I made this pretty hat for a dear friend that is going through chemotherapy, she loves it and finds it very comfortable to wear. I love this hat and would wear one too, it reminds me of a scarf tied at the back of the head, only it’s elasticated so it’s very comfortable and won’t slip off. Like a scarf, it starts with a square, it’s quick and easy to make. Thought I would share how I made it so that you can make one for a friend that needs it or make one for yourself.
Use a soft knit fabric with a 2 way stretch. A stretch cotton or rayon will be the coolest to wear. When sewing a 2 way stretch fabric it’s best to use a stretch needle to prevent skipped stitches. Use a size 70/10 for a light knit fabric.
To get started, cut a 48 cm (19”) square. From the top left corner, measure and mark a dot that is 22 cm (8.5”) down the side edge and across the top edge. Mark a diagonal line from dot to dot. Cut on the marked line, removing the top left hand corner. This diagonal edge is now the front of the hat.
I have an overlocker (serger) so I did a 3 thread overlock across the diagonal edge and a rolled hem on the straight edges.
If you don’t have an overlocker, leave the front edge raw as this will be hemmed in the final step and edge the straight sides with a wide zigzag of 5.0, and a length of 1.5, this will kind of fold over the fabric edge and create a fluted look as I show in the video below.
On the wrong side, mark a dot that is 11 cm (4.25”) in from each corner. Next, mark a line that is 3 cm (1.25”) in from each straight edge. Connect the lines, curving at the corner dots.
Set your machine to straight stitch with a large stitch length of 5 and sew on the marked line, started and finishing 2cm (3/4”) away from the front edge, leaving long threads at the beginning and end.
Put a pin in the centre of the stitching line (opposite the front edge). Pull on the bobbin thread to gather the hat so it measures 25 cm (10”) from the front edge to centre pin on both sides. 50 cm (20”) in total.
Cut a 23 cm (9”) length of 6 mm (1/4”) elastic.
Fold the elastic in half to find the centre and mark with a pin. Sew the elastic on top of the gather stitching line, starting and finishing 2cm (3/4”) away from the front edge. Stretch the elastic to align the centre pin with the centre pin on the gather stitching line.
Watch this video to see how:
To finish the hat, hem the front edge by folding the fabric over to the wrong side by 2cm (3/4”), this will cover the raw ends of the elastic. Sew the hem with a zig zag stitch with a width of 3.0 and a length 3.0. This will make a flexible stitch that won’t break when the fabric stretches.
The hat is now finished!
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