Be Kind
Crochet sun hat with stiff brim
This is my daughter wearing a sun hat that her grandparents sent her from Florida. As you can see, the hat is fabulous. It’s cotton and airy, it’s soft and comfortable, and it has a stiff brim that holds it up and prevents flopping. And, it has every color of the rainbow, so it goes with everything. Everywhere we go, she gets compliments on this hat. Complete strangers will stop us to say how great the hat is.
I am a crocheter, and I could tell that the hat is crocheted out of cotton yarn. The hat admirers would sometimes ask if I made the hat, and I would say, almost embarrassed, “No, it was store bought.” So, I decided to reverse engineer the hat.
It took some trial and error, and a lot of measuring and counting, but I’m pretty happy with the result:
Crochet sun hat with stiff brim
Yarn:
Five skeins of Tahki Yarns Cotton Classic
Other:
1/4” or 1/8” flexible clear PVC tubing (available at Home Depot or other hardware store)
Hook: G hook
Finished size: 20” circumference
Gauge: 5.5 stiches per inch
Hat:
Round 1: 6 sc in starting loop
Round 2: 2 sc in each sc around (12 stitches)
Round 3: 2 sc in first sc, sc in each sc around (13 stitches)
Round 4: 2 sc in each sc around (26 stitches)
Round 5: sc in each sc around (26 stitches)
Round 6: * sc in first sc, 2sc in next sc, repeat from * around (39 stitches)
Round 7: sc in each sc around (39 stitches)
Round 8: increase by 20 stitches evenly around (59 stitches)
Round 9: sc in each sc around (59 stitches)
Round 10: sc in each sc around (59 stitches)
Round 11: sc in each sc around (59 stitches)
Round 12: increase by 20 stitches evenly around (79 stitches)
Round 13: sc in each sc around (79 stitches)
Round 14: sc in each sc around (79 stitches)
Round 15: increase by 20 stitches evenly around (99 stitches)
Round 16: sc in each sc around (99 stitches)
Round 17: sc in each sc around (99 stitches)
Round 18: increase by 11 stitches evenly around (110 stitches)
Round 19: sc in each sc around (110 stitches)
Continue at 110 stitches per round until 6” from starting round.
Brim:
Round 1: *sc in first two stitches, 2sc in next stitch, repeat from * all the way around
Round 2: sc in each sc around
Round 3: sc in each sc around
Round 4: *sc in first four stitches, 2sc in next stitch, repeat from * all the way around
Round 5: sc in each sc around
Round 6: sc in each sc around
Round 7: sc in each sc around
Round 8: sc in each sc around
Round 9: *sc in first six stitches, 2sc in next stitch, repeat from * all the way around
Round 10: sc in each sc around
Round 11: sc in each sc around
Round 12: sc in each sc around, around the vinyl flexible tubing. You’re going to be reaching the crochet hook under the tubing to grab the yarn, then bringing it over to complete the stitch.
Here is a video that demonstrates how to crochet around the tubing.
When you finish this round, cut the tubing so that the ends meet with just a little bit of tension. You’ll need something to stick inside the tubing, that will essentially act as a bridge between the two ends, so that they will stay together. Something a little bendy, that is thin enough to fit inside the tubing. I used a length of zip tie (I snipped off the notch part).
Then, you’ll probably want to super-glue the two ends together, so that when you bend the brim the ends don’t pop out through the stitches. Do this before moving on to the ruffle.
Here is a video that demonstrates how to do this.
(NOTE: The video says to do the ruffle first, and then connect the ends of the piping. But you should actually connect the ends first, and then do the ruffle.)
Ruffle:
Round 1: 2 sc in each sc around
Round 2: *1 sc in first sc, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around.
Round 3: sc in each sc around.
