DIY Vintage Flour Sack Fabric Hat Band

As many of you all know by now, I love to make patchwork projects with my vintage flour sack scraps! The prints on these fabrics are divine! They are so fun to piece together in patchwork too! I had snagged this straw hat in the cheapie section at Target a few weeks ago and liked the fit of it, but thought it needed something a little more than the thin elastic band it donned. So, I thought I would spruce it up with a fabric band, or even better yet, a vintage patchwork band! 

Here’s What You Need:

*Straw Hat- I bought mine at Target in their dollar section

*Vintage Flour Sack Scraps, or scrap fabric of your choice

*Rotary Cutter and Self Healing Mat

*Sewing Machine and Thread

*Flower Clip, brooch, pin or decorative hair flower, etc…

Instructions:

 

Measure your hat circumference to see how many pieces you need. Divide the measurement by the length of your sewn rectangles which are roughly 2.5″ wide. So, 25″ divided by 2.5 would be ten pieces. I added a piece for good measure so I cut eleven rectangles with seam allowance of a quarter inch so my pieces were cut to 3″ wide each and I made them to be 2.25 tall so I could turn under the top and bottom by a half inch and still have a band that was 1.25″ tall. Cut all your scrap pieces with your quilting ruler and rotary cutter on your mat.

Lay out your scraps in the order that you like. Play around with it until you have a design you like.

Start by stitching your first piece to your second piece right sides facing at right side seam. Then stitch the third piece to the second at the right side seam. Continue stitching each piece to the previous until you have a long strip of patchwork.

 

Iron open all the seam allowances. Fold the top and bottom raw edges under towards the wrong side by 1/2″ each and iron down flat. You can either leave it like that or you can top stitch close to the top and bottom to keep everything in place and the edges nicely concealed. Fit your band around your hat and overlap the ends, then fasten them together with a pin or a clip. I added a big daisy clip to mine.

I just adore my hat now that I have added the band to it! I wear it all the time and have gotten so many compliments on it. I used some of my favorite feed sack scraps to make my hat band, but you could easily use any kind of scraps you have on hand, or you could make a solid strip just as easily. I love the versatility of this project and how easy it is to make! I also love that the band is removable, so if I want to wear a scarf around my hat or possibly make a different band or even add a different clip to it, I can. I hope some of my fellow hat lovers will give this one a try this summer. I think you all will love it too! Can’t wait to see what you clever guys and gals come up with! I’ll be back next week with another fun upcycled DIY. Until then…

Happy Crafting!