Simple Reversable Hat With Accessories

Do you or someone in your household struggle to find something that keeps your head warm yet preserves your need for accessories? Look no further! This snug, reversible hat offers head round warmth and the opportunity to express yourself along the way. While my particular styling here is for a wee girl who will not wear a hat unless it speaks to her, you can use this idea to add whatever you need to a hat to get someone to wear it.

This instructable shows you how to put together a cute kitty ear hat that reverses into a super flexible 'be what you want to be today just wear a hat' hat with minimal sewing.

For those of you who do not wish to add anything to your hat but are just looking for a cheap warm hat, then skip to Step 5 where I put the hat together.

2 cheap open face balaclavas (found mine at Dollarama for about $2)

Extra polar fleece fabric for ears (I got a scarf from Dollarama the same colour as the hat)

Light coloured fabric/fabric paint

Fabric pencil

Scissors

Sewing Machine (or hand sew - not too much involved if you don't have one)

Anything else you would like to attach to a hat (while keeping in mind that it is reversible - antlers are not going to work......unless they are detachable.......

I chose ears as my permanent hat feature as they are soft and small, and will not bother the wearer when the hat is reversed.

Start by identifying what sort of ears you want and where you want them. I put the hat on the owner to be and used a kitty ear headband we already had to gauge the best spot. Mark the approximate start/finish of each ear location. The length of this line will be determined by the size of ears/horns/whatever you are making and can be adjusted to fit.

Draw (or find on google) the ear shape that you want, plus a half a cm or more in seam allowance onto a piece of paper and cut out. Fold your extra piece of polar fleece in half and using your pattern, cut out two sets of ears.

If you dont have paint and want to add a lighter coloured piece of fabric inside each ear, cut these out now, and sew onto to the front piece. If you are not a huge fan of sewing like me, you can paint these on later.

Turn the two sets of ears inside out (good side of fabric facing good side of fabric) and carefully sew around the edge of the two sides that make the ear shape, leaving a cm or so at the bottom of each side so that you can attach it onto the hat easily. The smaller your seam allowance the less bulky the ears will be.

Check the size of your ears against the lines you have drawn on your hat (this is a good time to check the location as well - will your ears look good there?) Make any adjustments then cut two slits into the hat along the lines. These need to be long enough to push the ears up into so they sit inside the slit where you want them to be.

If you are painting details onto the ears, now is a good time to do it - remember the bottom cm or so of the ear will be inside the hat.

Turn the hat (with the ears inside the slits) inside out and pin the cut edge of the hat to the edge of the ear. If you have a clever sewing machine you may now be able to sew the ears onto the hat. If you have a $10-from-your-local-second-hand-shop sewing machine like me, you will do a bit of cursing, then set to and hand sew the ears on. Turn your hat back in the right way and voila! Cat ears!

The idea for the second hat was being able to use all our existing hair accessories while still using the hat. Using the kitten ear headband I marked on where the ears were, then cut two holes just before the ears to poke the legs of the head band though into the hat.

You could make additional holes for hairclips if you needed.

Turn one hat inside out and stuff it up side the other. Pin the two hats together around the bottom and around the face hole. It is a good idea to line up any seams and work from there.

Sew the two hats together, making sure not to pull on the fabric too much or it will pucker. Snip off any loose threads and you are done!

Congratulations, now enjoy!

Other thoughts: If you want to make a pony tail hole in the top, mark and cut it before you sew the two hats together. Tie your pony tail where you want it, put the hat on and mark it, then cut a suitable sized hole in the same location in both hats. You could probably add a drawstring it close the hole up if you wanted! More sewing that I want to do though :)