Beanie with Animal Ears

Learn how to stitch a beanie hat using warm knit fabric, to keep you cozy and cute. Nicki LaFoille shows you how!

Download the Hat Pattern, cut it out, and tape it together along the marked line. Nicki gives instructions and ideas for altering the pattern to be smaller or larger as desired.

Choose your ear style and cut out four ears from your chosen fabric. Nicki also demonstrates how to stitch the ear with a contrasting lining.

Stitch each ear pair, clip the seam allowances to reduce bulk, and turn the right side out.

Fold the hat with the right sides together, aligning the side seams. Sandwich the ear at the edge of the seam, ensuring the “front” of the ear is facing the front of the hat if you’ve stitched an ear that has a dedicated “front” and “back” side. Stitch the side seams using a ⅜” seam allowance, beginning at the upper edge.

Nicki gives tips for stitching many layers of lofty fabric, to avoid stretching the fabric as it passes under the presser foot.

Fold the hat to align the remaining seam. Stitch from the lower back edge, and be sure to end the front seam using a gentle curve, to avoid an awkward point.

Nicki demonstrates how to finish the hat by folding under the lower edge. She also gives instructions for how to stitch a lined hat, and how to alter the length of the hat as desired.

Find the sweatshirt Nicki used for the cat-ear hat, plus tons of other great knit fabrics, at knitfabric.com.

For more cold-weather accessories, check out this page of free patterns, where you’ll find instructions for a scarf, fleece headband, convertible mitten/fingerless gloves, and much more. Plus, check out how to recycle an old T-shirt into a hat.