This cap is super easy and quick to make and takes minimal fabric. I have lots of photos and suggestions included in this pattern. I hope you like it! Please feel free to send along any questions.
Use either a quarter yard (9"x 42") or a fat quarter (18"x 21")
Materials:
- Minimum 9" x 42" OR a fat quarter (18"x 21") cotton fabric (WASHED & IRONED)
- 51" of double fold bias tape (if you don't have double fold, you can fold and iron single fold bias)
- fabric scissors or rotary cutter
- pins
- sewing machine
- thread
- iron
- (optional) serger
Method:
Print these 2 pattern pages: Make sure you check the measurements to see if your printer is coming up with the correct sizing. The lines that run to the tops of the pages should actually do that when you print them out.
Fold your TOP PATTERN along the "FOLD PAPER" line and cut out. Open it up.
Cut out your SIDE PATTERN.
Lay pattern pieces on your fabric with the "Fabric is folded along this edge" along the folded edge. The first picture below is laid out for 9" of fabric. The second picture is how it would be laid out for a Fat Quarter. Make sure the grain of the fabric is along the fold of the TOP PATTERN and that the folded edge of the SIDE PATTERN lines up with a horizontal fold.
Cut out the folded SIDE piece first and then open your fabric to cut out your single TOP (OPTION: leave double layered if you plan to make 2 caps!) I found it helpful to leave everything and move myself around to the opposite end of my work to make it easier to cut. By the way, I love my rotary cutter!
Either mark and pin the centre of your TOP (where the pattern was folded) or iron to make a crease to help you see the centre. Either way, mark the centre of your side piece along the curvy edge. This should be where the crease is from your fabric being folded.
Start pinning here with WRONG sides facing. Match the centre of the TOP and the centre of the SIDE. Pin all the way along the curvy side of your SIDE together with the TOP doing the best you can to align the edges perfectly.
Trim off any of the uneven edges so corners line up along the BACK edge of the cap.
Before:
After:
Sew carefully using a 1/4" seam along the U shape where your pins are leaving the back part open. Make sure you keep the edges lined up with the fabric nice and taut to help with that. Remove the pins before your needle goes over them!
If you have a serger, you can serge along the raw edges or you can use a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine to help keep the scraggly ends tucked away.
Use your iron to press the hem towards the SIDE. I used a tailor's pressing ham to help with this. Or you can use a big rolled up pair of cotton socks.
Measure along the back to double check how much bias tape you will need. My entire back length (side + top + side) was 8.5".
A trick with bias tape. It always seems to come with one edge that is a little skinnier. Sew with this side facing up as often as possible. It will minimize the error of accidentally "falling off" your bias tape on the bottom side that you cannot see.
Cut off this amount of bias tape and sew it to finish off the back edge. Trim both ends so they line up with the fabric perfectly.
The remainder of your bias tape will be the ties and the binding that finishes off the rest of the cap. Find the centre of your bias tape and match it to the top centre of your cap. Depending on how much bias tape you have left, mark on your bias tape where the cap ends and the ties start. For me, this was at 10".
At the beginning of this end, tuck in the bias tape a little and start sewing with the open edge facing LEFT.
When you are within 1.5 inches of your marking, pick up your cap and insert it at the mark. Hang onto it with your fingers!
Keep sewing along your tie. When you come to the back and the bias tape you sewed earlier, make sure the first bias tape from the back is tucked nicely into the join you are making and keep sewing. Keep going a little at a time along the sides of the U all the way around.
You will run into the other end of your back edge bias. Sew this up nice and tucked in and then sew the rest of the tie remembering to tuck in the little bit at the end like you did the first time. That's it!
