- 1). Lay the fabric on a flat working surface, with the wrong side facing up.
- 2). Draw the template for the sunbonnet with tailor chalk, holding the fabric with your other hand to prevent wrinkling. You will need one circle or oval of around 15 inches in diameter and two rectangles 6 by 10 inches for the brim. The dimensions ultimately have to be compatible with whoever is going to wear the sunbonnet. If you are making a hat for a child or a baby, draw smaller shapes. You can add two more rectangles for the ties or bows. It that case, make them around 3 by 12 inches at least.
- 3). Cut all the shapes you drew on the fabric with sharp tailor scissors. If you want, you can slightly round the edges of the rectangles that will form the brim.
- 4). Hem one edge of the brim rectangle and do the same with the other one. This will be the outer edge of the brim.
- 5). Sew the two pieces for the brim together to form a ring-like piece of fabric. Note that if you have a lot of material and if you are skilled in making curved hems, you can skip the part about sewing rectangles together and simply cut a ready-made oval for your sunbonnet's brim.
- 6). Sew the circle or oval piece of fabric onto the finished brim, using your sewing machine. Be careful since this part of the process requires following a curved line, so make sure to be slow and precise. This part of sewing is done with the fabric upside-down, so the stitching isn't visible on the finished product.
- 7). Turn the sunbonnet inside out, on its right side, and tie a ribbon from the same or different material around the upper part of the brim.
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