Wool “Won’t Come Off” Baby Helmet from a Sweater Sleeve

By Future Craft Collective
When my youngest son was born it was unusually cold here in Austin, Texas. Always a big fan of baby hats anyway, I crafted quite a few different hats trying to make one that wouldn’t fall off his head. I made several using a delicious dark green merino wool from an old wool dress, some with ties, some with buttons, some with snaps. They were all pretty cute, but this particular style stayed on in all sorts of predicaments and positions and kept his little newborn head warm and styling!

Materials

Old wool sweater Merino wool or finely woven lamb’s wool is nice for a baby. The thrift stores are loaded with them.
Contrasting piece of felted wool, approximately 15″ long and 2.5″ wide
Pinking sheers
Scissors
Thread
Sewing machine

Directions

Step 1: Felt up the wool sweater by washing it once or twice in a super hot, heavy duty wash.

Step 2: Cut off the sleeve as shown, with a slight curve to the cut. This piece is about 13″.

Step 3: Lay the sleeve flat and cut a circle out of one side. If this is for a toddler, the circle from a large yogurt container is a good size — approximately 4.5″ in diameter. For an infant, try slightly smaller.

Step 4: If you want some kind of embellishment from the top, now is the time to create it. I cut a spiral and then attached a 4-pointed star to the end by threading the tip of the spiral through the center of the star.


Step 5: Turn your hat inside out. Insert the very tip of the spiral into the top curve of the hat, laying the rest on the inside (this will hang from the top of the hat when it is finished so though it’s inside now, when you are finished, it will be outside). Lay the hat flat and sew the curve shut using a zigzag stitch.

Step 6: Fold the hat flat in the other direction, and sew another curve going the other direction, creating an X.

Step 7: Using pinking shears, cut your contrasting wool piece (or use the same wool if you like — it’s a style call). This piece is approximately 15″ long and 2.5″-3″ wide.
Step 8: Turn your hat back right side out. Pin your embellishment up so that it doesn’t accidentally get sewn up.

Step 9: Lay the long wool piece along the edge of the face circle and, with a zigzag, sew all the way around so that the long piece goes the circumference of the circle.

Step 10: Turn your hat back inside out. Fold the piece over the face circle and again, using a zigzag, sew it all the way around, creating a nice edge.
Step 11: Hem the bottom of the hat.

Step 12: Voila! Now you have the perfect wool “won’t-come-off” baby helmet made from a sweater sleeve!
About the Authors:

Future Craft Collective is brought to you by Kathie Sever and Bernadette Noll. Kathie is an accomplished seamstress, creator of Ramonsterwear Custom Western Wear, artist, and mother of two. Bernadette is a writer, co-founder of Slow Family Living, and mother of four. They have found renewed energy in their collaboration and are continuously amazed by the ideas, inspiration, and a-ha moments that have come from this shared effort.