Summer Bucket Hats for My Boys + TGIFF

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Does fabric ever TELL you what it wants to become?? That's exactly what happened when Barb Tourtillotte sent me a fat quarter bundle of her new Dockside fabric collection! The fabric practically shouted at me to make it into bucket hats for my boys!

Reversible fabric bucket hats

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The Dockside collection has a great summer lake panel that I thought I would use in the center of a throw quilt. But the fabric kept begging to be bucket hats instead. I am not as much of a fan of 3-D sewing as I am the 2-D sewing of quilt making, so it took some convincing! (You might be able to find some of the fabric HERE or HERE!)

Dockside fabric by Barb Tourtillotte for Henry Glass

Look at the cute fish on the selvages!! (Also, how amazing is that miniature sewing machine I picked up off Facebook Marketplace too?!)

Dockside fabric selvages

I found a free pattern and tutorial for making buckets hats HERE, so I decided to just jump in! (Side note: After making the first one just as the tutorial is written, I decided to use the interfacing templates as the main fabric templates in order to size the hat down just slightly. They fit my younger boys much better!)

Preparing fabric pieces for making bucket hats

The cutting and pressing of the interfacing was pretty simple. (I used fusible fleece and my Oliso.) But I read the directions 20 times before sewing the 3-D parts! And my palms still got sweaty! (I use these clips!)

Using clips to sew bucket hats

But look!! It worked!! 

Exterior of bucket hat

The pattern has you make an outside of the hat and a lining.

Stack of three fabric bucket hats

And if you use cute fabric for both, they're reversible!

Reversible bucket hats

I love how the extra stitching on the brim really transforms the hat! I used Aurifil 50wt White for all the sewing and top stitching.

Reversible bucket hat made with Dockside fabric

A peek at both sides!

Reversible bucket hat made with Dockside fabric

On this hat, I fussy cut the pieces to make sure the dogs in the canoe would be front and center on the hat! (There's one on the top of the hat too!)

Reversible bucket hat made with Dockside fabric

The hats were an instant hit with my boys!

Bucket hats made from Dockside fabric

They grab them anytime we leave the house, and they have gotten so many compliments from strangers!

Bucket hats made from Dockside fabric

Now it's your turn! What have you finished lately? Add a link to your blog, Facebook post, or Instagram post so we can high five you!



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9 comments:

  1. Adorable!! Those are just so sweet. Thanks for the link up.

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  2. Totally adorbs!!! And you knocked the 3-D sewing out of the ball park!!!

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  3. Oh, those (hats and boys) are just so cute!

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  4. Adorable hats! I made several for my girls when they were younger. <3 Nice job!

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  5. Hi Laura! Bucket hats are just the BEST! My littles wear theirs all the time - we call them bucket heads. And how adorable are they?!! As far as fabric telling you what to do . . . absolutely. You just have to listen - it's whispering what to do. Great job and thank you for the linky party. I am tickled pink to finally have something to share. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne

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  6. The hats (and the boys) are so darn cute! The fabric line is great. Panels can be a trick to use though. But the coordinates are adorable.

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  7. Those bucket hats are the best. Love that they are reversible. Thanks for sharing the link to the pattern.

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  8. Such cute hats! I bet the boys love wearing the! You are right--the fabric is perfect.

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  9. Great hats, the boys' smiles say it all. No more sweaty palms with your next 3D venture.

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