DIY Reversible Bonnet & Free Downloadable Pattern

In an effort to make good on my 6-month-old promise to give you the pattern for the Fleece Bonnet, I tried the same pattern in cotton, finished the edges and made it reversible! Unfortunately the pattern is now about 6-months to small for Quinn. But look at all the fun we had stuffing her giant head in there anyway to take a picture! Quinn wants you to make one so her annoyance is not in vain.

Click through for the Free Reversible Bonnet Pattern and full instructions.

1. Print out the pattern. You could get pretty close to the right size by measuring from the top of baby's head, down over ear to jawline and adding 3/4", then printing pattern so your measurement is equal to the arrow-to-arrow height of the Bonnet pattern. At 100% this pattern would likely fit a 3-6 month old.
PBbonnet

2. Cut the following pieces from your fabric.
• 1 back - Fabric A
• 1 back - Fabric B
• 4 sides - 2 Fabric A (right side and wrong side) & 2 Fabric B (right side and wrong side)
• 1 strip for ruffle - 3"x 28"
• (not shown) 1 strip for strap/tie - 3" x 28" (for snap closure), longer for tie/bow style

I used Anna Maria Horner Buttoned Up Plum.
And a mystery scrap from my stash. This would have been a nice alternative.


3. Place sides of Fabric A together, right side facing, and sew along top edge leaving 3/8" seam


4. Iron seam open. Starting at the center, pin back to sides all the way around. Sew around edge with 3/8"  seam. Be sure to sew top seam opened flat.


5. This is what it will look like turned right-side-out. Sorry about the creepy doll head.


6. Repeat steps 3-5 for Fabric B. Set both aside.

7. Fold ribbon strip in half the long way and iron. Sew up the 2 short ends with 1/4" seam.


8. Reverse right-side-out and iron flat.


9. Using a basting stitch (the longest straight stitch your machine offers, likely a 5) sew along the open length of the ribbon at 1/4" seam.


10. Pull the end of the thread you just sewed and begin to gather ruffle. (If you are not lazy, you can trim off all those ugly threads, or even trim with pinking shears)


11. Wrap the ruffle around the top of your hat as shown below. You want the ruffle to end 3/4" above bottom of hat (more then what's shown here, obviously) Adjust the tightness of your ruffle for the correct length.

12. Pin the ruffle in place as shown. Pin from the back through all layers.


13. Reverse Fabric B hood over Fabric A hood (with ruffle, shown above),  align front edge and pin in place on same side as existing pins.


14. Sew through all layers with a straight stitch, 5/8" from edge.


15. Reverse hat.and set aside.

16. Fold neck tie in half the long way and iron.


17. Open, fold both long edges over 1/4" and iron edges.


18. Find the center of the strap and pin to the center of the back of the hoods, encasing both layers of the hood with both layers of the strap. Covering the bottom 1/2" of the hood edge. Note: I pin horizontally like this because I am left-handed but it is fine to pin vertically as well.


19. Work your way around the hat pinning all layers until you reach the edge of your hood as shown below.


20. Sew strap in place from hood edge to hood edge, leaving remaining strap seams open.


21. Cut a 3-4" piece of elastic. Shorter for a tighter gather at the back of the neck.


22. Slide the elastic into the opening of the strap.


23. Push the elastic in until the edges are aligned with the back seams of the hood. Push the elastic to the bottom of the pocket and pin in place as show. There will be a gather.


24. Using a tight straight stich, do several forward and backward stitches to secure elastic in place. I'm pointing at the stitch in the second photo.



25. Open both ends of strap and fold over 1/4". Iron.


26. Fold in corners as shown here. Iron. Fold back in half along crease and re-iron.


27. Here is where you can add some customization. If you are tying a bow, skip to step 28. If you would like to do a snap but not have it show, add the snap between the two layers of the strap.

I wanted this classic Girl Scout tie look so I did my snap through both layers, in which case, I could have added the snap after step 28, making the final stitching much easier.


28. Stitch the open seams of your strap closed. I used a zig-zag and went around the entire strap again to secure a few spots where I had missed sewing the strap to the hat earlier but I think the hat would have looked a bit nicer with a straight stitch. Also, baby may find the zig-zag scratchy.


And that's it! Your reversible bonnet is complete!