Guest blogger today is one of our pattern testers Matilda (find her on instagram as @s.e.bro). Thank you so much Matilda for sharing this super cute pattern hack!
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I'm so fond of bow beanies, they're so cute. I've long searched for a tutorial on how to make one, after seeing so many gorgeous versions. But most of the patterns or tutorials I've found include hand sewing and that's really not my strong suit. I find it quite boring to be honest. I want easy and speedy sewing with a sewing machine. So if anyone feels like me, here's a tutorial on making quick and easy bow beanies without the need for sewing by hand.
I used the Sigge & Siri beanie pattern as a base since it's really good and quick to sew. Start with step 1 in Sigge & Siri's tutorial and follow all the steps until step 7 when the beanie is all done.
Cut out 2 bow pieces. I sent Caroline the measurements of my bow and she drew up the pattern piece. Download the bow pattern here. 1 cm (3/8") seam allowance is included. If you want to you can make a larger or smaller bow, or with rounded edges, that's up to you.
Place the bow pieces right sides together and sew almost all the way around. Leave a gap of approx. 2 cm (almost 1"), so that you can later turn it right sides out. Sew with a stretch stitch, for example a narrow zig zag stitch or triple stretch stitch.
Afterwards trim down the seam allowance a bit and clip corners, unless you sewed with a serger (overlocker).
Turn the bow right sides out and press.
Sew together the turning gap, using for example a straight stitch or a hand stitch. I used a sewing machine since I'm not fond of hand stitching and this seam won't be visible afterwards anyway.
Now mark where you will later cut into the finished beanie, in order to pull through the bow. How high to place the bow is a matter of taste, but I made my marking approximately at the center of the beanie, a little bit closer to its lower edge than the top.
Make a mark that's as wide as the most narrow part of the bow, 3 cm if you're using the pattern piece, and cut through both layers of the beanie. Make sure not to cut wider than the most narrow part of the bow.
Pull through the bow from the right side through the hole so that the rear part of the bow is a bit longer than the front part.
Turn the beanie wrong sides out and sew the bow stuck to the beanie and close the gap that you cut. Sew through the beanie and the bow, a couple of millimeters from the edge. Make sure to include all layers (in total 4 layers of beanie and 2 layers of bow).
Turn the beanie right sides out. Now there should be no gap to the wrong side.
Tie the bow. All done!
Thanks again Matilda for this awesome tutorial! It's super inspiring! I imagine there will be lots of super cute babies and toddlers wearing this kind of beanie :)
Check out our beanie pattern Sigge & Siri.
