When Louise asked me if I would be interested in writing a guest post for the Oz Material Girls blog I thought it would be a good time to share a few tips to help you make perfectly shaped hats. From time to time I get emails from people sewing either my Lazy Day Hat or About A Boy cap patterns who are having trouble attaching the band to the crown of the hat without getting puckers in the band. This is REALLY easy to do. I’m a big fan of shortcuts in sewing, but this is one of those times when you can’t afford to take any shortcuts and need to be very particular with following the instructions.
First of all, get your crown and band pieces ready. Mine have stiffener basted to the wrong side already (I used a light blue thread to baste).
The next thing you need to do is take both your crown and band pieces and fold them into quarters and mark the quarter points with pins.
Take your band piece and making sure that you are working at the TOP edge of the band, cut small snips (no more than 1/2'” long) around the top edge of the band. The more snips you cut, the easier it will be to join the band to the crown. I usually leave about ½” between my snips. Don’t worry if you cut through your basting stitch.
With the right sides together, place the top, snipped edge of your band and outside edge of your crown together. Match up pins at each quarter mark so that your band is distributed evenly around the crown.
This next step is one you can’t afford to skip…pin the remainder of the band and crown edges together using LOTS and LOTS of pins. The more the merrier here…it will make a huge difference to your finished hat. When you are pinning, you may need to gently stretch either the band or the crown a little to make sure that there is no excess fabric when you reach each quarter mark pin.
Sew slowly around the pinned edge, once again making sure that you are careful there is no excess fabric when you reach each pin.
And that’s it! Here is the pucker-free band from the outside.
And a picture of the finished cap (yes, About A Boy is girl-friendly!!!)
I hope that you find this tutorial helpful…I love questions and feedback so feel free to ask away!Thank you so much Toni for sharing your wisdom and experience with us. Why not check out the range of Make It Perfect patterns in store at Patterns Only? You will find an adorable range of clothes and accessories suitable for children of all ages and versatile clothing pieces for adults.
For your chance to win either the Lazy Day hat Pattern of About a Boy, just leave a comment below and tell us which one you would love to make and why ( you need to be following our blog to win)
The Winner is Leah (mummy made it) - Congratulations
I'd love a copy of the Lazy Day hat pattern. I find it difficult to find hats that fit my younger daughter properly so hopefully if I sew one myself I'll have more luck!
ReplyDeleteI would love to win a copy of the "About a Boy" cap and satchel pattern. There aren't a lot of good cap patterns out there, and this one fits the bill perfectly.
ReplyDeleteI'd love a copy of the lazy day hat pattern. I have 3 boys and we enjoy the outdoors. My boys have very particular tastes esp in hats and I'd love to make them hats that suit their personalities
ReplyDeleteMoira
I love to win the Lazy day Hat cap pattern as I have troubles finding hats for my 4yr old in the patterns (ben 10 etc) material as his head is larger than the store bought ones! I'd love to make him one myself so he can show off!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to win a copy of About a Boy. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it.
ReplyDeleteI so would love to win this cap pattern ~ actually for myself. I have not been able to find one that fits well and looks good on. I do a lot of outside work and jogging. This would be just perfect!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to win a copy of ""About a boy"cap pattern. I think that if I made my kids caps maybe they wouldnt leave them at the park all the time!
ReplyDeleteI would love to win the "About a boy" cap pattern as I have 6 grandchildren and I would like to make a cap each for them for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the opportunity to win this.
this tutorial makes it look super easy! I like the look of the lazy day pattern best.
ReplyDeleteGreetings!! I'd like to win the Lazy Day hat pattern please, as my son is outside a lot of the time and has a wide brimmed hat but it's dark brown - I'd love to be able to use some brighter summer fabrics that he can choose - he's 4 and autistic and would love to be able to help me make the hat - he's quite interested in sewing at this young age, LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jane (and Jay) xx
I love the Lazy Day hat. I've got the perfect material for it!
ReplyDeleteMy little boy's head would love a few "About a Boy" caps (especially with his (my) fair skin).
ReplyDeleteI love this hat pattern. I have had my eye on this for a while and would love to win a copy.
ReplyDeleteI would love to win a copy of the Lazy Days Hat. Cause I have tried numerous other bucket hat patterns and tutorials to have not so great results!! thanks heaps x
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have girls hats without barbie or bratz plastered across the top! I'd make these.
ReplyDeleteI would love to win a copy of the 'about a boy' cap pattern. I have two small boys and find it so hard to find suitable caps for either of them and would love to be able to make caps for them.
ReplyDeleteThey are both gorgeous, I love the idea of being able to make a cap (and the bag is pretty cool too!), but I think I would choose the Lazy Days pattern as that hat covers the ears as well which is a very important thing in a hat!
ReplyDeleteI've eyed off the bucket hat for a while now, but it was out of stock at my local shop. It would be lovely to be able to bypass all the merchandised hats and make our own.
ReplyDeleteI'd love a copy of the Lazy Day hat pattern.Keeps their faces and ears covered , love them
ReplyDeleteI'd love the lazy day hat pattern, as a pregnant mum of 3 i know how hard it can be to find suitable hats for the kids. And with our fair skin and Aussie sun it is so important to give the kids stylish hats that suit them in order to encourage the wearing of them.
ReplyDeleteI would love a copy of the Lazy Day hat pattern as my little grand-daughter is moving to Darwin later this year and she will need a hat and I would like it to be special and remind her of me :)
ReplyDeleteI'd love a 'Lazy Day' hat pattern. My daughter has heaps of caps but only one hat that covers her ears and that she will wear without complaining!! A hand made 'original' would go a long way to encouraging her to keep a hat on her head :)
ReplyDeleteI would love the lazy day hat pattern. Both my girls have head circumferences off the scale...would love to make them a hat in beautiful material that fits!
ReplyDeleteI would love to win the About a Boy pattern because it is seriously cute and I think my little boy and his little girlfriend (aww) would look so adorable in matching hats! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI would love to win this pattern so i could make hats for my son who collects them, this way he could design them and i could make them. Great giveaway. Thanks
ReplyDeleteoooh exciting!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I am very excited and can't wait to make a hat with this pattern. x
ReplyDelete