears.

measure your head for size: SMALL = 55cm, MEDIUM = 57cm, LARGE = 59cm

Suitable for sewists with some previous experience

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: tailor’s ham, pinking shears, pins / quilter’s clips, stitch ripper and a poking tool.
Insert a walking foot attachment on your machine if you have one, which will make it easier to sew.

**A walking foot makes bulky** **layers so much easier to sew.**

HOW TO MAKE THE BRIGHTON HAT

Winter version of Brighton Hat, for the rosette brooch pattern scroll down

BUY BRIGHTON HAT PATTERN

Sew together the Side band and Brim outer and lining pieces.

With the RST, pin the Brim outer and Brim lining together at the outer edge. Sew.

Turn the Brim inside out. Press. Pin all around at the inner edge. Zig zag together the inner raw edges all around.

Now for the fun bit…… Stitch lines all around the brim, this helps to stiffen it and it looks good too!

You need about 5 lines, for the small brim and 7 for the large brim, 1cm apart from each other.

Repeat for the outer fabric and the lining.

Pin or clip the lining cap on top of the brim/outer cap piece.
Tip: if you are finding that your brim doesn’t fit and that the crown edge is puckering- snip small Vs into the Brim raw edge only within the seam allowance every 2cm approx. Mark a point at four equal points of the hat brim and crown raw edge, starting with the back seam and match them up. Be forceful and ease the brim to make it fit.

Stitch rip a small opening in the Side Band seam. Turn inside out through the opening.

HOW TO MAKE A ROSETTE

From the left over hat outer fabric, cut a circle approx 18cm (7″) in diameter. Machine tack 6mm (1/4″) in from the outer edge all around with the longest stitch length setting, leaving long thread ends.

Pull the thread ends to gather up the rosette. Stitch to secure. Sew on a lovely large (vintage) button to hide the raw edges.

Attach a brooch pin on the reverse side positioned centrally with a few hand stitches.

Pin to the side of your hat and you are away!

HOW TO MAKE THE BROMPTON HAT

BUY BROMPTON HAT PATTERN

Make a Crown in the lining fabric, in the same way as the outer fabric but leave an opening in the seam for turning the hat inside out at the end.

These are the Band and Band lining pieces joined together to make ‘rings’.

Three peaks! All interfaced and one is reinforced with stitching (this one is sandwiched inside the peak.

The lines of stitching make the peak stiffer.

Add the reinforced peak to the peak lining. Stock with glue or bondaweb.

Stitch around the outer curved edge only. The seam allowance is then trimmed down to 5mm.

Turn the peak inside out, pushing out the edges on the inside with a poking tool. Topstitch around the outer edge. Machine tack the inner curved raw edges together with a zig zag stitch.

With the seams at the centre back, clip (or pin) the peak to the lower edge of the outer band and machine tack to hold. You may find it helpful to nick the raw inner curved edge of the peak to ease it in.

With the seams matching at the back, clip (or pin) the other band lower edge to the peak aligning the centres. Tack.

Stitch all around. Flip the bands up. Press. Machine tack the raw edges together. Try it on at this stage. If you feel it needs some elastic you could add a ring of 3/4″ elastic into the band before tacking together. Adjust to fit.

Heres the outer crown you made earlier. With the RST, matching the centre back and the centre front, pin the band raw edge to the crown raw edge with the right sides together. Sew.

Pin the lining to the other side of the band edge. Hand tack. Sew. Turn the hat inside out through the opening in the lining. Push the lining inside the hat. Give it a good press using your trusty tailors ham.

HOW TO MAKE CHELSEA HAT

BUY CHELSEA GIRL HAT PATTERN

So this ‘Chelsea’ baker boy style hat is similar to the Brompton Hat and possibly a more classic style, with its segmented crown, side band and peak. This is an enjoyable project, quick to make, I wouldn’t say any hat project was a beginners project, it can be a tad tricky with bulky seams when inserting the peak, which is why I recommend a walking foot attachment (if you have one), but why not have a go! Its so satisfying and once you get the hang of it, you will want to make one for all your friends and family.

The main difference between the two hats is the Crown. The Chelsea Hat Crown is made in segments like a chocolate orange. (yummy!). Suitable fabrics you could consider: Tweeds, corduroy, cotton, denim so its a hat for all seasons.

Please note that the pattern includes one 29mm self cover button, if you need any more for making a hat for friends and family, you I have some available in the haberdashery listing on my shop as well as fusible interfacing by the metre.

The Crown pieces, when they are cut look like this. There are 6 of them in outer fabric and 6 in lining fabric and they are interfaced either with medium fusible interfacing or fusible fleece wadding (Vlieseline H640) for warmth or just some batting with something like a spray textile glue or bondaweb to fuse the interfacing to the outer fabric pieces. You also need the Band piece and the Peak pieces.

The crown pieces are assembled like this….

Join two pieces at the side curved edges.

Then join the third segment as before, so you have three pieces joined at the side edges altogether.

Repeat with another three crown sections.

Then join the two three section pieces together at the side edges. You should have a crown made of six sections. Now snip snip snip the seam allowances

So after you have the Crown outer and lining, you make the Peak and the Band in the same way as with the Brompton Hat. So scroll up to see this bit.

Attach the peak /band piece to the Crown.

Pin the Crown lining to the outer Crown/Band/Peak piece.

You need a 29mm self cover button and a scrap of fabric to make a small circle approx 5cm in diameter.

Tack stitch around the outer edge of the fabric circle, pull the top thread to gather the ‘dome’, insert the button, push the fabric around the claws of the button all around then finally snap on the backing disc to secure.

Hand stitch to the apex of the hat where the seams converge, this covers up any mismatches! (what mismatches I hear you ask!)

HOW TO MAKE THE LE CHIC BERET.

Pattern available on the Etsy shop

BUY LE CHIC BERET

Make the stalk. Fold over and stitch down the side edges and across the top, leaving the lower edge open. Turn inside out. Press.

Sidebands- one is interfaced the other isn’t. Sew together at the short side edges with the right sides together to make two rings. Press the seams open then topstitch either side, trim down any excess seam allowance.

Make the Crown in two sections of four Crown pieces sewn together at the curved side edges. press the seam allowances open. Topstitch either side of the seam line.

Before joining the two half sections of the crown, pin (or clip) the stalk to the centre top edge of one Crown piece. Machine or hand tack to secure.

Place one crown inside the other with the right sides together. Sew around the outer curved edge. Press the seam open. Topstitch.

Now pin the Sideband to the Crown at the raw outer edges with the right sides facing together. Sew all around.

Press the Sideband away from the Crown with the seam allowance extended towards the Crown on the reverse side. Topstitch.

LINING -Sew together the four pieces for the lining leaving an opening on one seam for turning. Attach the second un-interfaced Sideband in the same way as the Crown Outer piece.

Pin the Crown and Lining pieces together with the right sides aligned and pin all around at the band raw edges. Sew all around.

Trim the seam allowance.

Push the hat through the lining opening and press, pushing out all the edges from the inside.

Pin the band all around. Topstitch close to the outer edge all around and ‘stitch in the ditch’ all around the band seam line, this creates the channel to feed through the elastic.

Insert a length of elastic through a stitch ripped opening in the band inside seam. Adjust to fit. You need it so that it’s not too tight, so that when the hat is on the head, the band sits flat all around. Finally sew up the hole.