I wanted to make some gifts for my lady cousins. Cloche felted hats came to mind. I think, this is a popular design and a fashionable easy to wear hat. A great gift for the ladies.

This hat is worked from the top down. I followed the About Town Classic Felted hat pattern down to the beginning of the brim.

On the 1 hat with the hat band in cocoa color, it was done in the last 6 rows before the brim began.

For the brim of the cream color hat, I increased 9 sts on each round for 3 rounds. Then, 1 row of 1 sc in each stitch all around. These 4 rows were repeated 1 more time.

Brim Revised: Increase 9 sts on first round. Next round, 1 sc in each stitch all around. Repeat these 2 rows 3 or 4 more times as desired.
Reason for the revision: Brim was wavy due to too many stitch increasings from row to row.

I followed the felting process as shown on the pattern. Then once the hats dried out completely, I shaved both the outer & inner surfaces with a power lint shaver to give them a clean finished look.

Tips: I was glad to have this canvas block mannequin head. It helped me shape the hats to the size after the felting and while they were still wet. It’s easier since it has no face feature to get in the way of shaping the hats. I purchased it on Amazon, and it comes in measurements from 20” to 24” head circumference.

If you don’t have or can’t afford a mannequin head, you can use your own head for shaping the hat. Since the hat is still wet, you can put a plastic bag to cover the top of your head. Plus, the plastic surface would help to slide the hat over your head easily.

Keep in mind that if your hat comes out a bit smaller, you can still stretch it out to fit just as long as the hat is still wet. One of the hat that I made came out to a child size. So while the hat was still dampen, I stretched it out evenly both widthwise & lengthwise into adult head size. Once it dried out, the hat maintained to the stretched out shape.

Once the hat dried out completely, you need to give it a shave. This step is almost a must if you want your felted project to have a nicer finished product. To make this step easy, I use a powered lint shaver. You can get one on Amazon or Walmart.