Dulce Taylor: DIY Sun Hat -- Sewing Tutorial

Welcome to Part 2 of DIY Sun Hat!  Monday, I showed you how to make a pattern for your hat, and today I will show you how to make the hat!

You will need 1/2 yd. of fabric for the outside of the hat (if you want a waterproof rain hat, use oilcloth), 1/2 yd. of fabric for the lining of the hat, and 3/4 yd. of light weight fusible interfacing (for a sturdier brim, get a heavier weight interfacing).

For my hat, I will be using a pretty green and black fabric for the outside of the hat and a simple cream fabric for the lining.

Like I said yesterday, you can use the whole pattern and lay your fabric out in one big sheet. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to use only half of my pattern. Use the following layout to cut out your pattern pieces for both the outside and lining fabrics:

Cut out two brims in each fabric, one top (cut on fold) and one long rectangular crown piece.

For the interfacing, you will need to cut out four brims.

Now that you've got your fabric cut out...let's get started! .

Take your two outside brims and place them right side down on your ironing board. Iron on two pieces of the fusible interfacing according to the interfacing instructions. Do the same with the inside lining brims and the other two pieces of interfacing.

1. It's sewing time!  (a) Start with your long, rectangular crown pieces. Lay the outside piece right side down and then place the lining piece on top, right side up. (b) Fold the pieces in half with the outside piece on the inside of the fold. (c & d) Pin the ends together and stitch along the line you pin using a 1/2" seam allowance. (e) Finish seam. (Whenever I tell you to finish the seam in this tutorial, you can either use your serger, or, if you don't have a serger, you can use a zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine.)

2. Now, (a) pin the wrong sides of the two circular top pieces together. (b) Stitch around the edges using your serger or a zig zag stitch. (c) Pin the crown piece to the top piece with the the right sides together. (d) Stitch around the edges, using a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Finish the seam. (e) Press the seam allowance down along the crown and clip any curved edges.

3. (a) Take the two outside brims and place them together with the right sides facing each other. (b & c) Sew along the two straight edges and finish the seams. (d) Do the same thing to the two lining pieces.

4. (a) Open up the lining brim to make a full circle. Lay it with the recently sewn seams down. Open up the other brim and lay it on top of the lining brim, right side down. Make sure you line up the seams. (b) Pin around the outside circle of the brim and stitch using a 1/2" seam allowance. (c) Turn inside out and press. (d) Topstitch over the edge of the brim.

(a) Serge both brims together on the inside circle. (b) Also serge the un-sewn sides of the crown together. (c) Now, pin the crown to the inside circle of the brim. (If the brim is too wide for the crown, try pleating the brim evenly around the crown so that it does fit.) Make sure you pin the right sides together. (d) Sew along the inside of the brim using 1/2" seam allowance.

And there's your hat! Wear it proudly!

Dulce