Happiness comes in little bits

I was chatting with Heather the other night and we were talking about how our blogs have changed over the years. We realized that we have both pared back on the posting that we both do, and while I reflected on our own blogging habits, I honestly think that that is a common theme in our little community here on the web. Summers are busy and life is full ...you know how it is.

Well after I finished chatting with Heather, I got to thinking. I thought about this space and how it has evolved. Looking back, one of the things that I realized is that my lack of crafty posts in this new space is evident when compared to my old site. And while I do think that it has something to do with the amount of tutorials that I do for Laura and my shop, I also found that I miss sharing crafts here.
You know that I have always had a thing for hats. Pilot caps are a fave of mine in particular. If fact, looking back on when I started painting my little baby watercolors this past spring, the common theme to my babes was a pilot cap, inspired by those sweet little Hanna Andersson caps and knitted ones that I had seen online.
And while I do like those Hanna Andersson caps very, very much; I wanted one with a pointed front and one that would be a bit warmer for Hayden for the upcoming winter. I have tried a few times to knit up one for him but I had a really hard time with the stitches that make that peak at the front. I also wanted the option of having it be reversible, so that it could be two hats in one. So, I decided to sew up one. And I am sharing it here.

Reversible pilot cap tutorial

SO here is to more crafty sharing here. Who knows, maybe I will even start back up The Sewing Bee.

Materials:
High quality flannel fabric.
High quality cotton fabric
2- 9 inch long pieces of ribbon.
pins
sewing machine
Pattern template pieces.

Directions.

After downloading the separate template patten file HERE.

Note: This tutorial was done using a newborn size.

The pattern is designed to print at 100%. Filling a standard 8.5 X 11 inch page of paper.

The pattern pieces printed at 100% on 8.5 X 11 inch printer paper is sized to fit a newborn.

This pattern and tutorial are very easy to modify for different sized babies as follows.

If you are sewing for a 2-4 month old you would add ⅓ inch to every perimeter edge of the pattern pieces.

If you are sewing for a 4-6 month old you would add ⅔ inch to every perimeter edge of the pattern pieces.

If you are sewing for a 6-9 month old you would add 1 inch to every perimeter edge of the pattern pieces.

If you are sewing for a 9-12 month old you would add 1 ⅓ inch to every perimeter edge of the pattern pieces.

Please remember that all babies are different and that these measurements might need some adjustments to make a perfect fit for your baby.

Cut out your pattern pieces, tape the middle piece #2 to the bottom of middle piece #1, you will be left with 2 pieces that look like this. The long piece will be referred to as the middle piece, the other piece will be referred to as the side piece.

Use these two pattern pieces to cut out your desired fabric. Being that winter is coming, I decided to use a cotton fabric and a cotton flannel. Cut out 2 sides and 1 middle of each fabric.

To assemble the hat, you will stitch the coordinating pieces together as follows.

The dotted line of the green paisley fabric side piece labeled “B1” will be pinned to the dotted line of the green paisley middle piece.

You will be left with this.

Make sure that the right sides are together and that the point of the middle piece is NOT stitched to the side piece.

Stitch the two pieces together using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Repeat with the other side piece of the green paisley fabric side labeled “B2” pinning and then stitching that piece to the middle piece as well.

Your cap will now look like this.

Turn the cap right side out.

Repeat all of the steps above for the flannel fabric pieces.

Turn the flannel cap part inside out.

Insert the green paisley cap part into the flannel cap part.

Make sure that the two parts of the cap are facing right sides together. Pin and stitch the flannel to the paisley part of the hat at the front of the cap as shown. Make sure that the point of the cap is at the center and that all of your seams line up. Use a ¼ inch seam allowance.

You will now be left with this.

Turn the cap right side out and tuck the flannel fabric into the green paisley fabric as shown.

Now it’s starting to look like a cap!

Fold in the rough edges at bottom of the cap. Press with an iron.

Insert the end of one of the ribbon pieces into the fold at the bottom back of the hat.

Pin each ribbon onto place. It will look like this.

Secure the ribbons and close the opening at the back of the bottom of the cap by stitching it closed using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

For a reference, Hayden is modeling the newborn size of this cap in the following photos. Hayden is a very substantial, 13lb 2 month old and the hat is snug on his little noggin.