Featured Fabric: Henry Glass & Co. Surf’s Up by Barb Tourtillotte

Pattern Design by: Apple Green Cottage

Sewn by: Lindsay Conner

Are you ready to start sewing some easy projects for summer? This bucket hat comes in five sizes (for kids and adults) and looks cute sewn in summer-themed fabrics! I used the free sewing pattern and tutorial from Apple Green Cottage, and will include my tips and tricks below. I hope you have a fun time sewing this project!

Skills Learned: Sewing curves, basic machine sewing

Skill Level: Advanced Beginner

Finished Size: Various: Baby, Kids, Teen, Adult, Adult XL

Fabric & Cutting Directions:

Main Fabric: 1/2 yard (.46m). I used:

• 1160-11 Blue |Seagulls

Lining Fabric: 1/2 yard (.46m). I used:

• 1158-18 Multi | Surf Boards

Cut the Main and Lining Pieces

1) Print the free hat pattern and cut out the crown, sides, and brim pieces in the desired size. Use the paper pattern to cut out the fabric pieces. For the crown, you’ll cut 1 main fabric and 1 lining fabric piece. For the sides and brim, cut 2 main fabrics and 2 lining fabric pieces. Be sure to cut on the fold as indicated on the pattern piece.

2) Pair the matching sides and brim pieces. With right sides of the fabric facing, sew the pairs together along both short sides to make a total of 4 fabric loops. Press the seams open.

3) Working with the main fabric first, pick up the crown piece. Fold it in half and then in half again and finger press the folds to make creases. Use these creases to line up the crown with the main fabric sides loop. The seams should line up with one set of creases. Use 4 sewing clips to clip the front, back, and sides of the crown to the loop; the right sides of the fabrics should be facing each other. Use additional clips to secure the pieces together, making small snips as needed around the top of the loop.

4) Stitch around the clipped edges in a circle around the crown piece.

5) Repeat steps 3 and 4 with the lining sides and crown pieces.

6) On both the main fabric and lining fabric crown/sides pieces, press the seam away from the crown. Topstitch 1/8” away from the crown around the perimeter of the seam to give a professional finish.

7) Take the main fabric hat and the coordinating brim loop. Fold the hat into fourths again and finger-press the seams. Repeat with the brim loop. Line up the seam and creases, using clips to secure them together at the top, bottom, and sides. Add small snips into the brim piece along the clipped edge to gently smooth these pieces together for a perfect fit, adding additional clips as you go.

8) Stitch around the clipped edges in a circle around the brim.

9) Repeat steps 7 and 8 with the lining hat and brim pieces.

10) On both the main and lining hats, press the seam away from the sides (toward the brim). Topstitch 1/8” away from the seam around the perimeter to give a professional finish.

Assemble the Hat

11) Turn the Outer hat right side out. Place the lining on top of that, so the right sides of the fabric are touching. Clip together around the brim, making sure the seams align.

12) Stitch all around the clipped edges, leaving a 3” gap for turning.

13) Turn the hat right side out through the turning gap. You can use a blunt pencil or turning tool to gently push out the edges. Use your fingers to roll and smooth out the brim, adding clips as you go.

14) Next, add rows of topstitching around the hat brim. You can start by sewing 1/8” from the brim, then stitching another row, leaving a ¼” gap, until you’ve sewn 4 to 5 rows. Press the hat. The hat is reversible, so you can wear it either way you’d like!

That’s it! When sewing this tutorial, I chose to make the hats one size larger than the pattern lists, to leave room for shrinkage. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and gained the confidence needed to sew a bucket hat! This is my first time sewing anything like this, and it went really well. I didn’t need to use nearly as many “snips” into the brim and side pieces to make them fit, I’d highly recommend using sewing clips rather than pins for fitting curved fabric pieces together. Happy sewing!

Fabric Details:

SKUs used for hat #2 as shown in final photo:
Main Fabric: 1162-60 Teal |Fish
Lining fabric:1163-88 Red |Cars

To view the complete Henry Glass & Co. Surf’s Up by Barb Tourtillotte click here.

To find a retailer near you click here.

Learn more about Lindsay here.