Tutorials – DIY Upcycled Pixie Bonnet

I love pixie bonnets!!  There, I said it.I probably have 20+ styles of pixie bonnets and recently I’ve found myself contemplating buying gorgeous upcycled pixie bonnets that appear (and disappear) in a flash on Facebook. These things are HOT right now and it’s nearly impossible to buy one because everyone wants them. So, my little brain started cranking and I’ve figured out a way to make a NO-SEW upcycled pixie bonnet of my very own! Let me tell you, there is something exciting that happens mentally and emotionally when you make something of your own. I think I stared at my first newborn pixie hat creation for a good 30 minutes marveling in my ability to create something I love out of something I didn’t (my old shrunken sweater). And the best part is that I’m going to show YOU how to make your own too!

Here we go!

You’re going to need these supplies for your pixiel bonnet:

1. Steam-a-Seam2 Double Stick Fusible web tape (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby)
2. Iron
3. Fabric scissors
4. Ruler
5. Pen and Paper (one piece of white printer paper)
6. Old Knit Sweater (choose one that has stretch, in the desired color you want for your pixie hat)

Here you can see that the Steam-a-Seam looks like a roll of tape. It has a backing you peel off and it’s sticky on both sides to bind to pieces of fabric together to create a seam. Genius I tell ya!

 

Instructions:

1. First, lay your old sweater flat and find the seams at the bottom. (The seams run down the right and left side of the sweater.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Next, on your white sheet of paper, draw out the pattern shown below. You are going to make a square 6 inches by 7 inches, and on the side that is 7 inches you’ll draw an upward swoop to make the pixie point at the top of the hat. (my cat was there to inspect my pixie pattern to ensure accuracy… haha)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Next, line up your paper pattern so that it lines up with the bottom left of your sweater. Make sure your pixie point swoop is positioned as shown below. Feel free to grab your closest pet to stand on your sweater as you work…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Cut out your pixie hat from the pattern. Be sure not to cut along the fold or garment edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Now open your pixie hat and lay it down, pretty side up (the side you want on the outside of your pixiel bonnet)
Tear off small pieces of your steam-a-seam and lay it along the swoop side of your hat (this is also the back side of your bonnet):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be sure the tape is near the edge of the fabric and fold your pixie hat in half with tape inside (hat now looks inside out):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Take your iron and press down on the pixie hat on the side with the steam-a-seam tape. Hold the iron down for 10 seconds at a time. Lift. Repeat. This is melting the tape onto the fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you’re done ironing, it should look something like this: (lighter side is from the iron where the tape is melted between the back side of the hat):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Let your hat cool off and then carefully turn your hat inside out again (if your hat starts to come apart, carefully put the tape back in place and put your iron back on for 10 more seconds)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. You now have a pixie bonnet! But wait, you need tassels. You could add ribbon, chiffon, or cut strips of fabric from your sweater to make them:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. I went back to my original cut-up sweater and cut out 6 inch long strips of fabric for each tassel:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. To attach them to your pixie bonnet, tear off 2 small pieces of your Seam-a-Steam and secure each tassel to the inside bottom corner of each side of your bonnet and iron for 10 seconds to melt the tape:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

aaaand you’re done!! Here is my hat modeled on a sweet baby!