Tutorial: Lining knit hats with fleece

I really enjoy knitting, and hats are one of my favourite items to make. I finished a hat for myself a little while ago that I wanted to line with fleece. I really like finishing hats with a lining – it makes them basically wind proof significantly warmer, a huge plus for our Yukon winters! As well, this can solve any itchiness for people who find wool irritating. I get asked how to do this every so often so I thought I’d take some photos of the process and post as a tutorial.

1: Select materials and make a pattern

You’ll need a finished knit hat, some polar fleece, and matching thread. I recommend making the knit hat a bit large for the recipient, since adding fleece will take up additional space inside the hat. My hat was a variation on my Simone’s Hat pattern that used slightly thinner yarn (Lion Brand Woolspun in the gorgeous Peacock colourway, a wool/acrylic blend). I find tightly spun acrylic/wool blends hold up well to being punctured by sewing thread – something loose, like a wool roving, may pull apart where the fleece is stitched in.

I fold my knit hat into quarters and trace it onto paper, leaving about an extra 1/2″ for the seam allowance.

2: Cut fleece 

Use this pattern to cut out four pieces of polar fleece. I make sure that I line up my pattern pieces so that the fleece stretches horizontally.

3: Assemble a fleece hat

Next, I pin two of my pattern pieces together and seam one side (repeat x 2). I use a 1/2″ seam allowance and a regular straight stitch. Clip the curves – here is a good tutorial if you’re unfamiliar with this process.

Then attach these two halves to finish making a fleece hat and clip those curved seams as well. I push the seams open with my fingers.

4: Attaching the two hats

Insert the fleece hat into the knit hat with wrong sides together. I find I have to push and shape the two hats into one another at this stage to get the right fit.

Then turn the bottom edge of the fleece up into the knit hat, tucking the raw edge under, and pin right at the cast on edge of the knit hat. I find it helps to pin the seams of the four quarters first, then work my way around. You shouldn’t be able to see the fleece peeking out when looking at the right side of the knit hat.

Finally – this is very important –  switch the stitch setting to tricot stitch. This stitch, which is 5 little stitches in a triangle shape, has some stretch to it which preserves the stretch of the fleece and knit fabric, ensuring the hat will still fit. Then stitch around the bottom of the hat. I keep the cast on edge right at the outside of my presser foot.

5: Admire your finished product

That’s it! The photo below shows the tricot stitch inside the brim. If you like, you can hand sew a few stitches at the crown of the hat to keep the fleece from pulling out of the top of the hat.

I find the tricot stitch blends in quite well, particularly into the baby cable ribbing used in this example, so the finished look of the knitting isn’t affected. I attached the leather tag by hand as a final step.

In total, lining the hat took me about half an hour from start to finish (not counting knitting time, of course.) I hope you found this tutorial helpful! Leave a comment if you’re looking for more detail or have any questions.

 

 

 

Tutorial: Packable dog bed

We hiked the Chilkoot Trail a few weeks ago with our dog, Duke. (I’ll give more details about our experience in a future post.) When we were getting ready for that trip, we had to make sure that we had the appropriate gear, both for us and the dog.

One of the items we had a hard time finding was a small, warm dog bed that would fit in Duke’s backpack. Ruffwear makes what they call a packable dog bed, and I was able to find it at a local store, but it took up more space packed up than my regular size Thermarest so it wasn’t going to work. Since I couldn’t find what  I wanted, I decided to make one myself. Here’s a tutorial in case our fellow hikers are having similar problems.

1: Select a size and materials

I opted for polar fleece because it insulates even when wet and it can be machine washed and dried. I used Duke’s favourite dog bed as a gauge for size and made sure the finished product would fit in his backpack (about 20″ by 36″). I had this fun, printed polar fleece in my stash of fabrics and I thought this would be a great opportunity to use it.

2: Cut out three pieces of fleece and quilt two together

I decided that two layers of polar fleece wouldn’t provide enough padding, so I cut out a third piece the same size and quilted it to the top layer. I pre-marked my quilt lines with chalk.

3: Attach bottom layer and elastics

Once the top and middle were quilted together, I pinned two 12″ pieces of elastic in loops to the bottom edge – this is to hold the bed together when rolled up, like a sleeping bag. I checked the length of elastic needed by folding my fabric sandwich in half and then rolling it up.  I then placed the wrong sides of my quilted layers and bottom layer together and stitched around the edge, leaving a healthy 5/8″ seam allowance and about a 6″ gap at one end so I could turn it inside out. I clipped the corners before turning it inside out so they would be nice and sharp.

4: Top stitching

The last step was to pin the gap closed and top stitch all around. I used the edge of my presser foot against the edge of the fabric as a gauge.

Here’s the final result. From design to completion it took me about an hour and a half to finish. The only thing I would change if making another would be to remember to account for my seam allowance when pinning in the elastics – they aren’t spaced perfectly evenly.

We packed the bed in a plastic grocery bag to keep it dry in Duke’s backpack on our hike. It worked really well in the tent – it kept him off of our inflatable air mattresses (well, sort of) and was small and light enough for him to carry in his own pack. It also washed well once we got home. Overall, I think it will serve us well on future camping trips, and I hope any fellow crafty, hiking, dog people – that’s quite the combo – will find this useful!