Free Pattern for a Kids Sun Hat

Summer is there and we are ready to go camping. We’re hoping for sunny days and my little blond girl needs a new sun hat. In this post I’m sharing a tutorial with you based on a pattern by Miekk (www.byMiekk.nl). It’s a fisherman's hat pattern that will work for both girls and boys! Just pick the fabric you like and make this cute summer hat!

The hat pattern comes in 4 sizes: 18”, 19”, 20” and 21”. Your kid can even wear it on both sides! I used some lovely striped fabric from a bundle we sell on our website. Do measure your child’s head to select the size. I used the biggest size for my 7 year old girl.

1. Sturdy cotton or linen or you can make regular cotton or linen fabric more sturdy by adding some interfacing). I used a bundle we used to have our website and used some pale blue linen for the inside (leftover from an Ikea curtain). You’ll have enough with two fat quarters for one side or a piece of 20” by 22”. So in total you’ll need 4 fat quarters or 40” x 44”.

2. Fusible interfacing 20” x 22”, mid-weight or heavy, depending on how stiff your fabric is and how stiff you want the hat to be. I used mid-weight.

3. Tools: sewing machine, iron, matching threads, pins or clips, fabric marking pen, scissors

4. Optional: an adjustable guide foot & edge joining foot

Cut out of both fabrics - outside and lining - the following pieces:

• 1 x piece A : crown tip
• 2 x piece B : side band (cut on the fold)
• 2 x piece C: brim (cut on the fold)

If you’re using just one type of fabric you need two "crown tip" pieces, four "side band" pieces and four "brim" pieces.

1. Print the pdf pattern, 100%, no scaling. Download the PDF pattern here

2. Cut the pattern, copy it onto your fabric and cut. You don’t need to add extra seam allowance. All 3 parts are cut on the fold.

3. Iron some fusible interfacing to the different pieces to add some stiffness to the fabric. Mainly for the brim.

1. Put the two B-pieces together, right sides facing. Pin along both short sides and sew together at 1/4”. Do the same for the C-pieces. Press the seams open. You have two circles now, one for the brim (C) and one for the side band (B)

2. Align the curve of the brim with the curve of the side band of the hat. Pin the two circles together, the longest side of the side band (B) onto the shortest side of the brim (C), right sides facing and match the two seams you just stitched and then spread the fabric evenly. Sew together around this circle and be careful not to create any pinches.

3. Pin/clip the crown tip (A) on the side band (B), right sides together. Fold it in half and mark it so you can spread the fabric evenly. Sew around the crown tip.

4. Topstitch the two circles: Pin all the seams to the side band and topstitch close to the edge of the side band. I used an edge joining foot to stitch close to the edge. Put the guide in the crease and your needle in the left position, if not, you will stitch in the ditch.

Now repeat step 4-7 with the other pieces (lining). In the end you’ll have two hats.

1. Place the two hats together, right sides facing. Pin around the outer perimeter of the brims. The hats should fit inside each other.

2. Now put the two hats together, right sides facing. Pin the brims together and sew around at the 1/4″ seam allowance. Leave a 2” opening to be able to pull the hat trough.

3. Cut the excess fabric of and make small cuts in the seam around the side band, leave 1” between the cuts.

4. Pull the hat through the opening you left in the brim. The wrong sides are now inside the hat. Make sure the 2 hats are aligned. Pin/clip the brim and the hole.

5. You can choose to topstitch the brim only at the outermost edge and at the seam where the side band and the brim meet, but I love a hat with rows of topstitching, so I did mine that way. The topstitching helps to strengthen the brim, this way your hat will be less floppy. I used an adjustable guide foot to help me sew even curved lines. This foot turned out to be a great help! Because it’s the first time I used this foot I added some information about this new tool in the box below.

For the edge stitches on the brim, I used my edge joining foot again. That’s the presser foot that I use the most. I just love it.

Before using the adjustable guide foot I marked the distances for the lines, just the starting points with my erasable fabric marker, to spread the rows evenly and then sewed away. Look at the result. Incredible how fast I got a neat result!

And.. tadaaaa.. my daughter all happy with her lovely new hat 💜

This summer hat for children is a a fairly easy sewing project and also a great gift because it is such a kids basic. Just look for that perfect fabric, maybe with a cute animal print and you’re ready to go!

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Happy Sewing for Summer!

An

Sewing aficionado and keen sewing blogger/vlogger.

An is Madam Sew’s dedicated creative brain, writing and filming insightful, inspirational content for the sewing enthusiast.