Bucket hat sewing pattern

This summer we're welcoming back a 90s wardrobe staple: bucket hats! These practical hats were everywhere at one point and worn by both men and women, so with their fashionable return we're adding one to our ever-growing library of free sewing patterns.

We love discovering patterns that celebrate 90s nostalgia (like this how to make a scrunchie tutorial), so we were delighted to have a go at making our own funky bucket hats using this pattern. Bucket hats are lightweight and are great for protecting your face from the sun's rays on scorching summer days, whether you're chilling on the beach or heading for a picnic in the park. They've even featured in a recent episode of the Great British Sewing Bee.

Why not whip up your own using some summery fabric? This pattern is designed for women, but could easily be adapted to fit a man.

This pattern was created by Jessica Entwistle for Simply Sewing Magazine. Jess is a fabric crafts designer who’s work is regularly published in Simply Sewing and Love Patchwork & Quilting magazines.

Looking for more summery sewing patterns? Check out our pick of 20 of the best summer dress sewing patterns, make a free crop top sewing pattern or sew a child's sun hat.

New to sewing? Take a look at our how to use a sewing machine guide and beginner's guide to sewing.

Read on to learn how to find Jess's bucket hat sewing pattern…

Top tips for sewing laminate

Laminates are great for all kinds of homeware sewing projects, but they require specific techniques to achieve a professional finish.

• Use a Teflon foot or a walking foot if you have one. If you don’t have one, use magic tape on the underside of the machine foot to help the fabric glide underneath it.
• Never iron on the right side, only ever on the reverse. If you need to iron on the right side, place a piece of fabric between the iron plate and the laminate fabric. Always iron on a low heat.
• Use clips, not pins, to hold the fabric together, as pin marks won’t come out.
• Use washi tape or masking tape to hold fabric sections together where you are unable to clip.
• Use a 14 or 16 standard point or jeans needle in the machine.
• Check that the erasable pen wipes off the fabric on a piece of scrap first. Wipe off the marks as you go.

Fabrics used

• The fabrics used are from the Cloud9 Fabrics Matte Laminates collection. For stockists visit cloud9fabrics.com
• Pink Rose C9LM226923
• Lining: Kona Primrose, woolwarehouse.co.uk

Notes

• Use a 1cm (³⁄₈in) seam allowance.
• Download the templates
• Templates include seam allowance.
• *Our fabric is 140cm (55in) wide from selvedge to selvedge.
• Fabric is cut on the horizontal fold for all templates. Fold the fabric accordingly. Pay attention to fabric placement if fabric is directional. We used a seam roller to press our seams open.
• You can use pins when joining the main body (not the brim) curved edges – but make sure any pin marks are within the seam allowance, so they won’t show once the hat is sewn up.
• Remove any markings when you no longer need them and before they are sewn up and unable to be removed – e.g. when the brim is turned RS out and sewn up.
• Our hat fits a medium-sized head. If you wish to alter it, you could make the brim wider (by adding extra depth to the outside edge of the brim). If you wish to alter the hat size, you could print the pattern pieces smaller or larger, and use a corresponding smaller or larger seam allowance to match, but test fit on scrap fabric first.