pretend and play restaurant set: child's chef hat tutorial

Alright . . . let's get the pretend and play restaurant set started.  First up . . . the chef's hat. 

This idea is modeled after a chef's hat that my oldest brought home from preschool last year.  (Her teachers did some super cute and creative crafts with them on a daily basis.)  It was made out of cardstock, tissue paper and stick on hook and loop.  She loved it, and it was assembled in much the same way this one is but using staples, tape and glue rather than a sewing machine.  It lasted about a week. I'm hoping this one lasts a bit longer. 

At first I imagined the solid brown part of the hat a bit taller, and the top of the hat a bit puffier.  However, when I started working on it, I realized that I wanted it to fit snugly on the head and not be hard to keep on.  This is my best attempt at that.  ;)  Assembly of this hat is a lot like making a easy skirt without adding a zipper. 

The chef's hat can easily be done in an hour (or way less if you are actually good at sewing) . . . an uninterrupted hour.  If you have a Peanut and a Monkey running around, the time will depend on how many glasses of water are spilled, how many fights are started, and how many times your newly potty-trained two year old needs to go potty.  

Child's Chef Hat

for personal, non-commercial use only

Here's what you need*:

1 - circle that is 20 inches across

1 - 7 1/2 by 24 inch strip of contrasting fabric

1 - 7 1/2 by 24 inch strip of fusible fleece

1 - 2 inch strip of hook and loop

*The measurements for this hat fit my five year old and two year old girls.

Here's what you do:
1)  Iron fusible fleece to strip of fabric.  (You could probably use medium-weight fusible interfacing for this as well, but I've never used fusible fleece.  I saw some at the store and couldn't resist giving it a try.  I'm such a dork!)

2)  Cut 4 inch slit in circle from edge of circle toward center with pinking shears.  Fold in each side of slit about 1/4 of an inch, iron and sew with zigzag stitch. 

3)  Sew a long running stitch around circle close to edge do not back stitch at beginning or end. 

4)  Using the disappearing ink pen, mark around the circle in four evenly spaced segments so that your circle is divided into quarters.  The spot directly opposite the slight opening, should serve as one mark and the slight opening as another.  The other two marks should be made directly between these two points on the outer edge of the circle.

5)  After quarter marks are made, pull gently on one of the thread from the long running stitch to slightly gather the circle.  Set aside.
  
6)  Fold long rectangle in half right sides together so that you have a 3 1/4 x 24 inch strip.  Sew the two short ends.  Turn right sides out.  (If you want you can top stitch around two short sides and the long side opposite the long open side.  I didn't . . . have I mentioned before that I'm lazy?)  Pin and trim the long open edge with pinking shears. 

7)  Now you are going to make quarter marks on this long strip.  Lay out on cutting mat or use long measuring tape to make three evenly space marks along strip . . . this will divide the strip into four sections. 

8)  Put right side of circle and right side of long strip together by matching up markings and pin at the place where each quarter-mark joins.  Now go between each quarter mark that is pinned and pin half way between these points.  Now go around and pin the entire circle to the long strip.  Basically, you are just trying to pin the circle evenly around the strip.  If you can do that without all these quarter marks, go for it! 

9)  Zigzag stitch as close to joined edges as possible.  Then do a straight stitch slightly above the zigzag stitch.

10)  Using white thread sew one side of hook and loop to top of hat rim.  Using thread to match hat rim, sew on the other side of hook and loop to inside of hat rim.  This should make the hat slightly adjustable.  It fits both girls, and my two year old's head is slightly smaller than my five year old's head.

Done and ready to cook up a storm! 

And every chef needs a good apron.  

Craft on!

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