Materials:
First, I studied the kitty hat. I made a "pattern" on notebook paper for the mouse hat based on the other as a guide. Four rounded triangles would be sewn together to make the main part of the hat. Two small half-circles would serve to be the ears.
I have a kitty hat. It's the best thing ever. It's warm, it has super-secret-fold-down-hidden ear-flaps, and it was often stolen by my boyfriend who liked to take something of mine with him to work every day. I thought it would be funny to make him a mouse hat so we could wear them in conjunction with one another (no cold heads here). I modeled the mouse hat after the construction of the kitty hat, bearing in mind that I'm not a talented sew-mistress. Instead of using six panels for the head-covering bit, I used four (the rest is the same).
I started with the ears and sewed them together, wrong sides facing. Yes, fleece has a wrong side -- take the cut edge of the fleece and "spread" it slightly. The fabric will curl towards the right side of the fabric. Let me note again that I AM NOT A SEAMSTRESS. I did what I like to call an "over the top" stitch. It is not, as you might guess from the name, a wild and crazy stitch, but one that is taken through the front of the piece, out the back, and OVER THE TOP back into the front. Clever, yes?
Next, I sewed the pieces of hat that would contain the ears. Wrong sides facing, I pinned two of the triangles together, positioning an ear INSIDE (sandwiched between the black triangles) so it'd be popping out properly when the fleece was worn the right way. At this point, I gave a little bit of character to the ears by giving them a slight pleat in the pink fleece. I folded them in a bit so they have a definite top and bottom -- a little curve, like at the top of human ears -- which you can't see well in photos but looks great in person. It'd look cute without this heartache, too, so don't drive yourself crazy trying to sew through that many layers of fleece if you don't wanna. Anyway. Using the same "over the top" stitch, I sewed the two triangles together on one side (the side with the ear sammiched on it).
Once I'd sewn the other half of the hat, I positioned the pieces on my head to get the proper "roundness." Obviously, you're going to look like a conehead if you sew four triangles together, so you have to round things at the top quite a lot. I didn't end up rounding them enough and may whip out my needle and thread a little later to fix it. I was in a rush -- it was Christmas. Anyway, eyeball where you need to sew and now sew the wrong sides facing on the other two sets of edges to make a complete hat. Badda bing! You're halfway done.
Sadly, I took no pictures of this next part (I was frantically working on this project and the Scrabble table at the same time, so I was pretty busy) so you'll have to bear with me. Cut out a long rectangle of black fleece. It'll need to be a little bit longer than the circumference of your head (to accommodate for seams) and wide enough that, doubled over, it'll make a nice brim. WRONG SIDES FACING (i.e. with the correct side of the fleece facing out), sew the long edges of the rectangle together (hot-dog way) so you have a long tube.
Next, put the hat on your head and decide where the brim should go. I ended up trimming some of my hat off because my original triangles were a bit long. This is normal. Now pay attention, it gets tricky here. With the hat inside out, pin the brim around the outside on top of the hat (as it would be worn if you were weird and wanted all your seams on the outside). Sew around that edge, attaching the brim to the hat. Now, when you turn the hat right-side-out, the brim will fold up and you won't see a raw seam, you'll see your beautiful joined fabric like a nice finished garment.
Did I mention that you're done? You're done now. Gloat.
Total time spent: approximately four hours
US Dollars spent: approximately 10 (for a half yard of each colour of fleece)
Please note: Unless otherwise noted, all of these instructions, photographs, and ideas are mine. Please give me credit (and send me pictures!) if you work off of these designs. The sale of any items based on these designs is prohibited.
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