Santa Hat

I really like wearing a Santa hat at Christmas, but nice ones can be hard to find. Thankfully, they’re pretty easy to make. So that’s what I did.

I've made a video of the project, but you can also read the steps below :)

• Fluffy red fabric
• White fake fur
• Sewing machine
• Matching thread
• Tape measure and/or ruler
• Tailors chalk
• Pins

I measured around my head to get the size for my hat. For me, it needs to be 59 cm around.

I drew out half that size on the fabric, plus 1,5 cm of seam allowance on each side.

Now it was time to determine the length of my hat. I’m a big fan of the long Scandinavian Santa hats, so I’m making mine 80 cm tall. If you’d like a more standard one, 40 centimeters should be good.

I marked the length the middle of my piece, and then cut the material in a straight line between the marked points. That’s one side of the Santa hat cut. I then used it as a template to cut the other side.

I placed the two layers right sides together and pinned them in place. Then I sewed a long straight stitch along the two long sides.

I trimmed the seam allowance back around the top, so that it won’t get in the way when I turn it right side out.

Now for the headband. Good-looking fake fur can be pretty expensive, especially if you have to buy it by the meter, so I went looking elsewhere. I found this small seat cushion at a furniture store that should have just enough material to cover my needs.

I marked out the width I need the headband to be, and made the pieces as tall as possible. You can’t really cut fake fur with scissors, since you’ll end up cutting the hair as well. So I followed the advice of everyone’s favorite fluffy-thing-maker, Karoline Hinz, and used an exacto knife to cut only the backing material, leaving the hair intact.

I made sure the hair was falling the same way on both pieces, and then sewed their ends together.

I folded the top edge inwards and held it in place with clips. Then I sewed it down to get a nice clean edge. This did cause some of the hairs to stick upwards, so I added a line of topstitching to keep them down.

I placed the headband inside the hat, with the right side of the fur facing the wrong side of the hat. I sewed all the way around to attach it.

Now it was just missing the little ball on the end.

I cut a circle out of the remaining fur, again using an exacto knife to cut through the backing material. I threaded some strong thread onto a needle, and made rough stitches all the way around the circle. Then all I had to do was pull the thread tight and tie a knot, and I had a furry little ball.

I stitched it onto the end of the hat with a few simple stitches, tying a knot by passing the thread through the loop.

It’s pretty much done now, but I thought the fur was just a little bit too long. So I gave it a quick haircut, and then it was really done.