Sew a Beanie Hat – Slouchy Hat Tutorial

Learn how to sew a beanie hat with this sewing tutorial. Detailed instructions with video.

Hey y’all – today I’m sharing a tutorial showing you how to make a beanie hat. This is a super simple sewing project. These seriously take like 10 minutes each to sew, making them a perfect last minute gift. (Ask me how I know – because I sewed the bird hat about 10 minutes before this photo shoot). So, whether you want a quick gift or just a warm head, let’s see how to sew a beanie hat.

Materials

To sew a beanie like this, you need stretch fabric. There are many different types that will work, but you can’t make a beanie without knit fabric. Luckily, as long as your sewing machine can do a stretch stitch (like a zigzag) you can sew these without ever picking up a ball of yarn or knitting needles.

I used Idle Wild Knits (95% cotton 5% spandex jersey knit) to make these hats. You’ll need 1/2 – 3/4 yds because the knit stretches most from selvedge to selvedge, but once you get that amount you can make two hats out of it. Other fabrics that could work are double brushed polyester jersey, stretch fleece (make sure it stretches at least 30%), and stretch French terry (again, with at least 30% stretch). Or you might want to upcycle a beanie from an old sweater – I can see a wool sweater making an especially warm beanie. If you’d like to know more about knit fabrics, see this post.

In addition to fabric, you’ll also need your sewing machine, scissors and thread. For more about how to choose your sewing needles, see this post. If you have questions about sewing thread, see this post. And for more on stretch stitches, see this post.

I have two options for the pattern to make this beanie hat – you can either draft your own pattern with the very specific directions below, or you can buy the PDF pattern from my shop. The digital sewing pattern includes all the sizes preemie – men as well as the printable sewing pattern instructions. To buy it, you can use the button below or visit my shop here.

Drafting the Pattern

To make your pattern, first divide the head circumference for the size you need by 4. Then draw a rectangle that is equal to 1/4 the head circumference wide by the height listed below for the size you need.

Head Circumferences
NB = 14 inches, Baby = 16 inches, Toddler = 17 inches, Child = 19 inches, Tween = 20 inches, Teens/Women = 21 inches, Men = 23 inches

Hat height
NB/Baby = 8 inches, Toddler = 9 inches, Child = 10 inches, Tween = 11 inches, Teens/Women/Men – 12 inches

After you draw your rectangle, round off the top right corner, then draw a dart that extends down 1/4 of the hat height and 5/8 inch in from the top left corner (left diagram above). Then use that piece as a template; flip it along the vertical dart edge and trace again, then flip the whole hat pattern piece down along the bottom edge and trace both sides again.

Another option – instead of drawing out the whole pattern and cutting it from a single layer of fabric as shown above, just draft the part from top right part of the diagram above. Then fold your fabric once horizontally and once vertically.

Place the template at the folded corner so that one side and the bottom are on folds and cut around it. When you unfold your fabric it will look like the one below, with a total of 4 darts.

Now I’ve got both a video and written tutorial for you to follow – whichever you prefer. If the video below won’t load for some reason, you can watch how to sew a beanie hat on YouTube here.

How to Make a Beanie Hat

After you’ve cut out your pattern from the fabric, you’ll have 4 darts you need to sew.

Sew the darts on the pattern as shown above and below, using 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Clip into the angled end of each dart so you can press them open flat as shown above and below.

Fold the hat in half, right sides together, matching the darts. Sew around the open edges, leaving an opening on the long side for turning. Make sure to use a stretch stitch; see tips for sewing knits here.

Turn the hat through the opening.

Push half of the hat as lining into the rest of the hat. The last step is to pin the opening together and sew it shut with a blind ladder stitch. 

Now you have a fully reversible hat, so you can fold up as much or as little of the brim as you choose to make a cuff.

And they even work in mommy and me sets!

More Beanie Hat Ideas

If you’d like to add a pom pom to the top of the hat, you’ll want to pin the pom pom between the darts on one side before your fold the hat in half and sew all the way around. Make sure to catch the yarn tail from the pom pom in the seam. The side you sew the pom pom to will be the top of the beanie when you turn everything right side out. Atelier North has some pretty examples with fur poms on her Instagram.

If you’d like to make the inside of your hat a contrasting fabric to the outside, it’s easy. Just add a seam allowance to the bottom edge of your template, then cut one on the fold of one fabric and the other on the fold of another. the first construction step will be to sew these together along that straight edge, then you’ll proceed to sew following the directions above. If you fold a cuff this way, it will show the contrasting fabric.

Happy sewing!