Hero's Birthday Hat

For the Families Create! Make and Play Carnival, theme of Heroes and Heroines I made Little Man's birthday hat. He is only going to be a year on Friday, so he really hasn't decided on a hero for himself - so I picked him as our hero!

I don't have the best sewing skills myself so I'm pretty certain just about anyone can make one of these. As with my last craft you are only limited by the fabric select at the store and your imagination.

You will need a paper birthday hat for the template, stiff felt for the inside, your fabric selection for the outside, a needle, two straight pins, contrasting thread color, ribbon to decorate edge and some elastic to hold on the hat.
I chose the fabric based on Little Man's animal of choice and our birthday party theme: ALLIGATORS! He has two that he drags around the house.

After you select your fabric it is pretty straightforward.
1. Lay the dismantled paper party hat on the felt and trace with a market or fabric pencil. Cut out your shape.
2. Repeat with your fabric selection. Try to keep the part of the fabric you want to show inside the middle of your template and allow for overlap of seams. (This is particularly important with birthday hats and characters, do not cover the face!)
3. Lay the two pieces of fabric together and pin one side. Sew together using small stitches.
4. Repeat with other two sides.
5. Roll the fabric into a cone shape and pin in place.
6. Sew together. This takes a bit of talent not to stab yourself. Start at the top and work down.
7. Measure the elastic so it fits snuggly under your child's chin but not too tight. Sew to opposite sides.
8. Tack ribbon around entire hat about every inch with at least three small stitches.
Tada! You are done. Most likely this may earn you the designation of hero for making such a personalized hat for the birthday boy or girl.
I used a running stitch for the entire project. If you cannot find a fabric pattern that meets your needs you can always check the patches to see if there is one there and either sew or iron it on to coordinating fabric or cut up an old tee-shirt.
Resources:
Hand Sewing Guide
February brought many heroic crafts to the Families, Create! Carnival. Check out some of the wonderful posts from last month's participants below, and be sure to visit Code Name: Mama and Living Peacefully with Children to find out how you can participate in the next Families, Create! Carnival.

• The Artsy Mama made a personalized birthday hat for her son's first birthday. Learn how to make a Hero's Birthday Hat for your hero or heroine with very few sewing skills.


• Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children found inspiration in books for some I-Spy items in her post, I Spy Items - The Last Olympians and The Lost Heroes.


• Megan at Purple Dancing Dahlias found out how one random act of kindness can shower the world in kindness in the book Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed.


• It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Super Kieran! Dionna at Code Name: Mama shares the Superhero Capes she made to celebrate her son's heroic qualities.


• At Z Everyday Things, Mama G made easy and quick Super Zs!, personalized superhero appliques on shirts, for her children. Easy and quick!


• Lauren at Hobo Mama has a son who loves to dream up stories and one heroic imaginary friend. Read her post about Space-Alien Hot-Dog Monster & Silly Guy .


• Heroes are often everyday people. Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children was inspired by the gift of a sock in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, prompting her to make Dobby's Sock as part of her Harry Potter ornaments.


• Galit Breen at Three Little Waves used the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes as a springboard for a sensitive discussion and a fun origami project for her whole family in her post Families Create: Heroes and Heroines.


• Need a creative gift idea for a toddler or preschooler? Dionna at Code Name: Mama shares a simple Tutorial for a Two-Sided Felt Playmat (one side is outer space, one side is a jungle scene).


• Literature and adventure inspired Mandy @ Living Peacefully with Children to make these Treasure Bags for Imbolc.

Visit Code Name: Mama and Living Peacefully with Children to find out how you can participate in the next Families, Create! Carnival. Our March theme is "Animals" - what animals are your favorites and why? Get creative and share with us how animals are a part of your and your children's lives.