How to Make a Hat From a Cashmere Sweater
It's a pity to waste a cashmere sweater that is too small or has holes in it. To make a warm soft hat, you first felt the sweater in the washing machine. You might have already done this by accident. After the sweater has been felted and dried, use any pattern to cut out the pieces of the hat and sew them together, or make your own pattern by measuring the circumference of your head and sketching out the size and shape of the hat.
Things You'll Need
- 1 or 2 old cashmere sweaters
- Washing machine
- Jeans or athletic shoes
- Large thick towel
- Measuring tape
- Pencil and paper
- Scissors
- Sewing machine and thread
- Ribbon or shoelace
- Large safety pin
Instructions
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Felt your cashmere sweater, if it hasn't already shrunk. Wash it in hot water with a pair of jeans or a pair of washable athletic shoes for five minutes. Spin the wash water out, allow the rinse water to fill the machine, but don't allow the rinse cycle to agitate. Spin dry again. Spread the sweater out on a thick towel and allow it to air dry.
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Measure the circumference of your head just above the ears and add 1 inch. Measure from the top of your ears to the top of your head and add 3 inches.
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Lay your sweater out on a table. Cut across the sweater from the bottom of one arm hole to the bottom of the other, so that you have a tube with the ribbing at the bottom. Cut open one side seam. Measure the circumference of your head along the bottom edge of the sweater, centering the measurement on the side seam that remains. Cut off the excess material at each end so that you have a rectangle that fits around the circumference of your head. Sew the new side seam to match the other side. Cut off enough of the sweater tube at the top to make it the same height as the measurement from the top of your ears to the top of your head, plus 3 inches.
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Make a casing by folding over 1 inch of the sweater all around the top, wrong sides together. Sew around the top leaving a 1-inch gap at the end. Pin a safety pin to the end of a ribbon or shoelace and use the pin to pull the ribbon or shoelace through the opening, all the way around the top and back out the opening again. Pull the ribbon or shoelace tight, turn the hat right side out, pull the ribbon to the outside and tie in a bow. Put the hat on and fold up the bottom ribbing to make the rim.
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Tips & Warnings
Instead of using a ribbon or shoelace to gather the top of the hat, make a cloche. Place the sweater tube on a table. Use a large dinner plate or other circle to cut the top in a curve that fits over your head. Sew the front and back together along the curve, right sides together. Turn the hat right side out and put it on, rolling up the brim.
Use your felted sweaters to cut out any hat pattern and sew according to the pattern instructions. It works especially well for a cloche, pillbox or Russian style hat.
To prevent your hat from shrinking, wash it by hand, squeezing soapy water through the hat rather than twisting or scrubbing it. Roll it up in a towel to absorb most of the water and lay it on a towel to finish drying.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit in a hat image by aprilira from Fotolia.com
