How To Make A Satin Lined Beanie From Fabric Scraps

I got the idea to make a beanie from fabric scraps about a year and a half ago when I saw a picture Lauren Daigle posted after one of her concerts. She was wearing this beanie – I’ll link to it here – that at the time made my imagination scream, “I could make that out of fabric scraps.”

Of course, her beanie wasn’t made of fabric scraps, and to be honest I’m not entirely sure what made me think that. But that imagination turned into one of the prettiest beanies I’ve ever owned – let alone made. So I’d still call that crazy thought a win!

So here we are – we’re finally making it. I can’t wait for you to see how the beanie from fabric scraps became my new favorite winter accessory!

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Approximate time put into this project: 3 weeks, with 5-6 hours put in each week

Disclaimer: I am trying to teach myself the Metric System. I will try to always include both measurements in my tutorials, i.e. centimeters and inches, meters, and yards. I have been using them interchangeably in my everyday sewing life lately, sorry if I switch between the two too often or forget to include them both. Thanks for understanding!

If you’d rather watch this tutorial instead of reading it – check out this video!

Design & patchworking

The overall design of this project isn’t that complicated, however it is time-consuming. I recommend you start on Pinterest and search for quilting patterns. I was inspired by this pin. Because beanies are small, you won’t be able to get a lot of fabric scraps into the project unless you pick a smaller quilt pattern. Try to pick something with lots of repetitive squares, rectangles, octagons, and/or triangles.

To make the pattern I used, I created a rectangle 3″ x 1.50″ (8cm x 4cm), and then I used the first rectangle to draw another rectangle. In the second rectangle, I found the center, then drew a line from each corner to the center point to create an equal size triangle.

After cutting out a few pieces of my scraps, I thought better of it and realized maybe I should add seam allowance on all sides of both templates, because otherwise A) the end result would be very tiny once seam allowance was removed, B) it would take extra long to sew it, and C) that would lead to possible frustration and disinterest in the project.

To add seam allowance, simply trace your templates onto a new piece of paper and use your ruler to draw .50″ (1cm) around all sides and cut these out. You’ll need to cut two rectangles and four triangles for each quilted section.

Now that you have your pattern pieces, I recommend you grab all your fabric scraps and divvy them up until you have a collection of colors and patterns you like the look of. Give everything a good press with your iron, then begin the long, tedious task of cutting out as many rectangles and triangles as you can from all your fabric scraps.

FYI: I saved all the scraps my fabric scraps generated so I can use them in another future project I have planned. Oh yes, we can make more than just a beanie from fabric scraps – check out our scrap fabric sewing page for more ideas!

Begin patch-working everything together.

• Take your rectangles and pin them together in sets of two with good sides facing. Sew, then zig-zag stitch or overlock the raw edges. Press the seams with your iron.
• Pin a triangle on two ends of a rectangle bundle, good sides facing. Sew, then finish the raw edges. Press the seams with your iron.
• Pin the other two triangles to the remaining open ends, good sides facing, and sew. Finishing the raw edges then pressing with your iron.

Perfection is overrated. Mine is not perfect, my sizes are a little wonky and all mismatched. I kind of like the character it adds to it. Try to be a little more cautious when cutting if you want them to align better.

Quilting the patchworked pieces

• Now take each of your squares and trim any odd ends to ensure they’re all even-sized squares.
• Pin your squares together to create rows of three, sew, finish the raw edges, then pin the rows together to create one big rectangle of quilted pieces. Press everything with your iron.

Make sure the length of the rectangle is at least the size of your head plus 1″ (3cm). The height should ideally be at least 15″ (38cm). Mine wasn’t, so I ended up adding a little strip of scrap pieces to the endd to fill out the extra length I needed.

To turn this mini quilt into the perfect beanie from fabric scraps, we’ll need to add some sort of insulation. You can use quilt batting, an old t-shirt, or even some old sweatpants. I just rummaged through my pile of giveaways/trash/upcycle possibilities and cut open an old pair of sweatpants that were falling apart.

Place your quilted piece on top of your batting or batting substitute and cut a rectangle that is at least 1″ (3cm) bigger than the quilt piece on all sides.

Now begin pinning your quilt piece to your batting piece. Definitely use safety pins for this step if you have them, not sewing pins. This was my mistake, but they’re sold individually here in Perú, so I literally only have five and two of them are super bent. I had no other choice than to use sewing pins and they fell out and all over the floor.

Grab your ruler and fabric chalk and draw your lines or whatever design you’re going for onto your quilt. I went for straight diagonal lines…that somewhere in the middle of the project became uneven and not at all straight.

Remember how I said perfection is overrated? I gave myself grace and told myself everything is okay. This is my first time quilting since I was 10. The project still ended up being incredibly pretty despite the imperfection.

Now begin topstitching following the lines you created for yourself, being careful to make sure there is no bubbling when you sew. After all my diagonal lines were sewn, I added an extra stitch around the border for good measure.

Give your quilt piece a good press with your iron.

Sewing the beanie together

We’ll need to hide all those seams to bring your beanie from scraps into an incredible finished project. Measure around your head and add 1″ (3cm) to that length. If you find that you don’t have this length, you will need to add that before we cut the hat shape.

Fix your rectangle so everything is even, cutting off any wonky pieces if you have them.

Now fold your quilt piece in half. Find the center of the half and mark it with a sewing pin or your fabric chalk. Find the center of the half on the right and left of the center that you just marked and mark this. Now measure 3″ (8cm) down from the top and mark it with your chalk or a sewing pin. Using the three center marks, create two little mountain points, using the very middle mark as the valley between mountains.

I realize now that this just looks like a bralette top…

Use your chalk to draw these peaks, make sure your lines aren’t perfectly straight, they need to be rounded a little to create the beanie shape.

Cut out your beanie pattern. You want the length to be 14″ – 15″ (36cm -38cm), I wouldn’t go much longer than this. Mine was 15″ (38cm).

Without unfolding anything, draw a horizontal line on the bottom of your beanie piece 3″ (8cm) up from the bottom. You can faintly see this in the picture on the right if you look closely for my white chalk mark.

Now grab your lining fabric and fold it to match the dimensions of your beanie piece that you already cut. Line the folded edges up, but line the horizontal line up with the bottom edge of your lining fabric before cutting around it. This way when you cut around the beanie you’ll be cutting the lining fabric 3″ shorter without having to measure or trace anything.

Pin the lining and outer shell pieces while they’re still laying flat and sew, remembering to finish the raw seams. Now open up the beanie and place the middle edges together as seen in the right photo. Pin, and sew, then finish the raw edges.

Note: If you want to add an extra personal touch, consider sewing on a tag to finish off your beanie from fabric scraps. This makes a great addition to the hat – but will be so much harder to attach later if you wait till after the lining is sewn in place.

Take your lining hat and the outer shell and place one inside the other with good sides facing. Pin them together around the open edge. Make sure you mark an opening of 2″- 3″ (5cm – 8cm) so you don’t sew it closed. Then sew around the edge and finish the raw edge if you want.

Pull the hat through the opening you left and turn everything right sides out. Tuck the lining inside the outer shell. Finally, grab a sewing needle and hand stitch the opening closed to finish the hat.

Finished Results

I am in love with the finished results and cannot wait to wear it immediately! Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments! I’m dying to know, would you make a beanie from fabric scraps?

If you make this project, tag and DM me on Instagram @doorsandfloorsblog so I can see what you make! Remember to use the hashtag #DoorsAndFloorsBlog

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P.S. Looking for a fun activity you can do with a friend while working on tedious crafty tasks, download our free trivia here.

Playing trivia is a great way to keep your mind active and have fun with your crafty friends and family while busting out those seam ripping, crocheting, and other time-consuming, but necessary, crafty tasks.