So I recently shared my FREE OTY Beanie Pattern made in Conjunction with OTY Fabric NZ showcasing their French Terry and gifting the special pattern to all of our fans. Today I wanted to show you a variation using the lovely soft Cotton Rib Knits also on sale over at OTY Fabrics. You can choose from the Printed Rib knit like I have here in my example or the thicker Ribbed Cotton Knits available in Retail, there is both the plain rib knit or the Pastel and Rainbow Stripes, both would be suitable for these patterns. Line it with other Cotton Knits, French Terry, Sweatshirting or Merino Blends. I recommend only stretchy fabrics for this pattern. If you want to make it from Polar Fleece or a less stretchy fabric I would add a few centimetres of width around the curved parts of the hat to accommodate the lack of stretch. This variant can be rolled up to create a folded brim on your hat or use it as a super slouchy hat without the rollup. And onto the new tutorial we go...
What You Need:
Follow the OTY Beanie instructions for all your needs and to find the FREE Pattern Link. You will need to adjust the pattern as per steps below and trace your additional pattern piece.
Grab your Hat pattern piece with the added Hem piece, you will need to draft a new larger pattern piece as the extension of your Hat for this variant of the OTY Beanie. You will need to draw a 28cm long by 12-16cm wide extension piece onto a piece of paper. This piece will be added to your OUTER HAT pattern piece as you cut. Please follow the steps below.
How to Make your Hat:
From the Outer Fabric (in my case the Cotton Ribbed Knit) lay the main hat piece and your drawn extension piece added to the base and weigh or pin. Cut the longer Outer Hat piece using both pieces together (don't cut the extension separately but use it to extend the length of your Main Hat Pattern piece)
From your Lining Fabric only cut the main Hat pattern piece WITHOUT THE EXTENSION.
To sew up clip or pin each Lining Hat piece to the Outer/Main Hat piece at the base of the hat, right side to right side. Overlock or stitch together with a small zig zag stitch (it needs to be stretchy).
Lay each Hat piece right side to right side and clip or pin together around all outer edges. Leave an 5-6cm opening on the lining piece side for turning the hat. Overlock or zig zag stitch around the seams taking care not to stitch the upper opening/dart section together as you go.
Open out the upper opening/crown darts together and match the side seams together, clip and stitch crown closed.
Pull Hat through the opening you left in the steps above. Smooth hat out and iron flat. Push seam allowances of opening back inside and clip or pin. Using straight stitch stitch the opening closed or hand stitch. You can also use this hole to stick a care label in as you finish the hat.
Tuck Lining back into the outer fabric and lay flat. Press hem and if you would like you can stitch a few stay stitches to keep the lining within the hat. An optional step is to stitch a Leather Handmade or other patch to the Outer Hat at the hem for a decorative touch. (I don't recommend doing that if you are not using it as a slouchy hat at the Patch will be hidden when you fold the Hem up. )
And you are DONE! You can roll the Hem up towards the Outside Hat and tack a few stay stitches at each side to keep the Hem rolled up or leave it as is. As per the options above you can stitch a Logo Label, Decorative Leather Look or other Patch to the Rolled Hem if you want to. OTY Fabric NZ has lots of Decorative Leather Look patches perfect for this option. You can also do a decorative Flatlock, or Coverstitch hem to your Hat if you would like. Feel free to play around with the Hat design and add your own mark to them.
Thanks for following yet one more of my Tutorials!
Vivien
Picklefish Products NZ