DIY - Chullo to Beanie

Another day, another make! I just can't seem to stop myself at the moment, so I'm going to keep going while I'm in the zone!

This time it's all about correcting a mistake I made whilst shopping. I'm a hat lover, the more the merrier, especially in winter, and when I found this beautiful wollen chullo in the sale for only £1.50 I couldn't believe my luck and snapped it up right away. I didn't notice the problem until I was home.

Did you spot it? One of the bobbles is missing! Oh the horror! I suppose I could simply take the bobble from the top and use that one, but then it wouldn't be a chullo anymore. So I decided that an entire make-over was called for. It seemed to me that the best thing to do would be to turn it into a beanie.

To follow this DIY you need a chullo, two poppers, and a woven belt in a complimenting colour.

Step 1: Remove the bobbles and the thread:

(These will be kept in my supply box for a rainy day).

Step 2: Cut off the ear flaps so that the hat is even all of the way around, and then, using some of the thread available from the tassles, stitch the raw edge down to stop fraying:

This unfortunatly leaves an untidy edge all of the way around:

So we need to do something about that don't we! Sadly, simply folding the edge under and hemming would make the whole thing too small and would result in some bizzarre, silly skull cap thing, so a different approach is needed. I raided my box of goodies and found a belt that was given to me, once again, by my sister.

Step 3: Measure around the hat (or your head), and add 3 inches(8cm) to the number. Cut the belt to this length and stitch it around the bottom edge of the hat. Leave the extra 3 inches as overhang:

Step 4: Sew the poppers onto the overhanging edge of the belt. Then put the hat on, mark the point where the poppers touch down, and sew on the other half:

The reason for doing this is simple - the belt has no give. If it was sewn shut you would never be able to stretch the hat to get it on. This way, you leave the poppers open, put the hat on, and then close them up.

All Finished!

Warm, colourful and totally cute. I wont miss that damaged chullo at all!

Supplies used were the belt which was given to me for free, the poppers which I raided from my mother's sewing box (also for free), and the chullo.

Total cost: £1.50
Total time spent: 1 hour because it was all hand sewn.