Fleece Beanie

I have a lovely silver crocheted scarf that my mum made for me, but unfortunately she didn't make a hat to go with it. This was my attempt to make a nice warm beanie hat from a silver coloured star-dimpled fleece fabric that went really nicely with my scarf.

It's a really quick and easy sewing project and the beanie has a lovely thick turned up brim that you can adjust to suit however you want to wear the hat.

You will need:

Fleece fabric 62cm x 41cm (24½" x 16")
Cotton thread
Sewing machine or a needle (if you can hand sew that much I take my hat off to you :-) )
Scissors or a rotary cutter
Pins or sewing clips
Printer & paper (to print the pattern)

Download the beanie pattern (I've included A4 and LETTER size pdf files) and print it out. Make sure you print it at 'actual size'. You can use the 1" square on the pattern to check that it has printed out the correct size.

Use the red dashed lines and red letters to help you glue or tape the four pages of the pattern together, then cut the whole piece out.

If you're using fleece fabric it should have a stretch to it. You want the hat to be able to stretch around your head, so when you lay the pattern on your fabric make sure that the stretch runs in the correct direction, as marked on the pattern. Fold the fabric over so that you can fit the pattern on it with the edge marked FOLD lined up against the fold in your fabric. Pin the pattern in place then cut around it (except along the folded edge - obviously!)

Lay the fabric piece down so that the right side is showing, then fold in each side so that the curves at the top match up, the straight edges meet in the middle and the right side of the fabric is now hidden. Pin together the outside curves on each side (marked in red on the photo).

If you have a sewing machine, whizz around these curves leaving a 3/8" turning. My sewing machine handles knitted fabrics like this much better if I use a ball point needle. Although you can sew it with a standard needle you might find it skips the odd stitch.

If you don't have a sewing machine, then you'll need much more patience than me to sew these curves by hand ;-)

Once you're done you can take out the pins.

With your hat still inside out, match up and pin the straight sides together, and carry on matching up and pinning the curve over the top of your hat too.

Sew leaving a 3/8" turning.

Resist the temptation to turn your hat right side out - you're not done yet!

Turn up 5" (12.5cm) all around the bottom of your hat. You can adjust how much you turn up depending how slouchy you'd like your hat to be on top, but for me this gave the best fit. Now neaten up the edge by turning half an inch under and pin it in place.

Sew the folded brim in place, 1/4" in from the folded edge.

Note: You could choose to sew the brim without turning the edge under if you find it easier but it will look much neater without a raw edge.

Now you can turn your hat right side out!

Turn up the brim adjusting it so that it's turned up however far you prefer. Once I had the brim where I wanted it I tacked it up in place with a few hand sewn stitches hidden in the turn up. However, you might decide you want to leave it and turn it up every time you wear it or even sew it into place all the way around with your sewing machine to really fix the brim.

Finally, find a willing model to show of your hat!

I was really pleased with how well this hat turned out and at how it fits me. It's less bulky than a knitted hat, so I can easily fit it in my coat pocket when I go for my daily walk during lockdown, and just pop it on when it gets cold.