Let’s learn how to sew a beanie today. Winter Season = Beanie Season, right? I wasn’t a lover of beanies until I had kids. Now I just can’t get over how cute they looked in a sweet beanie with a cute pom. Boys and girls both!! So if you have wanted to make a beanie but is intimidated by it, follow along for this sew a long and lets make a few beanies!
Learn How to Sew a Beanie
Brighton Beanie Pattern
I have used a few beanie patterns. But I keep returning to this Brighton Beanie from the shop for my kids. This pattern offers us a wide range of sizes ranging from Babies to Adults. What is even more impressive is that you get 3 styles of beanies that can be worn in 4 different ways!
Lets take a quick look at the options available before we go any further.
You can find this chart in the listing image, but let’s take a quick look through it before we get started. View A is the standard fit Beanie. There is no slouch or extra give to this one. It fits the wearer’s head snugly. View B offers the option of wearing this in two ways. Either as a slouchy or folded over to be a standard fit. View C is a more Slouchy beanie.
You can make these beanies either with a seam or without a seam. Now let’s read that tiny piece of information in bold letters on the pattern again. If we want to use two different fabrics, we have to use the bottom seam version. This is very important to keep in mind.
One sleepy evening I made a Beanie with contrasting fabrics and the seamless method. When I pulled everything right side out, I had my wake-up call and a good laugh! The front and back of the beanie were 2 different fabrics. My kids have Wacky Hat Day every time they have a spirit week. That beanie went into the wacky Hat pile. And I learned my lesson not to cut half asleep.
Beanie Fabric Choices
Fabric choices are also decided based on which View we are making. The View A Standard Beanie can be made with a light to medium-weight knit fabric. I have used French Terry, Cotton Jersey and even sweatshirt Fleece. For View B & C, similar fabric choices work, but it works better with fabrics that have a good drape. Sweater Knits, DBP, Rib Knits, Waffle Knits and most of the lightweight Jersey.
Sewing a Beanie | 2 Different Ways
Alright, today I am going to make the View B with a seam version and View C Seamless Version. Let’s gather our supplies:
- Brighton Beanie Pattern
- Fabric of Choice
- Pom Pom if using.
- Buttons / Snaps to attach the pom (Depending on the kind you are using)
- And all the other regular Sewing Supplies.
Sewing View B Beanie with a Bottom Seam
Step 1: Locate all the pattern piece that you need to cut out based on your choice! I use a projector to cut out all the pieces. And I need the View B Pattern piece. I will be cutting it out on single fold as I am doing the version with the bottom seam.
Step 2: Cut out the Main and Lining of the beanie. So here I have used the Plaid for the main and the Mountains for the lining. And I need to cut out 2 pieces each for the main and the lining on fold.
Step 3: Sew the darts together on all the 4 pieces.
Step 4: Place the main front and back on top of each other RST and sew together.
Step 5: Place the lining front and back on top of each other RST. Sew them together leaving a 2″ gap for turning later.
Step 6: Turn the main right side out. Then place the Main inside the lining RST and sew the bottom seam.
Step 7: Gently turn the Beanie right side out through the 2″ opening we left earlier. Now sew the opening closed. Since I wanted the Beanie to be reversible, I hand sewed the opening closed with a ladder stitch. You can sew them closed using a blind hem stitch or regular stitch.
Step 8: Top stitch the bottom hem. Since I wanted to use this reversible and didn’t want a stitch line at the hem, I did not top stitch. But top stitching the hem is suggested to keep the seam from rolling up or down while wearing.
Step 9: Add the pompom if using. If using a snap type, hand sew the snap piece onto the top. If you are using the loop kind, sew on a button.
I am sewing two buttons. One on each side so that the pom pom can also be switched depending on which side I will use.
And that is it, the View B version of the Beanie is done. This can be worn as a Slouchy or a standard fit if you fold the bottom up for a faux band. One beanie, four different ways!
Sewing View C Beanie with a Seamless Bottom
View C Beanie is a true Slouchy Beanie. The Slouch is very pronounced. The more drapier the fabric we choose the slouchier the Beanie. I am using a super drapey Sweater Knit to make this version today and I am sewing a Seamless Bottom Version.
The seamless bottom version is cut on double fold. Fold the fabric once vertically and then fold it again horizontally. Now align the fold lines on the pattern so that the bottom fold line is aligned to the horizontal fold and the fold line on the left is aligned to the vertical fold. Cut out one piece. When you open up the cut out piece, it will have 4 regular darts – 2 each on top & bottom and 2 curved darts – 1 each on top and bottom, between the two side by side pieces.
Step 1: Sew the 4 regular darts together like we did for the View B beanie.
Step 2: Fold the beanie in half Right sides together so that one side of the beanie is on top of the other.
Step 3: Sew around leaving a 2″ gap for turning all the way around starting at the curved darts.
Step 4: Turn the beanie right side out through the opening from the previous step.
Step 5: If you intend to make this reversible, hand sew the opening shut, if not, sew it shut using a straight stitch or blind hem. Please keep in mind the seamless version cannot use 2 different fabrics for a reversible look. While the Beanie will be reversible the same fabric will have to be used.
Step 6: Locate the center of the beanie. Holding the center in place, push one top end of the beanie into the other. You can leave the bottom unhemmed for this version.
Step 7: Sew in the Pom pom or buttons/snaps as applicable for a removable pom pom.
That is it! We did it! Aren’t the beanies a quick sew! I will add a few modeled pictures of my littlest wearing his beanies. I opted not to have a pom pom for the View C version for the pictures.
Now, I hope you will make one or a million ones to match all your beautiful outfits in all kind of fun fabrics!
Other Posts
Thanks to Chinmy for going over the steps with us on how to sew a Beanie. The Brighton Beanie is very popular amongst our customers. If you enjoyed this tutorial, take a look at some of these other clothing tutorials:
