Baby Bonnet

Baby bonnets. Old-fashioned, yes, but there's something about them that makes me smile. Seeing a baby's chubby little face framed with ruffles and lace is just...sweet.

Elise is cute in hats although the knit ones don't stay on her head. Every time she moves and squirms around they fall off or slide into her eyes. I usually end up taking them off because they tend to annoy me. Last Sunday Elise wore a new dress, which came with a matching headband/bow. Well, the headband was horrible but I tried it on her anyway. Aaaaand then we took it off. A thick, bunchy band on a tiny bald head just doesn't work. Poor little thing...hopefully she starts growing some hair soon so she can wear barrettes and clips!

Anyway, not sure why the whole baby bonnet thing came up. I think it was when I was looking up baby hat patterns one night and I came across some for bonnets and they looked super cute. I wanted to make one for Elise--something fun for church and that will go with her frilly little dresses.

I didn't want to pay for a pattern so I looked at a few pictures online and decided to make my own instead. I drew and cut out two pieces and made the first bonnet from scrap fabric to check the size and shape, etc. It was pretty close to what I wanted. I went ahead and cut the same pieces out of white fabric, making one change along the way. I was making Elise's hat from white eyelet fabric with white cotton lining.

First I basted and gathered the back straight edge of both the outside and the lining, then pinned them onto their matching oval-shaped pieces.

Sewed them together.



I pinned both pieces together, matching the right sides, and added a length of ribbon to each front corner.





After sewing around almost the entire outside edge, I turned it right-side out and pressed the seams flat.

Almost done!

I measured and marked a line 1" from the front edge, then pinned my lace over it and sewed it in place. The line made it a lot easier to keep both the lace and my seam straight. 

The last thing I did was run a basting stitch over the seam I had just sewn, to slightly gather the front of the hat. It frames Elise's face better and gives it a more 'ruffly' look.  :)

Finally I tried it on her. And then realized I had made a mistake. The side corners, where the ribbon was sewn in, needed to be further back. With the way I had sewn it, the ties came out way past her chin. To fix the problem I folded the sides back about an inch on each side, tucking the extra behind the round back piece. Since the back was already gathered, a little extra bulk wouldn't be too noticeable. I hand-stitched the folds in place.

Here it is after I made the adjustment...

I tried it on Elise again and this time it fit perfectly.

I think she likes it!  :)

We went out to show Kyle her new hat. He said it was cool, but then started telling her she looks like a little homesteader or like Laura Ingalls Wilder. Hmmm... not quite sure how to take that yet. Maybe we should wear it on Sunday and get some outside opinions. Either way, it was fun to make. I love sewing for my babies!