Cycling Cap With Pattern

UPDATE

I have altered the pattern slightly for improved fit and added different sizes.

The new pattern is here

Ever wanted a really funky cycling cap? Now is your chance!

I like this pattern because you can combine three different materials to produce something a little more snazzy than what's available in the shops.

This is quite a simple project, and can easily be sewn with a sewing machine in about an hour.

I've included a pdf pattern that you can print out at home on A4 paper.

Enjoy :)

• Material - as much as around 2 A4 sheets of paper
• Plain cotton for underside of cap
• Interfacing of some sort to give the peak a little stiffness
• about 5cm of elastic cord or band
• Cotton Twill / band - about 70cm

The first stage is to print out the pdf pattern on normal A4 paper. Be sure to check that the 4cm test square really is 4cm on your paper.

Then cut out the pieces along the thick black lines and tape together the long centre piece where the join is indicated.

Cut out your fabric pieces. You need two of the peak (B) and side (A) pieces that are mirror images of each other.

Don't forget to put a small nick in the fabric where the triangles are on the pictures. This will help you keep track of which side is the front of the cap.

I think it's nice to have a plain piece of cotton for the underside of the cap peak, this way you aren't constantly looking at a coloured piece of fabric when wearing the hat (which could get annoying).

The pattern includes already a 1cm seam allowance. If you want your cap to have a certain part of the pattern on a certain piece, you can cut out the centre of the pattern along the dotted lines to give you an idea of how the pattern piece aligns with the fabric.

Edit : for some reason when I upload the pdf to instructables it becomes pixelated. If that annoys you, you can also get the pattern here

We are going to sew together the side pieces so that they form half dome shapes.

Just fold each side piece so that the dotted lines on each V-shape in the first photo are on top of each other, with right-sides facing and sew along the fabric edge, giving a 1cm seam allowance. Do this twice for each side piece.

You should end up with a piece whose edge is a smooth continuous arc.

If you want you can zig-zag stitch the fabric edge to stop if fraying, or use an overlocker if you have one.

Now to sew the side pieces to the centre piece!

Simply sew each domed side piece to the centre piece with right-sides together. Be careful to ensure that the front of the centre piece is sewn to the front of the side-pieces. This is where those nicks will help you.

Congratulations you will now have something that resembles a hat!

Iron on the interfacing to the wrong side of the material that you are using for the bottom of your peak.

I would recommend that you use a piece of plain fabric (I used linen) for the underside of the peak. Sometimes when you wear the hat you can see the peak underside and it would be annoying to have a piece of brightly coloured fabric in your vision all the time.

Sew the peak top and bottom right-sides together along the brim edge.

Along the brim edge, cut nicks close the the seam to help give shape to the peak.

Turn inside out and press flat with an iron.

With the centre notches in the peak and the cap aligned, sew the peak to the cap right-sides together.

You should make the seam lie 1cm from the bottom edge of the cap.

Then trim the peak seam edge to tidy things up a bit and press the seam.

Cut a piece of elastic 3-4cm long. The shorter the piece is, the smaller your cap will be.

Sew this piece onto the bottom of the cap between the two seams of the side and centre pieces.

Then make a 1cm fold inwards around the whole bottom of the cap and iron flat.

The very last step (and also the most difficult!) is to sew the cotton band into the inside of the cap bottom.

Start by sewing the top edge of the band to the cap, being careful not to get the elastic caught in the stitches when you sew past it. Also take care to make sure the seam between the peak and cap is flat.

Lastly sew the bottom edge of the band to the cap. When you get to the end of the loop, trim the band leaving a few extra cm that you will fold back over itself and sew down to hide away the raw edges of the band.

That's it! Now go outside with your brand new cap :)

My thanks go to K.Moon for the photos