Sewing Bee Fabrics Tutorial
How To Sew A Baby Flower Bonnet
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Now spring has sprung, what better way to dress for it than a baby flower bonnet hat! It's super easy to make.... The hard part is convincing the baby to wear it! I decided to use a couple of baby clothes she'd grown out of to make this a fun upcycling / refashioning project.
What You Will Need:
Knit fabric or an old baby vest and leggings like I used or even an old T-shirt would do.
How To Make It:
Add fold over elastic as bias binding to the front edge leaving enough at either side to tie under the chin. Sew those ends too so that it is fixed in half. You can either tuck the raw ends inside , or I just used a little fray check to stop it fraying at the ends. I find it easier to sew fold over elastic with a bias binding foot, as you can concentrate more on getting a stretch on the elastic without worrying about letting it accidentally slip out of place. Â
To make your petals, keep in mind that an odd number will always look better than even. I used 7 petals for my flower bonnet. So take your width measurement and divide that by 7. Add 2 seam allowances and that's the width you need to draw your petal pattern. Cut out your petal shape 14 times.
Sew seams around the edges of all the petals leaving the base open. Sew your 2 petal pieces right sides together leaving open the base. I chain stitched mine to save time here (simply lift the needle and presser foot and slide the next piece under once you've sewn one so they form a chain of petals. That way you only need to snip the thread once in the centre of each. It'll be turned inside out so you don't need cut your thread flush to the fabric).
Turn them all right side out (use a chopstick or similar to get your petal point to come out if you need to). Now turn your open edge under so the raw edges are inside and top stitch around the edges. I added a little detail to the petals too. I chain stitched these too.
Now is the time to add your fabric stiffener or starch to your petals. This will help them to hold their shape. Press them flat after starching.
Attach your petals to a second piece of fold over elastic by sewing it to one edge about 1/4 inch in at most. I initially planned to shape them a bit but when I started sewing it was far easier to keep them flat than try to negotiate holding a pleat still on moving elastic! The fold over elastic was a little longer than the bonnet front, as it makes it easier to attach them with a bit to spare. Just be careful not to stretch between the petals as you sew.
Now place your bonnet right side up then push the front of your petals against it. Then, using a wide zigzag stitch, sew the 2 together.
Lastly, pull the fold over elastic back over the right side of the bonnet and stitch it down firstly as close to the petals as you can, then stitch the free edge down to neaten it. At the 2 ends, either tuck the raw edges under or use a little fray check again. Now just pull into shape and it's finished!Â
And here is my little cutie modelling it for me.
What do you think? Just for dress up or an every day sun hat?! Have you made a baby hat?
We hope you enjoy our tutorials and love hearing what you think so please leave us a comment or send me an email to linda@sewingbeefabrics.co.uk
Happy Sewing!
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This is super cute!! Thanks for submitting to DIY Crush! It just got published!
Thank you. That’s brilliant 😀
I have very fond memories of a daffodil hat my mother made me for a school play. I loved that hat. The petals make your bonnet so sweet.
Thank you Pam. Your hat sounds so cute! My bonnet my mum made me had lots of the fluffy easter chicks and paper flowers glued on all over! It’s got to be done hasn’t it!!!