How to Sew a Cute Cloche Hat

Intro: How to Sew a Cute Cloche Hat

I love vintage hats - and this Instructable is inspired by the cloche hats of the 1920s! Cloches were close-fitting hats that were worn quite low - almost down to the eyebrows. They were made in a variety of styles from brimless to turned-up brims. They only cost between $1 and $5 back then! This hat in the Instructable is quite easy to make - so let's get started.

STEP 1: Materials Needed for DIY Cloche Hat & Pattern

Materials Needed:

• half a yard of premium felt (or other material for hat)
• sewing machine(I use the Brother CS600i - and love it)
• hand-sewing needle, thread & pins
• scissors or rotary cutting tool & mat (I highly recommend this if you do a lot of sewing and cutting)
• pattern
• *optional: starch (I used Sta-Flo liquid starch)

Before You Begin:

First, you can download the pattern piece in this step and print and cut them out.

Update!!! I've finally uploaded a PDF version of the pattern pieces that you can download. Just be careful that when you go to print out, you do not hit any special settings like "fit to frame," - just print it the size that it is. You will know it's the accurate size after printing it out and putting a ruler next to the ruler grid on the pattern pieces. It will be accurate or true-to-size.

The hat I made is for a head size approximately 21 1/2 inches. If you need to increase the hat size, you can do so by adding material to the ends of the pattern pieces. This tutorial here on increasing or decreasing a hat size pattern may help you.

The large flower on the hat I created was made from an online tutorial and free pattern download here. Thank you so much to Joy Kelley for the pattern for the beautiful felt camellias!

Holly Mann is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

STEP 2: Cut Out the Pieces

First, cut out all the pattern pieces. Then, take the Hat crown front piece, wrong-side up and pin it to the hat top piece, also wrong-side up. Head over to the sewing machine and use a 1/2 inch seam allowance and stitch the pieces together. Once done, then turn it right-side out.

While still at the sewing machine with the material right-side out - look underneath the stitching to see the direction in which the under part of the seam is facing. Move it to one side (your choice as to left or right) and put the presser foot down. I chose to push the under part of the seam towards the back part of the hat (left). I then did a topstitch to the left of where the two pieces are joined (see image) while carefully pulling the material so there wouldn't be any bulges. Doing this creates a really nice finished-look for the hat, while also smoothing and flattening out the seams.

STEP 3: Finishing Up the Main Part of the Hat

Now set that piece aside for a moment. Take the back crown piece and the back top piece. Lay them out as you see in my images - and pin them together. The back crown piece is the bigger piece. Sew them just as you did with the front crown and top pieces. It will get more difficult to do the top-stiching once you get to this point - so just take your time and be careful with it.

Once done,  the four pieces will be connected as follows: front crown piece, front top, back top and back crown piece. The crown pieces are larger. Try the hat on to see how it fits and lies on your head. If you prefer how it looks as it is - great. You may find that if you flip it so the back crown piece is in the front that you like how it looks that way - either way is fine. The main hat base is now completed!

Also, if for some reason the hat is slightly more snug than you prefer - you can get it damp (spray the inside with water) and put it on your head to sort of re-form it and stretch it a little bit.

STEP 4: Adding the Brim

For this step, cut out the pattern piece for the brim. Have a pin ready as well as a needle and thread. Fold the tapered end in half (see image) and then in half again and pinch and pin it. Then sew that little end up - an inch and a 1/2 starting at the end. Then get more pins ready and start at one side of the hat. I started at the right front side of the hat and began pinning the brim on. It helps to pin the very end on first and then try the hat one and move the brim around to see how you like it. Some people may like it lower and others higher. Pin and try it on before your final pinning. Once you like the placement, then you'll need to sew it on. As you can see in the photos, you are only sewing it on from the top part of the brim. The bottom part will fold up.

The end of the brim will not be totally secured down. So you can also move it around how you like it and if you like, do just one or two small stitches to secure it onto the hat. I think it looks better this way - otherwise it may stick out awkwardly.

STEP 5: Sewing the Flowers On

Now for the fun part! Time to cut out flowers and get them ready and then sew it on. I basically tried the hat on again after sewing the flowers and held the flowers to the side to determine where to pin it on. Once pinned and I was happy with the placement, I then hand-sewed them onto the side. If you didn't download the pattern for the flowers, it is available on Joy Kelley's website here - thank you Joy!

Next, before I forget to add this - you can fold the back side under about 1/2 inch or less and sew it under. It's also fine if you leave it un-sewn - that is up to you.

Now for the last step - if you have some starch to spray onto your hat to stiffen it up a little bit, that will help the hat keep its shape and stability.

STEP 6: Finished Product

The cloche hat doesn't take too long to make. Once you have the basic hat shape - the fun thing is that you have unlimited options for customizing it the way you like it! It's fun wearing it too because you don't see these hats everyday - a lot of people have complimented. But my son still says he doesn't like it and it's not my style! I think it is - and I love it! :) Time to make some more...:)

Comments

[Evelyn Walker]

I have sewn this hat ,but not happy w/ the outcome. It's not round .I've read the instructions @ least 10 times and can't figure out what missed.
I realize it's been 6 months since I cut it.I think I've realized the problem . There are 2 instructions for a cloche hat and reading the wrong one, for the wrong hat.

[Evelyn Walker]

Thank you so very much.

[reyna053165]

What is the scale of the pattern? Is in inches? I tried cutting it based on inches and it came out too big. So I am trying to figure out what I did wrong.

[CarynB10]

Any idea if this would work with fleece (polar fleece :)? I’d love to try it with some I have leftover from another project. Thanks!

[torijane]

My hat looks awful, totally flat on the top with a wierd brim that doesn't sit right and not nicely shaped like everyone elses (I don't have any felt and was trying a material one). I double checked the instructions but can't see where I went wrong. I also had to guess the size of the pattern when printing as it was really small on the PDF. Maybe this is not my thing. The photos of those who have made them are great though - well done :)

[Lenna]

Hi! I tried to make this hat and wound up with the exact same result you have in your photograph. I’m new to sewing, so I wasn’t sure what I had done wrong, but the hat was more square than head-shaped. Long story short, after a lot of messing around with a mock-up, and very nearly giving up, I’ve found the problem; I was pinning together the wrong sides of the fabric.

Using the front top piece and front crown piece as an example, each piece has a round side and flat side. I was pinning the round side of one, to the round side of the other, when you are meant to pin the flat side of the top piece to the round side of the crown piece.

Everything fell into place instantly, and my mock-up turned out exactly right. I can’t be sure this was the same problem you experienced, but I hope this helps somebody.

[SeaKerr18]

I love the way your hat looks. I was able to screenshot the PDF images put the screen shot on a document and print, and it’s pretty close to actual size. But I do have a couple of questions. First, directions say to put hat crown front wrong side up and pin to hat top front also wrong side up - same as pinning flat with right sides together? Second: am I pinning curved side to curved side? And lastly, when I pin the pieces matching the center point, the pieces are not flush - is that correct? I’m hoping to be successful with this - using the last piece of fabric of my grandmother’s. :)

[itsmeinmn]

Hi! The pattern downloads don’t work - they’re missing parts of the images when the print dialogue opens (the downloads, separate from the instruction booklet, are JPEGs which is probably the issue). Can you please upload PDFs? Thanks!

[beachlvr0168]

If you go down to step 2 and click the download button there it will bring up just the pattern pieces. print at 300% and they should be accurate. check with a ruler against the grid.

[Leekidney]

I would like the pattern as well. What other fabrics would you recommend? What kind of backing do you like to use to make this stiff if using regular fabric?

[NYHYKE]

When I print the pattern it's very tiny. I've tried everything to enlarge it. Do I have to enlarge it myself on graph paper?

[bethmwl]

i downloaded the pdf. Then opened it in Adobe Reader. Clicked print, then clicked fit to page and it all printed nicely for me. Hope you have luck with this.

[AngelaB233]

On my printer, I had to use Fit to Printable Area to fit the pattern to a full size. It allowed me to preview my pattern pages prior to printing. The first time I printed it, it was very small as well. Hope this helps!

[Pjsews]

I love this pattern, but is it for a child or an adult? I can enlarge but would like to know before I start cutting out the pattern.

[Beardedmasker]

Have a friend with cancer, and would like to try this pattern. However, it does not print correctly (with your instructions...the images are not full). It would be better to have the measurements on the images and a link to a full size pattern. Thanks!

[rosenheideblog]

Try this: Open the pattern in PDF, make it 455% bigger. If you hold your ruler on the screen of your PC, it should be accurate. Now you can hold a thin paper on your display and trace the pattern on your paper.
! Do not try to print it out in 455%. That does not work!

[gggilles]

I, too, am unable to print the pattern in its true size. I love this hat and would love to try my attempt at making one. Would you mind emailing me the info so I might print the accurate size, please? Thanks.

[rpalawaga]

Check your printer settings, I had to set mine from default to; fit to paper. It is possible to print this to size.

[JGr33ne]

I cannot print pattern in true size. How can I print it? [e-mail]

[Vacoas]

Are the seam allowances included in the pattern, I understand they are, but just checking.
thanks.