Making a Fur Hat

In my post about EDC I rambled on about hats for a bit, and a couple weeks ago I decided to try making one myself. I didn’t initially plan on writing a blog post explaining how I did it; however, after having trouble finding a printable pattern, I wound up just winging it, and I figured I’d put my process out there.¹ Fur hats are way warmer than just about anything else, and even though this was a trial run with a fake polyester fur pelt it’s still a warm hat on its own. I plan to re-do the process using a natural sheepskin pelt, but if you want to follow along the process works with a natural pelt, fake pelt, and even regular cloth.

You’ll probably want the following:

• Fur or other material—I purchased a faux sheepskin pelt for ~$12 for my trial run, but natural pelts or fabric like fleece would also work.
• Thread—I purchased an upholstery kit with waxed hemp thread and heavy-duty needles for ~$6. Online I’ve seen people using sinu and artificial sinu as well, although the hemp thread was cheaper. I tested it on a fake pelt scrap. The fake pelt will rip before the thread, and the fake pelt is very sturdy, so it seems a good choice. If you’re using fabric then you’ll probably just need regular thread.
• Glue—Optional if you want to have a section of fur across your forehead and want to attach it more easily than stitching it.
• Leather strips, rope, or as strip of fabric - Optional – If you want a chinstrap.
• Pen, Paper, and Cardboard - To make a makeshift pattern.
• Scalpel or Razor Knife—A scalpel would probably be best for real or fake furs, but a razor or utility knife would do. If you’re using fabric then scissors would work.

Making the Pattern

Start by measuring the size of your head using a string; wrap it around your forehead just above your eyebrows. For reference regarding the photo below, my head’s circumference is 25 inches². We now need to cut out a cardboard or paper circle with the same circumference as your head. However, if you are working with thick materials like fur I suggest adding an extra inch for leeway (I opted for 26 inches to be safe).

You can do so by dividing the circumference by 6.28. Once I had the number:

26/6.28=4.14

With that number I cut out a ~4.2-inch thin strip of cardboard. I drew a dot on a piece of cardboard, tried to hold one end of the strip on the dot, and rotated the other end clockwise to guide a pencil in a circle. It gave me a circle that was close to perfect, which I cut out with my scalpel.

Hold the circle over your head and confirm that it’s approximately the size of the top of your head. Fold it in half and hold the folded circle to the side of your head to confirm that the curved side follows the shape of the top of your head decently.

Once I confirmed that the half-circle fit the side of my head, I measured the distance from the bottom of the half-circle to where I wanted the sides of the hat to fall.

I returned to my cardboard and traced out the curved part of the still-folded half-circle. I grabbed my pencil and traced out the extra length I wanted so that the sides of the hat covered my whole head. I also cut out that slight indentation to keep the fur out of my face. Once I had a shape that looked close to what I thought would be good, I cut it out and held it to the side of my head. If it doesn’t seem right you can always tape on more cardboard, cut some off, or just cut out a new template.

Once you have something that matches the side of your head, trace the template on a piece of cardboard and cut out an identical copy. Hold both to each side of your head and guess how much distance is between them. Cut out a strip of paper around that length and tape it in between the two cardboard templates. It may take a couple of tries, but you should end up with a strip of paper the exact width to connect the sides of your hat.

Once you have the right width, it’s just a question of cutting out a piece of paper long enough to run the length of the hat. Once you’ve cut that out, you can tape it up like in the image below. If you try it on and it fits well, congrats—you now have a paper and cardboard hat.

That extra bit of paper that looks like it’ll cover my eyes is there to fold up as a strip of fur across my forehead. If you want to make a reversible hat (can be worn with fur on the inside or outside), use fabric like fleece, or if you don’t want that strip, make sure it comes down to your forehead and stops.

But yeah, you should have a template. You can use a scalpel or knife to cut the tape and take apart the templates, but you’re all good. You can use the template parts to make any number of hats.

As a bonus, I saw someone online cut small holes to tape your hat to whatever you’re cutting, which you might have noticed in the photos. It worked well for me, and I’d recommend doing that before you start cutting material with them.

Making The Hat

Lay out the templates on your material in the most space-efficient way and begin to cut them out. There are two important things of note, however:

1. You have two identical side templates, but if you’re using fur, flip one side template over to mirror the other one - like in the image above. Don’t be like me who cut out two completely identical ones, only to realize while I’m stitching that the fur is on the wrong side and I need to cut out another piece³.
2. If you plan on having a reversible hat or a hat with fur always on the outside, pay attention to the fur’s grain (the way the hairs point naturally). Otherwise, if you have different pieces with the hair pointing in different directions the seams will stick out.

For both real and fake fur, you’ll want to use a scalpel or another sharp knife since you don’t want to cut the hair—just the pelt. That said, if you’re using fabric or leather, scissors work fine.

I don’t have any pictures of the cutout pieces since I only decided to do the blog post after completing it. Regardless, you should have three pieces of pelt or fabric: two side pieces, and one long piece that will go over the top and back of your head.

Now it comes time to sew things together. Line the pieces up with the fur side pointing inside the hat (regardless of whether or not you want the fur on the inside or outside we’re going to sew it with the fur on the inside). Make sure that no fur is poking through - it’s easy to push the fur in before stitching but nearly impossible once you’ve stitched it. Again, I’m not a skilled leather worker, but I did something that resembles a running suture, which turned out pretty good. Of course, if you’re using fabric instead of a pelt or leather disregard that and sew normally.

And there you go, once you finish stitching everything you should have a hat. The fur should be on the inside right now (assuming you were using fur). Having the fur on the inside is a lot warmer, but if you prefer the look of fur on the outside or want a reversible hat, you can flip it inside out. Since I wanted the small strip of fur on my forehead, I just flipped it up and used a few drops of super glue to keep it in place, though you could also sew it in place.

Some people online made a liner to cover the leather, although I didn’t. If you did it’d just be a matter of cutting out and either gluing or sewing the fabric onto the leather side of the hat. Anyway, below I have my finished hat made out of faux sheepskin, plus another one I made out of a Harbor Freight canvas sheet.

Thoughts and Improvements

I’m happy with how the fur hat turned out, and honestly, I’m surprised it went so well after just winging it. I plan on making one out of a natural pelt soon, and I might make a few changes to the design once I do. First, I’ll probably make the sides a bit longer on the front half of the hat; that way they cover more of my chin. With them extended I’ll also probably put a leather strip or buckle on the sides that I can use as a chinstrap. Something that can make sure my hat stays on my head if I’m in a blizzard or on a snowmobile would be convenient.

I’ll probably stash my trial run hat in my car. It’s still super warm and durable, and being from the Great Lakes having something warmer than a beanie in my car is probably not a bad idea. The cloth one also turned out pretty good. It’s pretty much just a hood, but it fits well and I might end up using it with my coat which doesn’t have a hood. It’s canvas, so it’s pretty water-resistant and somewhat wind-resistant. As a bonus, I bought the canvas sheet from Harbor Freight, which was probably 50 cents worth of canvas (it was a massive sheet for very cheap).

Footnotes & Tangets

No affiliate links or anything, and I haven’t ordered from them at the time of drafting, but when I make the real fur version of the hat I’m planning on purchasing from Glacier Ware. They’re probably worth checking out if they’ll ship to you.

Also, for the pelt, I’m planning on using sheepskin. It’s cheap, but I’ve heard it’s more durable than rabbit hide. Things like beaver and mink are supposed to be the warmest by far, but they’re also much more expensive.