A Great Hat: The Eddie Cap from Mushroom Villagers

Have you ever wanted to get a hat that was the perfect fit? How about if it had a nice long, wide brim that actually shaded from the sun? And what if the kids thought it looked a bit like a train engineer's cap (upping its intrinsic value at least tenfold)? Well, that's the Eddie Cap! Irene over at the Mushroom Villagers has a great tutorial for this versatile cap.

I first made this cap for my eldest, when I was still very new at sewing, and Irene's photos and instructions guided me through the whole project without a hitch. It wasn't long before my large-headed son needed an upgrade, so a second army-patterned cap was made with a few alterations to the measurements to accomodate his oversized gourd.

Recently, I had to make a third cap for #2 because we'd lost his hand-me-down one and because he wanted one like big brother.  I thought I'd take a few photos to show the slight modifications I use to make the cap more comfy for the little guys.



The Eddie cap has an exposed, serged edge along the inner hat band that my son found to be irritating (especially on hot, humid days). So I actually made my first hat twice since I had to pick apart his hat and fold that edge in to provide a edgeless interior. (If you look at the photo underneath step #10 in the tutorial, you'll see which serged edge my son complained of).

Interior of my modified cap, without any exposed edges.

To get rid of that serged edge and finish the cap with no exposed edges, you first have to cut your inner and outer hat band to the exact same size. For example, my son's head was 19.5 inches in circumference and I wanted a hat band that was approximately 2 inches tall. Therefore, I cut two bands that were 20 inches in length (19.5 + 0.5 inch seam allowance) and 3 inches tall (2 + 1/2 inch seam allowance at brim side + 1/2 inch hem allowance).

Made from scraps - check out how wrinkly they are!

Iron down a narrow hem (1/2 inch) on one long edge of each hat band.

Finish and sandwich the brim between the non-ironed sides of the hat bands and sew as per the tute.

You now have the brim sewn in between the two hatbands, both of which have their hems ironed down.

Hand or machine baste the crown of the hat onto the inner hat band. Fold the outer hat band into place and topstitch everything into place.

And voila! The cap is finished. Sorry if my explanation is not super clear for anyone who's trying to use this as a tutorial. It's something that is much easier to visualize once you're assembling the project and I only meant this post to be a supplement to the actual tutorial on Mushroom Villagers. Of course, please email or comment if you are looking for clarification on anything!

My next project - one for myself! I've worn my eldest son's hat before and I think it looks smashing :)