Sunday, December 30, 2012

Hats and scarves for cold kids, a tutorial



These are the scarves and hats that I made for the kid's school. Some were given to kids who needed them, and others will stay in school for kids who forget or loose their warm things. They were so quick to make, and really cute.
For the scarf, cut a 9" wide strip of fleece the width of the fabric, then fold in in half lengthwise to create a double layer of fleece that's 4.5" wide by 54". Then, topstitch along the sides and 4" from the ends. Make cuts on the unsewn ends about 3/4" apart to create fringe, being careful not to clip your topstitching.
I made the hats two different ways, depending on how much fleece I had left. About half the hats were doubled fleece, and the others were single layer, but with a wide fold on the bottom so that there was doubled fleece over the ears. 
For the single layer fleece hat, cut a 21"x18" piece of fleece (measurements are approximate, since I made some slightly smaller and some slightly larger so that we'd have various sizes of finished hats). Fold the fleece in half to make a 10.5"x18" rectangle, and sew a seam on the long side to create a tube. Fold up the bottom approximately 4" and topstitch to hem. Make cuts approximately 3/4" apart and about 3" long all along the top of the hat on the raw edge. Then, cut a 10"x1" strip of fleece and use it to gather the top of the hat evenly just below the fringe, creating a pom pom and closing the top of the hat securely.
For the doubled fleece hats, it is pretty much the same process as the single layer hat, but using a 21"x24" piece of fleece. Fold the fleece in half to make a 10.5"x 24" rectangle, and sew a single seam up the long side to create a tube. Then, instead of just making a hem, fold the entire lower edge to meet the top edge, doubling the tube and hiding the raw edges of the seam. Then, cut the fringe, and tie the top in the same way as the single hat.
Feel free to use this tutorial to make hats for yourself, your family, or anyone else. Consider making up a few sets for someone in need in your neighborhood.

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