DIY Sonic the Hedgehog Hat

When you can't find what your looking for....just make it happen!

I made this Sonic Hat for my brother as a gift and am so excited with how it turned out! Hat's are always a fun accessory and are also a great option for anyone dealing with hair loss. My brother Ray recently finished radiation treatment and was dealing with this issue himself so I set out to find him some cool hats. However there weren't any options I could find out there that had the "cool" factor that I was looking for. Being a fan of geeky things (as you can see here!) , I thought this would be a great opportunity to incorporate some of that style and upgrade a hat! Since Ray is a Sonic fan, that's the theme I went with! The techniques I used here can definitely be adjusted to your own design, the only limit is your imagination!

Whether you just want a fun accessory for yourself, or would like to give someone an awesome gift, I hope you find this tutorial helpful!

Sonic Hat Supplies:

Tools:

• Sewing Machine
• Needle
• Scissors
• Iron
• Pins
• Computer & Printer
• Measuring Tape
• Binder Clips

Materials:

• Hat ( I used a blue wool hat, you can find the same kind here. )
• Vinyl Fabric
• Canvas Fabric
• Pellon 805 Wonder Under ( You can find the same kind here. )
• Iron On Transfer Paper
• Gunmetal Studs
• Thread

* The supplies will depend on your design and materials of your choice ; ) *

Before I bought the hat, I sketched out some ideas trying to come up with something fun! I decided on a design that looks like a Sonic level going around the entire hat. I wanted it to be fun and subtle at the same time, so even if for some reason you don't know Sonic, the hat still has style!

The hat that I found was the perfect shade of blue and a great base for the design.

Once the hat arrived and I could see the actual size, I started creating the design and testing it out with paper print outs. This helped to visualize everything and make adjustments when needed.

After creating the patterns for the appliques, the next step was creating the band to go around the base of the hat.

I started off by removing the original band which was glued to the hat around the top edge. The hat is made of wool which made it easy to remove the band and any glue that was still stuck to the hat.

I made the new band from a bright green vinyl fabric (faux leather) that added a nice contrast to the wool texture. I also ended up adding a smaller brown band to the bottom so together they would resemble the ground of a sonic level.

Once the bands were created I set them aside for later.

I used vinyl fabric to create the appliques around the hat.

Ideally I would have liked to sew these onto the hat directly, but this was not possible to do with the sewing machine I have. I decided to just create the look that they had been sewn on by stitching around the edges as if they were.

The fabric I used was pretty thin and stitching around their tiny edges as is would have been very difficult so I added a layer of canvas to the back to thicken them up. I attached the canvas to the vinyl fabric using Wonder Under. If you've never used this before, it is like interfacing but it has glue on both sides. I ironed the Wonder Under to the canvas first with the rough side down, then peeled off the paper backing. Once the you remove the paper backing you can use the second side of glue. Typically you don't want to iron vinyl since it can melt but in my experience if you use a buffer of fabric you are able to do so without causing any damage. That said, I laid the canvas with the glue side down to the wrong side of the vinyl and ironed the canvas to the vinyl. The result was nice thick appliques that I could now add stitching to.

The Sonic and Item Box appliques had a lot of detail so for these two I decided to use iron on transfers to create the images. I added a top layer of clear vinyl and then stitched around the edges. I also added 2 small gunmetal studs to the Item Box applique for extra detail.

The next step was to attach the appliques to the hat. My first choice was glue (E600) but after trying a test piece out I wasn't getting good results so I decided to sew them with a needle and thread. Depending on your preference I'm sure glue or modge podge would work just as well, I'm just a fan of sewing!

I used pins to place all the appliques around the hat, making sure to pin along the stitch line so I did not leave any visible markings on the vinyl. Then I hand sewed the appliques to the hat using matching thread and going over the stitching along the edges. I skipped about every 2 stitches to speed up the process while still giving it a secure bond.

Once the appliques were in place I attached the band to the hat.

I sized the band around the base of the hat, then box stitched it closed.

I placed the band around the hat, making sure the box stitch was placed at the back. And luckily this part did fit in my sewing machine and I was able to sew it directly to the hat!

And TaDa! All done! All that's left is to wear and enjoy! Or in the case of a gift, wrap it up and surprise someone awesome!