Sewing

Monkey Bucket Hat

September 4, 2012

Monkey + Hat

The pattern for this hat comes from the book ‘Oliver + S Little Things to Sew’. I had wanted this book for ages and finally bought it a couple of months ago, yet I chose to make a pattern you can download for free (here) as my first project. It’s a fantastic book though and I have several other projects bookmarked to make at some point. Casper was very taken with the quilt and I also love the design but I think it’ll be a while before I get to that.

Monkey Bucket Hat on Rowan

I’ve seen so many versions of this hat that I love and it seemed like a great use for Rowan’s personalised Monkey fabric. His head measured 19½” so I made the medium, which fits really well. That size is supposed to fit a child aged 3-5 and Rowan is not quite 20 months but big heads run in my family. He is really pleased with his hat and wears it all the time. He also plays with cars all the time – he is obsessed with them at the moment.

Monkey Bucket Hat

To avoid hand sewing I used this great tutorial by Jessica from A Little Gray, which works brilliantly. Even with this shortcut the hat still took me 5 or 6 hours to sew – if you’ve made one I’m interested to know how long it took you. Am I the slowest ever? I certainly won’t be making a Monkey sized version like I did for the pyjama bottoms.

Monkey Hat and Monkey

The pattern works best with non-directional prints and is reversible. I think it’s worth the time to have a well fitting hat that looks great. I used the co-ordinating green that I ordered from Spoonflower for the inside. Abby from Things for Boys had the great idea of using a penny farthing stamp and a fabric ink stamp to create a directional pattern on the hat pieces that works with the curves before sewing – you can see her version here.

Of course everyone needs a hat that co-ordinates with their pyjamas. He even chose a colour co-ordinating book, shame about the smile.

Monkey Bucket Hat and Monkey PJs

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8 Comments

  • Reply kristin September 5, 2012 at 1:42 am

    i love that you’ve been using that special monkey fabric – it melts my heart! very cute hat. i think i’ve got these down to 2-3 hours but i didn’t time myself last time. i’ve made quite a few though…like 5 or 6. 😉

    • Reply Laura September 8, 2012 at 1:20 pm

      Thanks Kristin. I love making things in this fabric for him, there’s still a fair bit left too. Hopefully after I’ve made a few more of the hats I can get the time down nearer to 2-3 hours.

  • Reply abby September 5, 2012 at 5:47 am

    Another great use for the monkey fabric! I think I had to make the size 3 – 5 for Roman when he was 18mo too…big headed boys we have! Maybe Rowan was scared the crocodile was going to eat him. 😉

    • Reply Laura September 8, 2012 at 1:22 pm

      Big heads indeed. Casper needs the size 6-8 and he’s not even 4 yet. Your crocodile comment made me laugh 🙂

  • Reply Inder September 5, 2012 at 7:57 am

    I love the fabric, and the hat looks great! I really want to try that pattern, even though Joe pretty much refuses to wear a hat … maybe for the baby? Soooooo cute. 🙂

    • Reply Laura September 8, 2012 at 1:23 pm

      Hopefully Joe will be so impressed with the fabric you choose he’ll be delighted to wear it. Otherwise, definitely try it for your baby.

  • Reply Sandra :) September 8, 2012 at 6:30 am

    I made the hat a month ago for our soon-to-be-2-years-old great nephew, to wear next summer. I made the same size as you did, hoping it wouldn’t be TOO too big. If it fits your (gorgeous!) little guy, it should fit Shawn as well – fingers crossed! I don’t know how long it took me to sew it but it was certainly SEVERAL hours – I had never sewn a hat before so I went at a snails pace, biting my nails the whole time, lol. It was actually very simple, but definitely time consuming! I can’t wait to make more of them – I’d love to make matching hats for the 4 greats on hubby’s side of the family – I think that would be a hoot!

    • Reply Laura September 8, 2012 at 1:28 pm

      Thanks Sandra, good to hear it’s not just me taking ages. They are definitely worth it though aren’t they. As soon as I had finished my eldest son asked for one for him so I have at least one more to make soon, hopefully the time will come down. Fingers crossed it fits your great nephew too. Matching hats for all the greats would be brilliant.

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