DIY Newsie Hat from a Free Pattern

Nut#1 recently had a chorus concert for school.  The theme was ‘Broadway’ and they sang popular songs from musicals-my favorite!  Plus, my son auditioned for a small solo and got it!  You can follow me on Instagram (hazelnutmade-there’s a button on the sidebar!) to see a video of him.  #proudmomma

Anyways, were instructed to wear clothing from the 1920s-1940s.  Originally, Nut#1 only wanted to wear his Sunday shirt and pants and call it good.  But about 2 weeks before the concert he told me he wanted to wear a Newsie Hat and suspenders!  And asked if I could make the hat for him!  I was so excited! And doubly excited because it wasn’t the night before the concert!  

I looked around at a couple of patterns on the internet.  Nut#1 really wanted this style with the six sections forming the cap.  I found a free pattern from Whitney Sews and thought, why not?  It’s only one page to print!  It looked a bit slim-a modern take on the newsie hat but I decided to try it anyways before buying a pattern.

I won’t go into details of how to make the hat since Whitney Sews has a YouTube video with instructions.  I’ll just tell you how the pattern came together and how I made it work for us.

First, because it looked so slim, I measured the six pieces, adjusted for seam allowance and realized the band was larger than the cap would end up.  Yet I went ahead,  sewed up the lining, and tried it on my head.  My son’s head is only 1/2 inch or so smaller than mine.  The hat was tight.  No way would it have ANY of the floppiness a of Newsie Hat. It wasn’t even going to fit in the band!

So I recut the lining, adding 1/4 in to the outside of the cap pieces.  It fit my head better so I went ahead and sewed up the hat using some upholstery fabric leftover from recovering an armchair.  The hat fit the band perfectly, without any pleats.  (Although pleats would have helped it flop more.)  The finished newbie hat fit Nut#1’s head and he declared it perfect!  So I tucked aside my own opinions and called it good.

He wore it around the house, playing, mowing the lawn, all the while telling me he loved it.  And then he wore it to school for the concert.  Some kids in his class called it a train conductor’s hat and he hasn’t worn it since.  I can see their point. This pattern mades a slim, modern hat.  The cap needs to be bigger so have the characteristic newsie hat flop.  If I were making it again, I’d add at least 1/2 inch all around the cap pieces instead of 1/4″.  Then take small pleats at each seam or in the middle of each piece.

I guess this is just the first of probably many times when peer opinions will influence my children’s opinions and feelings.  Hopefully I can help them love themselves enough to keep their own personalities and opinions when they differ from their friends and peers opinions.

But at least the hat is well made, and if he really has abandoned his newsie hat, it fits my head…and I think it would look fantastic on me…