Fun and silly crocheted hats cost far less to make than anything you will find in a shop. Character hats in particular are expensive to buy, and crocheting them yourself saves a great deal of money. In many cases you can make them entirely from yarn left over from other projects.
Why they work so well as a project
They are small. A hat takes very little yarn and finishes in an evening or two, which makes it a realistic project rather than a commitment.
They use oddments. Ears, eyes, horns, spots and stripes each need tiny amounts. This is one of the few projects where a few yards of something left over is exactly the right quantity.
Children love them, and adults wear them more readily than you would expect.
The fit is forgiving. A novelty hat is meant to be a bit oversized, so precision matters less than on a fitted beanie.
The construction
Almost every character hat is a plain beanie with things attached.
Make the base hat first: a flat circle worked in the round until it reaches the right diameter, then straight down for the sides. Get that right and everything else is decoration sewn on afterwards.
That means you only need one hat pattern. Every character you make is the same base with different additions.
Sizing
Measure the head and make the hat an inch or two smaller, since crocheted fabric relaxes with wear.
For the crown, keep increasing until the flat circle is roughly a third of the head circumference across, then stop increasing and work straight down.
Rough guide: baby 14 to 17 inches, child 18 to 20, adult 21 to 23.
Attaching the features
Pin everything before sewing. Ears set half an inch too low or too far apart change the character entirely, and pins move in seconds where seams do not.
Look at the pinned hat from the front and from the side, and ideally on a head rather than flat on a table.
Sew them on securely, all the way round. Anything attached to a hat that a child will wear gets pulled.
Safety
Embroider eyes rather than using safety eyes for young children, and avoid anything dangling near the face.
No ties under the chin. A hat that fits properly stays on without one.
Yarn
Soft, washable worsted. Hats sit against the forehead and ears, so softness matters, and they get washed often.
Acrylic holds bright colours well, which suits novelty hats better than most projects.
