Lumber Jack Hat

I am so excited to share this tutorial with you.

I saw these "bomber" hats in Walmart and thought they looked way cute. So I challenged myself to make my own version, took my $2.50 to shop at Joann's, and got to work. Yep...that is all it took me to make two hats like this. But only because their fleece was on major sale and I used a coupon on the sherpa stuff {don't really know what it is called and I am pretty sure it isn't sherpa but I will call it that anyway! :)}.

I first messed around with some old fleece, adjusting there, cutting there and then held my breath while I cut into the good fabric. Now...ta da. Now if I could just get my son to look at the camera.... :)

I think it looks more Lumber Jack and less "bomber" so I dubbed it the Lumber Jack Hat.

Do you want to make one too?

Here we go:

Materials:

1/3 of a yard of fleece {you might be able to go to 1/4 of a yard but with just a bit more you will have enough to make two and you can be sure it will be wide enough for the ear flaps}

1/4 - 1/3 yard sherpa/fake fur {I made the mistake of getting I think 1/8 of a yard and had to piece my ear flaps...you can do that too but it doesn't look as nice and adds a step}

Sewing machine, coordinating/matching thread, scissors, paper and pencil for cutting pattern pieces, and hand needle

Time: About 1 1/2 hours for the first hat and 45 minutes for every hat after that.

 ***These are the measurements for a child with a head circumference of about 18 1/2 - 19 1/2 inches. I actually intended to make this for my five year old whose head is 20 1/2 inches around but I found you need 1-2 inches leeway even with the fleece which does have some stretch. This was totally trial and error for me since I was making it up. Luckily my 2 year old's head is 18 1/2 inches around so it became his hat. If you want instructions on how to size it to your child's head scroll to the end of the post.

1. Cut your pieces:

-These are the pieces for the cap. You will be doubling up two caps so cut in duplicate.

-These are the cuts for the ear flap and bill. I didn't buy wide enough sherpa material...

so I had to piece it together.

-You also need two tie pieces that will hang from your ear flaps.

2. Sew your cap pieces:

- Pin a side piece to the top strip piece and sew.

- Trim off any excess fabric from the strip after the you sew the first side piece on. Out of the three hats I made, 2 out of 3 had 1/4-1/2 inch extra.

- Pin the second side piece on and sew just like the first side.

-Now repeat and make a second cap.

-You should now have:

3. Sew your ties:

4. Sew your ear flap piece and your bill piece:

 -Sew and leave the flat long side open.

 -Sew the bill with right sides together. Leave the flat side open.

-Turn it all right side out.

5. Put it all together:

-Prepare the cap pieces.

-Now insert ear flap piece and bill piece in between the two cap layers.  Pin carefully, being sure to catch all layers. I bent a few pins doing this. :)

-Take care to fold the right side out cap layer under so it looks nice. The pinning takes a while but it is worth it to get it right so that sewing is easier.

-Don't worry about the inside layer. It can help to leave it un-tucked so that you can be sure you are catching all layers. It is fleece so it won't fray and it is on the inside that no one sees.

-I went around twice on my first hat but only once on subsequent hats. Once is a enough if you pin and sew carefully and catch all layers evenly.

6. Secure bill:

- You are almost done! Yay.

-Whip stitch the bill into place catching only the top cap layer and the fleece side of the bill so it doesn't show through to the front. I made two stitches, one on each top rounded corner of the bill.

Done!

You can tie the ear flaps on the top of their head.

They may or may not like this.

Ha ha. I love Reid's "Mom...this looks stupid" look on his face. It doesn't help that his brother laughed at him when I tied the ear flaps. I think it's dang cute. But what do I know?

I shoved the hat onto Owen's head - shoved because it was tiiiight. He thought it was funny for like 2 seconds and then complained that it hurt his head.

I experimented and made him another one out of ribbed sweater jersey and gray thermal knit fabric. I don't really recommend it. Maybe two sweaters would have worked better. At least this hat was free made out of old clothes and extra fabric.

Trial and error. :)

SIZING INSTRUCTIONS:

To size it to your child's head measure around the widest part of their head at their forehead. Add 1-2 inches depending on how stretchy your fabric is, how tight you want the hat, etc.

Now, when you cut your cap pieces {top strip and side pieces} you want the finished circumference of the bottom of the cap to equal this number. So top strip width is 4.5 inches. Side piece width is 6.5 inches. The strips is at the front and the back {2 times}. There are two side pieces.

(4.5 in. x 2) + (6.5 x 2)= 22 inches

Subtract the seam allowances which should always be 2 inches if you always sew quarter inch seam allowances.  Here is the breakdown:

Subtract a quarter inch at each seam for each piece of fabric. There are four seams and two pieces of fabric losing a quarter inch at each seam.

.25 x 4 x 2 = 2 inches

you get a finished circumference of 20 inches. Yes...I didn't do my math correctly for my son's 20 1/2 inch head...at least you have the benefit of learning from my trial and error.

Okay...now for the ear flap pieces and the bill. The bill doesn't really need to be adjusted that much. Just cut slightly smaller for a baby cap and larger for a larger cap. It doesn't affect sizing so you have more flexibility. I made sure my bill was always wide enough to fit the gap between the ear flaps in the front.

The ear flaps should cover the back and side pieces of the cap almost completely. The edge of the ear flaps should come just short of the cap seams in the front. See my illustrations from step #5 if you need to. When I was making  the pattern for my ear flaps I took measuring tape around my boys' heads from temple to temple to help me get the right measurement. You may want to do the same.

Phew...with all the figuring out and work that went into this I really should have just made a pattern! Ha! If only I had ever made a pattern and knew how to make one. :)

Nothing like sitting on the muddy lawn with a super warm hat and no socks and shoes on a warm Fall day eating fruit snacks and getting sick of Mom and her camera.