Hat from an old Sweater (Doesn't Need to be Wool!)

Having successfully turned the sleeves from one of my favorite old sweaters into a scarf, I decided to try a couple of matching father-son hats for Hubby and Boy for Christmas.  Since this sweater is acrylic and not wool, I had to be careful about pieces unravelling.

For Hubby's hat I used a pattern my mom loaned me. (Simplicity #7356 Size L, pattern D). I cut each of the pieces out of the fleece first.  Then I pinned them onto the sweater and sewed around each piece with approximately 1/4 inch seam allowance. I figured this way, I didn't have to worry about the sweater pieces unraveling before got them together.  I didn't bother zigzagging around the edges here since these were all going to be within the seam allowances of the finished hat.  (Sorry there aren't more pics, but the camera wasn't focusing well and I was up against a deadline.)

Then I assembled the hat according to the directions. It was a bit tricky at times sewing through so many thicknesses, so you'd want to make sure your machine can handle it.

Boy's hat was simpler.  I used another hat we already had as the pattern and cut it a little bigger for seam allowances.  (I wish I would have cut it even a little bigger because it's a little tight on Boy's head.)  I just cut out the two head pieces out of fleece. 

hen just like the hat for Hubby, I pinned them to the sweater fabric and sewed along the edges.  For the cuff, I used the hem at the bottom of the sweater, so that part is unlined since I didn't have to worry about the edge coming unravelled.