Simple Make a Hat Day Projects

With National “Make a Hat” Day just around the corner—Sept.15th —its time to start gathering inspiration and supplies for a hat making project, particularly if you are involved in Day Care, Elder Care, or Education.

There are a number of ways to create a chapeau, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination, but for a simple recreational activity or rainy day pastime it is best to keep it simple. Following is a list of easy hat-making projects that make use of everyday household items and/or basic supplies which can be obtained at any well stocked craft store.

1/ Embellished hats: Take a ready made hat and make it your own with embellishment. Add beads, feathers, ribbons, bows, buckles, buttons, new or vintage trims, lace (you get the idea) or any other ornamentation that strikes your fancy. This is a fun project to be undertaken as a group activity. Gather inexpensive hats from a vintage store, or collect last season’s ball caps, beach hats, or sun visors. Assemble your decorations and have participants attach them to the hats. This can be done by hand-stitching, pinning, or even gluing according to age and/or skill level. This may sound amateur but there a number of successful entrepreneurs selling basic hats that they have simply embellished.

2/ Fascinators: Fascinators have cycled through fashion history a number of times and they are very hot right now. The designers are making them and so can you! Begin with a purchased hair-band, tiara, or hair comb. Now, wire on whatever bit of frou frou strikes your fancy and you’re done. Fabric flowers, feathers, and beads work very well.

3/ Scarves: Make a colorful African style hat with a length of printed fabric or a patterned scarf. This can be wrapped around your head a number of ways, then pinned, tied, or stitched in place. Add a bow of wired ribbon for a finishing touch.

4/ Recycle: With a little ingenuity a vintage straw or felt hat can look entirely new. Don’t be afraid to cut, stitch, or re-block a hat that has gone out of style. No hat block? No problem! Use an inverted mixing bowl to steam and dry your creation. You can also take apart old hats, separating brims from crowns, and then switch them up.

5/ Novelty hats are perhaps the most fun. They can be made out of just about anything including, flower pots, lampshades, newspaper, boxes, cartons, candy wrappers, etc. I once attended a hat show where a nurse had made a hat out of a bedpan!

I hope you will keep these projects in mind and have fun on National Make a Hat Day. For more on hats, follow the One Year, Hat-a Day Project or see my book 1,000 Hats.