Trying to DIY and self care with baby

After a few months of retracting into the turtle shell of parenting, you might feel comfortable enough to poke your head out ever so slightly and take a look outside… here is my little poke back into the world of sewing. I decided to learn how to make some bonnets for Marla that could keep her ears warm and add a cutesy addition to her already very cute head.

Here is what you will need:

White knit cotton
Snap closures
1/4” elastic cording

1. Start out by carefully measuring your baby’s head, I got away with it while Marla was sleeping!

2. Create your template. I drew one half of a T shape, which is essentially the one side of the bonnet on the head. Connecting two halves of the T creates the full bonnet.

3. After settling on the size and shape of your bonnet, cut the pattern out of your material on the fold.

4. Open your cut fabric up, and connect the edges right sides together. This gives you a sort of box corner, you can round out that stitch for a more rounded corner.

5. Taking the back edge of the bonnet, and flipping it up two times, I am going to sew in an elastic at this edge using a zigzag knit stitch to secure it in place. This will provide stability to the structure of the bonnet and stay on the head.

6. Cut a strip of fabric to attach to the outside edge of the front of the bonnet to help close off the raw edges. My strip leaves 5cm of extra material on both ends to help fasten under the chin.

Firstly, sew the right side of the strip to the inside of the bonnet, with your needle at a 3/4” from the edge, using a straight stitch.

7. Give the raw edge a trim, then take the strip and fold over the raw edges twice, enclosing it within the strip using a straight stitch.

8. Hand sew the snap closures where the bonnet reaches around your baby’s head.

9. Try it on and make any adjustments as needed!

10. I added fun little pompoms I made out of the same material for extra cuteness!