Add Some Fleece to Your Life

Ever knit a hat that turned out just a tad too big? Or was itchy? Well I certainly have, and the solution is surprising simple. Sew in a fleece lining!

Tools:

• Fleece
• Hat
• Matching thread
• Sewing machine with zigzag stitch
• Straight edge
• Measuring tape
• Scissors

To start: Lay out your hat and decide how wide you want your lining to be. Essentially you will be sewing in a head band, so your forehead and ears won't be irritated by the yarn. I decided that 3.5 inches would be right for my hat. Decide what fits your hat and needs for this step. Next measure the circumference of your hat. This doesn't have to be perfect since you will be cutting the strip a few inches longer anyway. I put my straight edge up against one edge and used a rotary cutter to cut in 3.5 inches. Of course you can use plain old scissors and it will work just fine.

Next place one short edge of your strip at the center, inside, back, of the hat. At this point your hat should be inside out. Pin the short edge in, and head over to your sewing machine. Here using a semi wide zigzag stitch is going to be your best bet. The widness helps prevent the knitting and fleece from puckering. Here is what I used

After you have sewn in the short side, pin the lower edge. Since the hat gets smaller as it goes up the lower hat edge will probably be slightly longer and should be sewn first. After you have sewn in the bottom edge, iron the strip and your hat. This will help smooth out minor puckers from sewing something this thick and stretchy. Now you should pull the strip taught and pin the upper edge of the band slightly tight. This will compensate for the slightly smaller circumference at the top edge of the band.
To help sewing the upper band part, I took off the arm of the sewing machine. If your sewing machine has this capability DO IT!! Very helpful! So after you are done sewing the two lines you need to cut the excess so you can sew the final short side of your band. Cut so the ends ever so slightly over lap each other. This will create a perfect match up when you sew the final side since stitching it down will pull it in slightly. When you are done it should look something like...

And

Now if you didn't do a perfect job sewing some of your lines you can trim the excess outside the zigzag stitch. But be careful not to clip your sewn stitches or your hat! I cut the corners of the short sides so they won't poke when the hat is being worn.

So there you are a wonderful fun hat with an equally fun purple soft lining!
Bring on the cold, right?