Fleece Hat Tutorial

Don't fret over complicated patterns for fleece hats. Here is all you need to know. This is the most flexible project with endless options for personal embellishment. It's warm, cozy, washable. It's easy to gift because one size fits most. It's customizable to your personal size if you wish. It's inexpensive and fun to make. What are you waiting for, let's sew it!

You will need less than a yard of fleece. You may use polar fleece or anti-pill fleece. You need to use some kind of fleece because it's got a bit of stretch to it. A non-stretchy fabric will come out too small and tight. There are only two pieces to cut. First let's cut a circle, which will be the tip top crown of the hat. To make it easier, use a plate as a guide for a near to perfect circle. This is a salad size plate. You can trim it smaller later so err on the side of large. As you can see, my fleece is folded so the circle will be two layers. You could make it one layer but I like it best as a double layer, because the rest of the hat is a double layer too.
My salad plate gave me a 9 inch circle measurement.
Your other piece is a large rectangle of fleece. Cut it 23 inches across by 19 inches tall. This is one size fits most (women). If you want to measure your head around at the forehead, you can use that measurement plus an inch for seam allowance. The hat will have a bit of stretch. And there is hair to consider! After you cut this piece, you will fold it, right sides together, across along the wide side. So you'll have a folded rectangle that is still 19 inches tall.
Sew the circles together, rights sides out. I allow a half inch or less seam allowance. I use a medium weight fabric needle. Sewing fleece is usually easy but can be tricky if your fleece layers are slipping around. Use your fingers to help hold the layers in alignment as you sew. I use a simple straight stitch. This is making the top of your hat, and also the inside top of your hat.
Next sew the open edge of your big rectangle. You can use a straight stitch or a zig zag stitch. Personally I haven't noticed much difference so I use the straight stitch. The two ends of the rectangle are open, so at the end of this stitching, you will have a tube, where the right side of the fleece is inside. The tube is still 19 inches tall.
Next, fold the tube in half so that the right sides of the fleece now show. Align the seams. Check the open edges all around so the folded tube is even. You can see in the photo, where you are looking at the softest, folded edge. The other side is the open raw edges, which are not yet sewn. This soft part will be the brim to fold up later.
Here comes the critical part of the instructions! Pin the circle piece to the open raw edges of the top of the tube piece. I am one to skip the pinning part of sewing instructions. But this isn't one of those you can skip. You've got to pin this circle to fine tune the edges or else your hat will be lumpy and frumpy. First pin at the seam and opposite, to start lining up a good fit.
Next, continue on, pinning all around the circle. As you see in this photo, my pinned hat has a few ruffles or bumps or puffs. We want those to go away or else when you sew, you'll end up with too much circle for the tube. It will make a big crease in your hat.
To smooth out the fit, take out a pin here and there and re-pin it farther in, so the extra circle fabric hangs over like extra pie crust over the rim of the pie plate. You don't want the fit to be stretched to pin, just comfortably and relatively smooth.
Here I have flipped over my pinned hat so you can see the extra bit. I prefer to sew before trimming.
Sew with a half inch or less seam allowance, again being cautious to keep the fleece layers aligned. Make sure to remove the pins as you go.
This photo also shows a good view of the extra bit hanging out there, but my main circle is well aligned along my line of pins.
Now that the pieces are attached, I trim the circle top. You don't need to use pinking sheers if you don't have them. You could sew this edge a second time after trimming it, to make it clean and neat. I find that it isn't necessary and that a little bit of edge left, actually helps the top seam look clean at the end. This part will be the inside of the hat.
It's time to turn the hat right side out. Admire the nice, clean seam along the circle where the pieces fit perfectly together.
Turn up the brim to your taste. I don't sew the brim in place because I find it fits much better if I adjust it each time I put the hat on. Also, some days you might want to pull the brim lower to keep your ears warm. Other days you might want it too be higher for a neater look.
Your hat is finished. But why not take it another step and personalize it with your own embellishments? Today I used some fabric flowers on mine. I learned how to make them at One Pretty Thing, which referenced a tutorial at Everyday Chaos.
You can also do needle felting on fleece, as I did last year on this ivory fleece hat.
Ribbon is cute on kids hats. This hat I made for my daughter gets loads of compliments.
Here are two hats for my daughter and my niece. I used red wool roving to needle felt the ribbon shapes.
It's pretty much anything you want for embellishments. I recommend still leaving the brim free, not sewn to the hat, for sizing. But it does make it easier to add embellishments on such a nice wide double layer brim.

Have a cozy winter!