Fleece Baby Hat with Bear Ears

My church makes hats that are donated to newborn babies at the local hospital. Many women crochet these hats, which I can {sort of} do.  I liked this hat (which is crocheted) but decided I would get them done faster if I made a sewn version. This tutorial shows how to use my tutorial for making a double layer fleece hat and add ears.

You’ll just need some scraps to make a newborn-sized hat. I used fleece for the outside and a t-shirt for the lining. Then you’ll just need four ears. I just cut some ear shapes out; I made them larger to allow for a seam allowance. Note: when I cut this hat out, I used this pattern that has a slight ear flap.

Start out by sewing the ears together with right sides together. Leave the flat part open to allow for turning the ear.
 

Turn it right side out. (Don’t press it, I haven’t had good luck pressing fleece!) Repeat with the other ear.


Position them about 1” away from the top of the hat’s ‘V’ with the right side of the ear facing the right side of the hat’s front fabric. [Mine don’t look all that even in this picture. But make sure yours are evenly spaced away from the center of the hat.] You’ll want to pin them with a pinch in the middle so they get sewn on with a little fold to make them more ear-like.

Machine-baste them on.
 

Now you can assemble the hat according to the tutorial found here. When placing the back fabric onto the hat with right sides together, make sure the ears are facing down into the hat.

That way they’ll be on top when you turn it right side out.

I love these little hats. I think I made them a little big for the average newborn, though! They might have fit my sweet little giant of a baby, though. They’d make a great gift.