Fleece Hat and Scarf

Meryl Baier started making fleece hats and scarves after she had her daughter. She couldn’t find a hat that she liked for the baby, so she made it. In this project, she makes a charming hat and scarf.

Materials and Tools:

1 yard polar fleece
1-1/2 yards upholstery trim, preferably vintage
thread in a contrasting color
pinking shears
regular shears
patterns
chalk or marker

Steps:

1. Lay out the fleece in the proper direction and draw around your pattern using a marker or a chalk roller. The fleece needs to be in one direction for the hat and the opposite for the scarf to accommodate the stretch of the fabric.

2. Cut out the pattern pieces using both regular shears and pinking shears, which give a zigzag edge. The pieces are also notched in quarters so that when put together, they will be easy to match up.

3. If you choose to do any embellishment on the crown or top of the hat, now is the time. A very basic technique uses fleece piping and free-form roaming or meandering across the fabric with a zigzag stitch.

4. The 1/2-inch seams are stitched in the crown and band and then trimmed with the pinking shears.

5. Pin the band to the wrong side of the crown and apply using a zigzag stitch. The top is then pinned and applied with a straight stitch. The hat is then turned right side out and top stitched to give it visual completion.

6. The scarf is then zigzag stitched around the edge, which makes it ready to embellish with the flowers and trim

7. The seam is trimmed underneath the band and all loose threads cut away. The inside edge is also trimmed where the top meets the crown.

8. The vintage fringe is applied to the hat band and the lower edge of the scarf using a straight stitch or a zigzag depending on the type of fringe selected. We'll often apply the fringe upside down to give a different look to the hat. The pompons bounce more if they are applied this way.

9. The final step is to apply the flowers. They are made of fleece using two ovals which are folded onto themselves. A pompon is then stitched to the top and leaves to the bottom. They are then hand stitched to the hat and scarf.