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delia creates

Fleece Frankenstein Hat TUTORIAL

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Last year for Halloween, Owen changed what he wanted to be for Halloween about a million and one times. This year, he’s been sure from the beginning and hasn’t budged. He wants to be…
Frankenstein.
The great thing is he doesn’t really have specific preconceived notions on what Frankenstein should look like, so whatever I come up with, he loves. 馃檪
I saw this hat from the Children’s Place and thought it would be perfect to make for Owen. His school doesn’t allow any make-up or masks. Without the make-up I was afraid everyone would think Owen just look liked a hobo or something, so I had to come up with something else.
The hat is perfect for keeping him warm, and they should know exactly who he’s supposed to be…
Don’t you think? 馃檪
I just made this up as I went, so it’s far from perfect, but here’s what I did.
I made up several paper patterns for the circumference of the hat. I tried them on Owen and tweaked them until I liked how it looked. The hat is about 1/2 an inch longer than the circumference of his head.
I cut the pattern out whole so I could try it on Owen’s face/head, but folded it in half and cut it on the fold to keep things even. This only takes less than 1/4 yard of fleece. Very cheap! I bought 1/3 yard and it was too much.

Then I added some hair.
I didn’t get it quite right the first time, so I added some more pieces here and there. I ended up liking how the layers added dimension as well.
I pinned the smaller pieces on and sewed them down.
Then I zig-zag stitched the top hair piece to the circumference of the hat. I really should have lengthened my stitch or fixed my tension because I got some puckering, but…it’s for a costume. So moving on! 馃檪
Using the circumference measurement, I calculated the hat top using this equation:
circumference = diameter x 3.14 {pi}
Once I knew the {approx. – doesn’t have to be super exact} diameter I was able to come up with the correct circle size for the hat top.
Then I sewed the ends of the hat circumference piece together.
Pinned on the hat top.
Sewed all the way around and snipped a few slits just before the seam so it wouldn’t pucker too much when I turned it right side out.
Phew…almost done.
I added a chin strap with a button and hemmed the raw edges under….which is totally optional.
Then I hand embroidered some scars and stitches on the hat. Paint would have done fine, but I just liked the idea of being able to rip the thread out if I didn’t like how it turned out.
Now it was time for bolts. I thought about hand stitching some bolts together because they would be too small to stitch by machine, and then stuffing them with poly fill, etc…for about 2 seconds. Just long enough to decide it was finally time for some hot glue. 馃檪

 

I rolled up some light grey felt like so.
Cut three circles out and glued them together.
Then assembled my bolts.
So easy. 馃檪 And SO quick.
I had to cut the bolts way down so they wouldn’t be too floppy, even smaller than you see here.
Then I glued them on.
Done!
And we’ve got one happy Frankenstein.
UUUUGGGHHH.
His costume isn’t completely done yet though. I’ve got some clothes I need to rip up and some other ideas. I’ll just have to see if the stores carry the supplies I need. Sometimes that’s my biggest barrier!
Hope you’re having fun
getting ready for Halloween!

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Comments

  20. Hi! I came over from “blog of note”, congrats on that! Your blog is amazing and you are super creative. What a fun idea for Halloween. He will be the hit of the party. Have a great weekend!

    Reply

  31. Thanks so much for the tutorial!!! My son has a dress up day at daycare so I whipped one up for him. Your tutorial was soooo easy to follow and my one turned out really cool. Thanks! Do you have a facebook page? I would love to show you a pic.

    Reply

  33. This saved me this morning! That's right Halloween morning my vampire decided he wanted to be Frankenstein. Luckily for him I remembered your awesome hat and had one made in time for school! Thank you!

    Reply

  35. ahh! i can't believe i didnt see this before Halloween! lol. my little cousin wanted to be frankinstien for halloween. he couldnt find the costume in stores. so im defenently going to try to make this for next halloween for him or just try to make it for me.lol. THANk yOu!

    Reply

  36. Oh Delia, thank you thank you thank you! I woke up this morning and checked my SewSet page first thing while drinking my coffee. Saw this looking straight out at me and nearly jumped out my seat with laughter. I love this!!! So awesome.

    I featured it today as one of my favorite top patterns – Gah, so stinking cute.

    Thanks again for the good wake up laugh!

    –

    Reply

  37. I have just about finished this for my 5 year old! Just need to do the hand stitching for the scars. I love how easy your tutorial is! Thank you so much for the inspiration!

    Reply

  38. Thank you so much for this tutorial! my 13 year old is being Frankenstein, and we are having our two year old be his monster. I was struggling with finding a cute costume or tutorial, but your hat is perfect!

    Reply

  40. Thanks , I’ve just been searching for info about this subject
    for a long time and yours is the best I have found out till now.
    But, what in regards to the conclusion? Are you sure concerning
    the source?

    Reply

  42. You really make it seem so easy along with your presentation however I in finding this matter to be really something which I feel I might
    by no means understand. It kind of feels too complex and extremely extensive for me.
    I’m looking ahead in your next put up, I will attempt to get the cling of
    it!

    Reply

  43. Hi Delia! I love all of your tutorials – – so detailed and creative! I tried this one out to make my 4-year old a Frankenstein hat for Halloween this year, it didn’t turn out quite as cute as yours, but he still loved it 馃檪

    I posted pictures of the hat and the process I followed to make it on the blog I just started: http://www.californiaimperfection.com. I sort of re-created your tutorial but with some different steps, and I sewed mine by hand instead of machine, and used a hot glue gun and a lot of guestimating! Anyhow, thank you for the inspiration for such a fun project, I’ve linked back to your tutorial as well.

    Thanks again!

    ~ Amy

    Reply

  44. Thanks for the instructions! I am trying to figure out how to post a picture. We made this for my son, and it looks great! The blood and stitches are a little rougher than yours because we let him help sew that part himself, and I also added a Ziploc bag with stuffing in the top of the hat to poof it up a bit. See if you can view it here:

    https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/12118767_10154415902695620_8873389270260998065_n.jpg?oh=078e2656da127ac870c27386f0a2bdca&oe=56922A66

    Reply

  46. gosh, my 6 year old daughter has been set on being Frankenstein for months! I’m sitting here exploring google trying to find something that isn’t just a cheap costume that costs a million dollars and this is SO PERFECT!! Shame I can’t sew to save my life. 馃檨

    Reply

    • I’m so glad this tutorial is what you’ve been looking for. If you don’t sew, you can certainly try hot gluing it together instead. It won’t last much longer than a night, but for Halloween, that is all you really need. Good luck!

      Reply

  47. Thank you so much for this Tutorial. I made it for my grandson a couple of years ago and he loved it! It was so cute!!

    Reply