20-Minute Santa Hats

Last week, while John was at school and Joe was down for his nap, Dan suggested we (I) make some Santa hats. We had about an hour before John was going to get home from school, so I set to work and came up with a hat that could double as a hat to wear out in the cold. I had some fleece leftover from the kids Christmas PJ's, so I used that. It even came out looking somewhat Santa-ish, and I was finished with all 3 in 1 hour! Dan and Joe wore their hats for the rest of the afternoon and have worn them on many outings. Joe has even taken a couple naps with his hat on, so I consider it time well spent.




Read ahead for the tutorial...

First of all, you're going to have to excuse the awful quality of these pictures. An iPhone just doesn't take good pictures without the right lighting. Someday I'll get a nice camera.

What you'll need:
* Fleece... 2 contrasting colors if you want the band at the bottom to be a different color
* Sewing machine
* 20 minutes!

Start by cutting out the pieces. I just used a ruler and a marker to draw the pattern on the fabric, then cut them out. This size is suitable for 2T-5T. One size fits all toddlers/preschoolers.
You'll need two triangles that are 14 1/2" high and 11 1/2" wide at the bottom, one long strip that's 21 1/2"x4 3/4" and four small strips that are 7"x1/2".


Overlap the 4 small strips to make a star and put a stitch in the center to hold them together.


Sew the two triangles with right sides together leaving the bottom open and about an inch open at the top.


From the inside of the triangles, push the center of the small strips through the 1" hole at the top.


Sew over the strips, closing the 1" hole.


When you turn the triangles right side out, the strips will be sticking out the top.


Fold the large strip in half and sew the two ends together (sorry, this pic is hard to see).


Now fold that strip in half lengthwise so the seam is hidden and pin the edges onto the bottom of the triangle pieces, right sides together (although the strip at the bottom won't necessarily have a right side). Sew them together. And call it good!