How to make a Cadet-style cap

It's been my experience that finding a good fitting Cadet style hat is difficult and even if you can find one that fits correctly, I've found that there is usually some other problem either with the quality of the manufacturing or something else won't be quite right (crooked bill, uneven tops, etc.) This lead me to create my own, and since it's winter time here I made it out of fleece.

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Step 1: Layout of the main part of the cap

first you need to lay out the fabric and mark it for cutting. Because I created a hat with a special logo on the front my cutting is a bit more complicated, but the basics are as follows:

1. Measure around your head where you want the cap's bottom to be. Write this down somewhere you can get to it later because if you ever want to make more hats you'll appreciate not having to remeasure. For my hats I normally create one strip of fabric 23" long by 5.5" tall (I wear a size Small-Medium hat normally).
2. Using a ruler and a marker or pencil mark your cutting lines on the fabric
3. Cut out the strip(s) of fabric (in my case I made 3 pieces: two 10"x5.5" and one 4"x5.5" but normally I would only make one 23"x5.5" strip)

NOODLE! says: Jun 27, 2011. 10:10 AM

can this be adapted for duct tape?

cwix09 says: Oct 22, 2010. 6:49 AM

What is that cutting tool called?

bicarbon8 (author) in reply to cwix09Dec 17, 2010. 2:41 PM

it is just a rotary cutter... these can be picked up at any arts and crafts store and are great for cutting fabrics like fleece

cwix09 in reply to cwix09Oct 22, 2010. 6:52 AM

and did you use cardstock for the brim or something? and was it pretty sturdy?

bicarbon8 (author) in reply to cwix09Dec 17, 2010. 2:42 PM

yes, it was just cardstock... I wanted a pretty lightweight and flexible brim... if I were to make this hat again I would probably purchase a plastic brim insert from a craft supply store and just cut it down to size.

glorious_goddess says: Aug 27, 2009. 12:36 PM

Really great job - I'm going to try this. Would it be possible to see a photo of the whole hat inside out? And maybe a close-up of the stitching. I need all the help I can get, thanks, g_g

bicarbon8 (author) in reply to glorious_goddessAug 27, 2009. 4:16 PM

thanks for the comment, unfortunately I gave this hat away to my bandmate and so I can't take any more close-up photos. The stitching is all pretty basic straight stitch (no zigzagging) and the spacing really depends on the material you use (fleece needed about a 1/16th inch spacing I think). Hope this helps!