Spoonflower DIY Modern Jersey Baby Hat with Polar Bears | Spoonflower Blog

We’re loving our newest addition to the Spoonflower fabric family, Modern Jersey. It’s perfectly soft and stretchy, and when printed, this fabric features rich, deep color that holds up beautifully to washing, even the repeated washes that baby things need. Since we launched Modern Jersey, our guest author and frequent contributor of brilliant sewing projects, Emma Jeffery of the Hello Beautiful blog, has been sharing projects and sewing tips for our soft and stretchy jersey in vibrant prints from the Spoonflower Marketplace like this lovely infinity scarf. Today Emma is back to share another simple Modern Jersey sewing tutorial, this time for soft and snuggly newborn baby hats. More of a visual learner? Skip down to the bottom of the post where Spoonflower HR team member Joyce recreates this project in a video tutorial.


Emma: The first time I felt Spoonflower’s new Modern Jersey, I thought, baby clothes! Its cozy, snuggly texture is soft against a baby’s delicate skin and the fun, modern designs available in the Spoonflower Marketplace are perfect for creating unique baby clothes and accessories.

To make a newborn baby hat, start by selecting your fabric. For my hats I used Flowers and Black Stripes fabric by MintPeony, and Geo Girls Pinks and Girl Chevron by natitys. You can make at least two hats from one fat quarter of Modern Jersey (you can maybe eke out a third if you’re not worrying about matching directional prints at the seams). Then, print the hat pattern. Make sure to print the pattern at 100%. Check the 1” square on the pattern measures 1” x 1” after printing.

NOTE: This newborn hat pattern is designed to fit a newborn with an average head circumference of about 13.5”.

Cut pattern pieces | Spoonflower Blog

1. Pin the pattern to the fabric and cut 2 pieces.

I prefer to cut one pattern piece at a time, so that I can make sure to cut along lines determined by the fabric design. Ultimately this gives a neater finish to your hats.

2 pattern pieces for our DIY baby hat | Spoonflower Blog

2. Pin the two pieces of fabric together.

Pin together with right sides facing and set your machine up ready to sew knits. I like to use a loose zig zag stitch (length 3, width 1.5), and usually use a ballpoint needle.

  Sewing hat pieces, right sides together | Spoonflower Blog

3. Sew the two pattern pieces together.

Sew the two pattern pieces together, leaving the bottom opening unsewn. Sew with the presser foot against the raw edges of the fabric to guide you around the curve of the hat and to give you a small 1/4” seam allowance.

Turn 2 inches up to hem | Spoonflower Blog

4. Turn up the bottom opening of the hat and press. 

Turn up the bottom opening of the hat 2” to the wrong side and press with an iron. (I turned mine up slightly more than 2”, so that I was keeping in line with the fabric design).

Sew the turn up | Spoonflower Blog

5. Sew the turn up. 

Sew the turn up all the way around the hat, about 3/4” away from the raw edge.

  Turn your baby hat right side out | Spoonflower Blog

6. Press the seams. 

Turn the hat to the right side and gently press the seams.

Turn 1 inch to finish the hem | Spoonflower Blog

7. Fold up the bottom edge. 

Fold up the bottom edge about 1” to the right side, to create a neat band around the opening of the hat.

Tack up the turn to keep it in place | Spoonflower Blog

8. Tack the turn up in place. 

With a needle and thread, tack the turn up in place along the side seams to secure.

Adorable baby hats in every pattern imaginable! | Spoonflower Blog


About Our Guest Blogger

Emma Jeffery, Spoonflower guest bloggerHi! I’m Emma, and as well as working on the Fiskars Design Team, I blog over at Gather and Grand.

I’m an obsessive sewer, often leaping into projects with more enthusiasm than talent, more bravado than skill and more good luck than anything else. This technique has worked well for me so far and more often than not, I make things I love, even if they’re not absolutely perfect. And though I’m no expert, I have a passion for fabric, color and design. I know what I like and what I like makes me smile.