Slouchy Patchwork Witch Hat Tutorial & Free Printable Pattern

I saw a photo of an adorable patchwork Witch’s hat on Pinterest, and wanted to make one myself. I love the idea of creating quilted or patchwork clothing items, as it combines my love of sewing with my interest in quilting.

While most of the photos I have seen feature the traditional pointed witch's hat, I wanted to create a slouchy witch hat, as I find those styles very cute and more wearable. (But don’t fear if you want a tutorial for the pointed one, we will be making that too!)

This Witch hat sewing pattern is suitable for confident beginners. Several curved seams require easing the fabric, but none of them are particularly dramatic.

We have included PDF printable pattern pieces, step-by-step video and photo instructions to guide you through sewing this cute hat.  The hat size is adjustable through the front triangle.  This hat is fully lined, and the brim is supported with foam batting. Also, there’s a lot of opportunity to decorate this hat to your heart's content!

Learn more about making this slouchy patchwork hat by clicking the link to the video below or keep reading.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Slouchy Witch Hat Pattern - the free downloadable PDF pattern is available after my signature at the end of this tutorial.
• A variety of fabrics to make the patchwork fabric - 5" squares work well
• ½ yard of lining fabric
• Quilt batting or Pellon 988
• Soft and stable, Sew Any Shape Foam or a similarly firm batting. 
• Ribbon, rickrack, lace, buttons, charms, or any other decoration that you want!
• Sewing Machine and common sewing supplies like pins, scissors, and ruler

Seam Allowance: 1/4” unless otherwise specified
Difficulty: Confident Beginner
Time: Approximately 2 - 3 hours to make the basic hat. More for embellishments.

About the Pattern:

The printable PDF includes three pattern pieces: the side hat, front triangle, and brim.  The pattern pieces include a 1/4" seam allowance.  Get the pattern PDF at the end of this tutorial after my signature. 

After printing the side hat piece, extend the lines to the edge of the paper. The last cutting line is along the edge of the paper.

The Front Triangle pattern piece extends over two pages.  After printing pages 2 and 3, overlap the page edges by 1/4", matching up the lines of the triangle.  Tape the pages together to have the whole triangle piece.  Before cutting out the Front triangle, read the sizing instructions below to make necessary adjustments.

Since head sizes vary from person to person, the front triangle piece is adjustable to your head size.

The included hat pattern is made for a head circumference of 22 1/2 inches. So, if your head is 22 1/2 inches in circumference, no adjustment is necessary.  

To adjust the size of the hat for your head, measure the circumference of your head. This is the main measurement we will use. For our sample calculations, let's assume our head measurement is 24".

Adjusting the Front Triangle

The base of the side hat piece is 10 inches, so removing the seam allowances gives us a total circumference (without front triangle) of 19 inches. The base of your front triangle piece should be found by:

[Head’s circumference] - 19 + 1 inches = triangle base width

For our 24" hat, the calculation is:
24 - 19 + 1 = 6"

The extra 1" consists of ½ inch for the seam allowances, and another half inch to give some ease of wearing. The triangle is 13 1/4 inches high (from the center of the base to the point), and the point is centered (e.g., not a right triangle). 

The base triangle piece is cut on the fold.  So, divide the calculated triangle base width in half.  Using my sample above, 6" divided by 2 is 3".  We will make the width of the base of the triangle piece this size.

Use a ruler and measure this amount (for me it's 3") from the dotted line on the base of the front triangle—Mark at the measurement spot.

Use a ruler and draw a new cutting line from the marked spot to the point of the triangle.

Use this adjusted piece for your front triangle pattern.

Adjusting the Brim

Next, we will determine the size of your brim piece. Taking your head’s circumference, we will find the radius of the inner circle through: 

[Head’s circumference]  / (2*pi) = radius

For our 24" hat, the calculation is:
24 / (2 * 3.14) = 3.82

For ease of making the pattern, we will round down to 3 3/4".

To draw the brim piece, use a ruler to trace a quarter-circle of the desired radius on the paper.

Start by measuring from the corner of the paper to your calculated radius and mark a dot.

Measure in the other direction and mark a dot.

Measure and mark several more dots from the corner of the paper.

Draw a curved line to connect the dots.

My brim piece was made at 3 ½ inches wide. Draw another circle 3 ½ inches out from the inner circle. You can adjust the width of the brim to your liking. 

Measure from the previous line and mark several dots 3 1/2" or the width of the brim. Draw a second line to connect the dots.

Make a Hat Mockup

I suggest creating a mockup of the hat out of muslin or another inexpensive, non-stretchy fabric. This will allow you to confirm that the pattern fits and adjust the size of the front triangle and brim to your liking before making the hat from your nice fabric.

INSTRUCTIONS For making the slouchy Hat

STEP 1: Making the patchwork fabric

The patchwork can be made in any way you like. I decided to use 5” squares of fabric to construct my patchwork. This is a quick and easy way to create a patchwork, perfect for using up leftover charm pack squares. Since it's scrappy, don't worry about making the corners line up.

However, if you have scraps, jelly rolls, or other shapes you would like to use, feel free to do so. You can also make this hat from a solid piece of fabric, but I thought the patchwork was such a cute look.

When choosing fabrics for my patchwork, I decided on a color scheme (greens, whites, and browns), and a theme (forest/nature), and stuck to that. This helped me create a cohesive look out of my patchwork.

Laying the pieces over the pattern pieces helped me visualize where each fabric would go and which other fabrics it would intersect with, allowing me to decide which ones went together and which ones would be too busy together. 

I chose to use a variety of novelty prints in my patchwork, but it is just as important to consider the negative space when laying out your patches. Too many small patterns next to each other can overwhelm the eye, making the patchwork look busy. So I chose a couple of more solid or toned-down patterns (white on white dots, a brown on brown plaid) to break up the novelty patterns. 

Remember that all of the above is just advice, and if going against it gives you the look that you want, go for it. This is your project, so make it look exactly how you want it to.

If you would like to add rickrack, buttons, ribbons, or other decorative elements here, feel free to do so. I added some rickrack over the seams of my patchwork.

Step 2: Cutting the Fabrics

For my patchwork of 5” squares, I needed two 2 x 3 block pieces for the side hat, one 1 x 3 piece for the triangle front, and one 3 x 3 piece for the brim. If you are making your patchwork differently, you will need to reference the pattern pieces to determine how much patchwork you need.

The side hat and the triangle piece are cut by laying the pattern piece onto the patchwork fabric, pinning it in place, and cutting along the line.

The easiest way to cut the brim piece is to fold your fabric into quarters. Place the pattern piece on the fabric, with the corner matching the folded corner of the fabric. Make sure there are double folds of fabric under where it's marked on the pattern.  Cut out all four layers of the quarter circle at once. 

The pieces and fabrics to cut: 

• Two side hat pieces from the patchwork, lining, and batting.
• One front triangle piece from the patchwork, lining, and batting
• One brim piece from the patchwork, lining, and the Soft and Stable. 

Assembling the hat

You will assemble three separate hats: one out of patchwork, one out of lining, and one out of the batting and soft and stable. All the following steps will apply to all three hat parts; it’s best to assemble them concurrently, as it makes the process faster. 

Step 3: Attaching the triangle

Take your side hat pieces,

and the triangle pieces.

Start with the patchwork hat pieces.

Attach the front triangle to the side hat with right sides together. Ease one of the long sides of the triangle onto the front curved side of the side hat. You may need to gently stretch the fabric as you sew it. This triangle piece will add volume to the hat and make it more circular.

Do the same for the lining and batting pieces.  You will have three separate parts to the hat.

Step 4: Attaching the other hat piece

Next, sew on the other side hat piece to the combined triangle and side hat piece.

Lay the second side hat piece on top of the first with right sides together, matching the long seam.  Pin and stitch this seam. 

Then, place the back of the side hats with right sides together, pin, and sew the seam.  

Do the same for the lining and batting sections.  You will have three hat shapes, the patchwork, lining and batting.

Step 5: Attaching the brim

The next step is attaching the brim to each of the hat sections.

Place the hat inside the hole of the brim, and fold the brim up to pin the pieces with right sides together.

You may need to stretch the fabric to pin it together and to sew it. Be careful not to fold or bunch the fabric in this area.

The hat is taking shape!  You will have three hat sections with brims.

Step 6: Add Decorations (OPTIONAL) 

Before attaching the three sections of the hat into one, add any additional decorations such as lace, buttons, or ric-rac.

I decided to add lace around the base of the hat. I’ve also seen people embroider on their hats or add other details. If you would like to do something similar, do it now!

Step 7: Attaching the hat layers to one

We will now attach all the layers to one. To prepare for this, trim all seams as closely as possible on the batting and the soft & stable hat section. You do not need to do this for the patchwork or the lining sections. 

Place the batting hat on a surface, right side out.

Place the patchwork hat over the top, right side out. Line up the seams and point of the hat with the batting seams and point.

Turn the lining hat, wrong side out.  Place it over the top, lining up all seams and the point of the hat. The lining and patchwork hats should be right sides together here.

Pin along the edge of the brim, leaving a 3 - 4" hole to turn the hat through. Sew around the brim using a ½ inch seam.

Trim the soft and stable material as close to the seam as possible, without cutting the seam or the other layers. Take your time here!

Turn the lining layer to the inside through the hole you left in the brim. Use iron to flatten the seam against the lining on the underside of the brim.

Step 8: Finishing the brim

Fold the fabric along the hole in the brim to the inside and press.  Pin to hold it in place.

Topstitch around the edge of the brim to finish the seam and close the opening.

I added a ribbon wrapped around the edge of the brim to make the edge look prettier. I also added a little bee charm to the hat. 

Step 9: Quilting (Optional)

I decided to hand-sew some large decorative quilting stitches along the brim of the hat to hold all the layers together.

I also stitched along the seams of the hat to keep the lining in place. You can machine quilt the brim if you want, but if you want to quilt the hat section, you will need to handsew it.

And that completes your patchwork witch's hat! I think this is an excellent craft for Halloween, but I will also wear it out and about. The world needs a little more whimsy, no?

Here are some other close-ups of the finished hat.

I hope you enjoyed learning how to make this patchwork witch’s hat, and subscribe to our newsletter so you won't miss the tutorial for a more traditional style of witch’s hat.

Scroll down to get the FREE PRINTABLE PATTERN PIECES!

Some other Halloween and Fall Sewing Projects:

• Pumpkin Mug Rug
• Trick-or-Treat Bag
• Halloween Treat Bags
• Candy Corn Banner