Camper Hat Pattern and Tutorial

Today I’m guest posting at Caila Made for her Best of Summer Sewing series!

What pattern am I sharing?  I’m stepping out on a limb and sharing a pattern I drafted and wrote myself – the Camper Hat pattern.  I’ve been dying to start offering patterns and wanted to dip my toe in by sharing a simple free pattern for this cute little hat.

It’s perfect for girls or boys ages 2T – 5T, and it is even reversible for two hats in one!  Sewing time is minimal – under an hour for sure and with practice I was whipping these out in about 30 minutes.  There are two methods for finishing the hat which I share in the tutorial, and the simple design lends itself to all sorts of creativity and embellishment – piping, trims, color blocking, mixing patterns, adding straps, etc.


I hope you don’t think me too presumptuous for sharing this as my “Best of Summer Sewing”, but I really do love it and have had so much fun making different versions of it for my girls and even boy versions destined for my nephews.

The pattern is available for immediate download in my Etsy shop, or on Craftsy.

Camper Hat

Skill Level - Beginner
Materials - 1/4 yard each of main and lining fabrics
narrow double fold bias tape (method A)
3/8″ seam allowance throughout

1. Cut 4 crown pieces from each of the main and lining fabrics.  The notch at the bottom of the pattern is helpful to identify the orientation of the pieces as it is difficult to differentiate the sides once you begin sewing.
2. Cut 2 brim pieces on the fold from each of the main and lining fabrics.

3. With right sides together (RST), sew along one side of each pair of crown pieces.  Repeat with lining pieces.  Press seams open; a tailor’s ham or rolled up towel will make this easier.

4. With RST, sew the brim pieces together.  Repeat with the lining pieces.  Press seams open.

5. With RST, sew the two pieces created in step 3.  Repeat with lining pieces.  Press seams open.  If you’d like to topstitch along the seams of the crown, this would be the easiest point to do so.

6. With RST, align and pin the crown and brim at the side seams and fold lines.  Sew all the way around.  Repeat with lining pieces.  Press seam allowances toward the crown.

7A. The first finishing method uses bias tape to bind the edges.  With wrong sides together and the bias tape opened align all the raw edges matching seams and fold lines.  Fold about 1/4″ of the beginning edge to the outside to hide the edges.  Continue pinning around the hat brim and overlap the folded over beginning edge by about 1/2″.

8A. Sew along the fold line closest to the edge.  Then re-fold the tape around to the opposite side and stitch near the inside edge of the bias tape.

7B. Alternately, you can align seams and fold lines with RST.  Stitch around brim leaving about 2″ open for turning.

8B. Turn hat right sides out.  Press and stitch close to the edge.

I hope you enjoy this fun, simple pattern and I’d love to see your versions if you make one (or two or three)!  Feel free to sell finished hats made with this pattern, just please give credit for the pattern to Jennuine Design or A Jennuine Life.

If you’re interested in becoming a pattern tester for Jennuine Design, shoot me an e-mail at jennuinedesign@gmail.com – I’ll put together a list and let you know when I’ve got patterns needing testers!  Things are in the works, people!  I just need to dedicate the time to work on them…

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11 Responses to Camper Hat Pattern and Tutorial

  1. Paula June 19, 2013 at 9:06 PM #

    Cute hat, I must give it a try. Have you ever made them reversible? I’ve made a lot of reversible bucket hats for my boys which have been a great hit.

  2. Stacey Byrne June 21, 2013 at 6:37 AM #

    This is really cute! I love that it only takes the four pieces. I’ve tried a few bucket hat patterns and they all have so many pieces it takes forever to cut out. Can’t wait to give this one a try!

  3. carin van den berg June 22, 2013 at 2:55 PM #

    very very cute. Definitely going to try.will add pictures when I do.

  4. Ana Lopes June 23, 2013 at 7:39 AM #

    Super adorable hat! I love all! Thanks so much for sharing the great tutorial! Would love to have you visit me sometime.
    Have a fabulous weekend!
    Hugs from Portugal,

    Ana Love Craft
    http://www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

  5. Paula Parrish June 25, 2013 at 10:14 AM #

    Ahhh, this summer sun hat is so cute. I would love to make a few hats. Thanks for sharing your tutorial and pattern. ;o)

  6. Chelsea @ Get Your Crap Together June 25, 2013 at 5:21 PM #

    This is so cute and functional. I’m excited to try it. Thank you for sharing. I’d love for you to check out our Pattern Party that starts the 1st of each month. I’d love for you to link up in July.

  7. Holly July 11, 2013 at 7:07 PM #

    hi jenn! this hat is so great! i wanted to let you know that i made one for the pre-kcw party (kids clothes week), where i’m guest blogging about hats on friday. check out the blog tomorrow to see a link to your tutorial, plus pics of the hat i made from it. http://blog.kidsclothesweek.com

    thanks for such a fabulous pattern!
    holly
    http://www.hamsterandthebee.com

  8. photosarah July 30, 2013 at 6:24 PM #

    I made your hat for my cousin in orange and blue. It turned out so cute! Thanks for coming up with this pattern and tutorial! I like that it’s a more girly hat than a plain old bucket hat, but easy to make.

    http://sarahdudik.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/camper-sunhat/

  9. Jenya @ While she was sleeping January 2, 2014 at 9:44 PM #

    Jenn, does the brim seem solid enough on a finished hat? Would it worth to add a little interfacing to it? or is it a needless step for this style of a hat? I love the shape of your hat and am keen to give it a go. Little Monkey needs more hats 🙂 Ta jenyathompson {at} gmail {dot} com

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Tangle | A Jennuine LifeA Jennuine Life - April 29, 2014

    […] center.  We waited in line for our session to begin.  Both girls were sporting their new Camper Hats.  I was able to make this outing serve double duty and captured most of the modeled shots of […]

  2. Camper Hat Feature on Kids Clothes Week Blog! | A Jennuine LifeA Jennuine Life - April 29, 2014

    […] surprise when Holly from Hamster and the Bee left me a comment that she was featuring my Camper Hat pattern as part of her summer hats […]

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