Fabulous Free Pattern Friday/The Beret

Yep!, the title is right, it's actually a Free Pattern Friday post, and what's even better, I'm not going to make you do the drafting on this one.

I do love hats. They finish off a garment so beautifully and they keep my head warm. I especially like berets. They're small, look great, easy to fold up and put in your purse if you decide to take it off. Just an all around great hat. Not so great on keeping your ears warm, but you can't always have everything!

I've looked for a free beret pattern, thought it might make a nice Thrifty Thursday post, but I couldn't find one that was what I wanted or that printed out correctly. I know what will happen now that I drafted out my own pattern, someone will email me with a link to the perfect pattern, and that will be great. But in the meantime, if you would like my beret pattern, just click HERE.

My head size is a medium head size and this pattern fits my head.
What I will send to you is 1/4 of the pattern. It's a little too large to get 1/2 of the pattern on an 81/2" x 11" piece of paper. So once you download the pattern, you will then need to either use a larger piece of paper, or tape 2 pieces together. Fold the paper in half and then cut the pattern out. You will then have 1/2 of the pattern which can be cut on the fold of your fabric. 

Once you have cut out your pattern, cut out the fabric, lay the 2 pieces one on top of the other. Sew along the outer edge with a 1/4" seam allowance.  

Cut the pattern out of lining fabric and lay the 2 pieces together just as you did with the fashion fabric. 

Once the hat has been sewn together, stay stitch along the edge of the opening.

To help keep the seam smooth, I like to edge stitch on either side of the seam. I do not edge stitch the lining.

Slide the lining into the hat and then sew around the opening 1/4" away from the edge. 

To finish the inside edge of the hat, you will need 23" of petersham ribbon. Look closely at the picture below, petersham is quite different from grosgrain ribbon. Rather than a straight finished edge, petersham has the small ridges along the top and bottom. This allows the ribbon to move around a curved edge. 

Prior to sewing the petersham into my hats, I actually use an iron and give the ribbon a curve.

It will end up looking like a very happy smile.

Clip around the opening of the hat. Clip only to the 1/4" stitching line and not through it. It's very important to not clip through the stitching line. 

Divide the opening into 4 equal parts.

 Sew the petersham together with a 1/4" seam and then divide it into 4 equal sections.

Match the outside curved edge of the ribbon to the 1/4" stitching line. The ribbon will need to be eased into the circle. If you find that the ribbon is just too much to ease in, you can take it up another 1/2", so 1/4" on either side of the center back. 

Edge stitch the ribbon to the opening of the hat.

 The hat is finished and ready to wear.

Once I get my coat finished, I'll post pictures of me wearing the beret. I think the 2 will look quite nice together.