This past week I spent time making my version of a cat ear beanie. My sister requested one for her birthday and it was perfect timing for me to whip one up. Since there’s already so many vid tutorials and even patterns I’ve seen I just wanted to share the process and rough pattern of how I made this Cosmic Cat Beanie with custom hand sewn patch.
First I chose two separate colors, in this case I use a variegated rainbow yarn and black
acrylic. Super simple and what was requested. They really wanted a “Alice in Wonderland” themed patch on it as well. I chose “We’re all mad here” for the quote. I based the measurement off of my own head which is what you can do to size your hat easily. I almost always use a foundation stitch whether that be single, half double, or double foundation. Its simply just so easy to never mess up how long you need something. There is no starting chain to work into you just create a row and work from there. If you don’t know how to do a foundation double crochet here’s a youtube vid that I like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VD4vkQMMfo
Starting with the rainbow yarn I went with that foundation double crochet and made around 60 stitches. I used a 5mm hook my trusty size that I use nearly every project. I checked the first initial row around my head just above my ears and made sure to stretch it a lil so the fit was snug but not tight. Then slipstitched into the top of the 1st stitch to create a round. Ch 3 and double crochet in each st. around. Then I do a color change at the end of that row and continue a 2 color then 2 black row pattern sequence. I crocheted around 18 rows up and folded the brim with 3 full sets of stripes up. I tried it on and pinched together the top to see how large I needed it. The sequence ended on black yarn so I used the rainbow to seam it on the top which i did a really easy slip stitch chain join method like this one here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRsM4vlgwTw
With any of these cat beanies its recommended to pull the corners out like ears. Super easy to do while on. Just lightly tug at the corners outward to make them more cat like.
Now on to the patch. Using leftover fabric aida 14 ct about 2inx3in, and 3 strands of embroidery floss. After I made the beanie I figured out how big the rim should be and that was how large I decided that patch was going to be. Then I used a pencil and very lightly rough sketched some cursive lettering and when I was pleased with the shapes I clearly defined the line I would be stitching with my favorite pen the Pilot R2 0.7mm Rollerball. The thing slides like butter and I love it on all my projects from cross stitch patterning or drawing or our art cards (check those out here)
Taking the 3 strands of black floss I did a mixture of classic cross stitch x’s and a basic running backstitch
After stitching all the lettering I wanted to use a blanket stitch on the edge to finish it. I used all 6
strands of embroidery floss. In the corners I did 3 stitches and then continued down the side with just 1 stitch per square. The color I selected for the blanket stitch was also similar to the color I wanted the background. I’m sure it would look sick with a contrasting color for the border but I used an alcohol marker to blend the whole thing together once finished. I selected a lovely pink for both.
Once I finished the patch i stitched it on with the same pink thread as the border just a simple back stitch that was spaced out 2-3 stitches. If you don’t know how to back stitch here’s a simple youtube reel, I just skipped ahead about 2-3 stitches on the underside instead of just 1 ahead and covering a whole line.
Once I was satisfied with all that I found random beads and charms to attach all over the front side. I found random mushrooms, smiley face, peace sign, some pretty pink beads, heart applique patches and a couple of tiny micro crochet ghosts that were one earrings that I never wore. Taking a half arm length of black embroidery floss i stitched through mostly the black stripes so the thread was invisible and individually fixed each bead and charm. I looped through the bead 3 times and pulled the the inside of the hat where I double knotted it and snipped and moved to the next bead.
All in all it took me around 8 hours to finish the crochet part and then 3 hours on the patch, followed by 2 hours to stitch everything on. Great success.
By Bobbi
