Metroids: the Hat Variation
I once thought that metroid plushies would be more popular than hats, but I was wrong! Several people came asking me for advice on how to alter the plushie design into a hat, so I decided to add a section with basic instructions on how to do just that. This section isn't as intensive as the other tutorial sections because I haven't made a hat in a while and don't have many "under construction" pictures available. I'll add them the next time I make a hat.
The pattern to make the hat is basically the same pattern as the plushie, but with some differences. You don't need the circular green piece that makes the bottom of the metroid. On the 'body' piece, you need to straighten out the slight taper on the bottom so that it's at right angles to the bottom edge. And of course, you need to enlarge all the pieces in proportion. Here's how you decide how big it should be:
First, measure around your head (above the ears, slightly above the eyebrows). Take that number and divide it by six. Add 2-3 cm to that number. The result should be the length of the bottom of each 'body' piece. Sew all the body pieces together first.
The brim of the hat is made separately. What I do is cut a piece of green cloth that can wrap around the brim of the hat in length and I can fold twice in width to get 3 layers. Since my brim is usually 2 inches high, the width of the cloth needs to be 6 inches. It's folded like that so the outside of the hat doesn't have any rough scissor-cut edges. You'll definitely want to use pins and check to see if the cloth is folded evenly everywhere. As for sewing them on, it's a careful process of ensuring that no thread can be seen from the outside while sewing the inside at the same time. To sew the ends of the brim piece, I fold them inwards and sew them up like how I make the final stitches on the plushie, since these stitches can be seen.
I always sew the nuclei on after I attach the brim, although by this picture it looks like I sewed it on before. The fangs are sorta roughly sewn on the inside afterwards. But when you're sewing them on, you don't want the thread the penetrate the outermost layer of cloth otherwise the sewing job can be seen. I like to leave the first two smaller claws unstuffed because otherwise they'll be heavy and beat against the face.
