Baby hats for winter (fits all)

baba_sapka_sz1.jpg (6721 Byte)

Measure your baby's head. Add a little for the sewing edge. This makes the breadth of the material needed (1.)
Estimate length (2.): you need a little more than the distance between the lower back of the head and the top of the head plus some (2-3 fingers) for the part to be turned up. If you want to sew a hat with fringed top, add extra 3-4 fingers for the fringes. It's easier to cut back later than to estimate wrong and start again...

Sew the rectangle into a cylinder. If you have a material that tends to get fringy or you want the hat to be especially warm, make two layers and sew them together on the "wrong" sides. If you have a material that looks almost the same on both sides, sew it so that you sew mainly on the "wrong" side, but leave out the last 2-3 fingers (for the part that's going to be turned up) and sew that on the other side. This way you will get a clean seam on the sides that will look outwards.

baba_sapka_sz2.jpg (6528 Byte)
Make a small ball for the top of the hat (not necessary for the fringed - simpler - version). Cut a circle, put some cloth into the middle and pull the edges together, starting with the opposite edges (3.).

baba_sapka_sz3.jpg (9164 Byte)

Prepare the ear parts (not necessary for the simpler version, but recommended for small babies): cut 4 half-circles and sew 2-2 together (of course, on the "wrong" side), put a string into the middle of each ear part according to the picture (4.). Turn them inside out. I usually sew a small edge from the outside as well. Now the end of the string is inside of the ear part.

baba_sapka_sz4.jpg (11936 Byte)

Gather the top of the hat and turn up the lower edge (5). Sew down the turn-up with "invisible" stitches by hand. Sew the ear parts under the edge. Note that a baby's ears are a little towards the back of the head! Sew the ball on top.

baba_sapka_sz5.jpg (10397 Byte)

You can gather the cloth 3-4 fingers lower than the upper edge of the cloth and cut it into fringes instead of sewing a ball onto the hat (the extra lenth must be counted in at the beginning!). This is simpler, but only for materials that do not tend to get fringy.