Have you ever wanted to learn how to make a baby beanie from scratch?  This post covers that!
Baby beanies make great gifts and this post will teach you everything you need to know on how to create them.

Baby Beanie Basics

As makers, we love to create.  However, creating can be difficult if you don't know where to start.  Babies, babies, and more babies.
Crocheters love to give presents to loved ones on that special day when a new baby comes into the world, but starting can be especially difficult.
Sure, we can grab a pattern online, but we always wonder…

• Will it fit?
• Will they like the colors?

This post will help you overcome those insecurities and provide some great resources to solve some of the most basic baby beanie questions.  It will also take you through some steps to design your own baby beanie from scratch!

How to Make a Baby Beanie

What it really boils down to when creating a baby beanie is materials and sizing.  Here are some tips on choosing the right yarn for your baby beanie and more on sizing, and colors.  After that, you'll find steps to create your own baby beanie from scratch.

Choosing the Right Yarn

Babies are fresh to the world, sensitive, and may even have allergies we don't know about.  Therefore, choosing the right yarn is very important for a newborn or baby.  Questions to ask before you start making…

• Ask the parents if they know of any allergies or sensitivities the baby may have to acrylic, wool, or cotton.
• Does the yarn shed fibers?  You want to choose a low or no piling yarn that doesn't shed too many fibers that can irritate a baby's airways.
• What weight for the yarn is best?  Generally, the smaller the better – a baby weight yarn (2) or light (3) as seen below.

 

 

Choosing the Colors for Your Baby Beanie

• Colors! See if you can find out what mom or dad love first, and if you can't, neutrals like cream, white, tan, brown, or grey are a great place to start.
• Other neutral or light colors like sage green, dusty blue, or light grey are great colorful neutrals.

Sizing for Your Baby Beanie

Sizing can be a tricky thing, but we've created these wonderful sizing templates to help you get the perfect fit for any size beanie.
The measurements in these images and files are accurate, if printed properly, you will only need these and can put away your measuring tape for a minute.
Make sure to test your printout by measuring the circles to make sure they printed right.
To save these full-size images:
PC or Laptop

• Right-click, then “save image as” and save it to your favorite folder.

Mobile Phone or Tablet

• Press and hold the image with your finger.
• An option to “save to the device” should appear.
• Save to your device.
• Air print or e-mail to yourself for printing.

Remember to follow the printing instructions on the images.

 

Design Your Own Baby Beanie

Step 1:

Gather your supplies

• 1, 2, or 3 weight yarn.
• Make sure the yarn soft and hypoallergenic.  Many yarn suppliers will use “baby” in yarns made for babies.
• Use the recommended hook size on the yarn label.
• Print out the sizing guides above to help you with your measurements.

Step 2:

Pick a Stitch:
The easier the better if you are a beginner.  Any stitch that works in even numbers or multiples of three is good for working in the round or rows.  Keep it simple at first, and as you become more experienced, you can add bobbles or other more advanced stitches.
Here are some great beginner stitches with tutorials:
Moss Stitch

Baby Bunny Stitch

Step 3:

Decide if you want to work top-down or bottom-up?
Top-down
Top-down means you start with a circle, working from the top of the beanie, down to the brim.

• Use the sizing guides, and work the circle, increasing every other row, until it fills the crown diameter for your desired size.  How do I increase?  Check out this post.
• Then continue to work in the round without no increases until you reach the brim.
• If the stitch you choose calls for turns – turn after each row, then join the seam with a running stitch.
• If the stitch you choose calls for working in the round with, or without joins – make sure to mark the first stitch of each round with a stitch marker.

note:  top-down beanies are best for older babies – ages 3 – 8 months
Bottom-up
Bottom-up means you work the brim first, then work up to the crown.

• Create your brim using a ribbing method.  You can find various ribbing patterns here.
• Join the brim ends.
• Begin working in the round until you reach the desired hat height and use the sizing guides above for measuring.

note:  bottom-up beanies are best for a preemie and newborns to 2 months

Step 4:

Finishing

• Preemie hats are so tiny and the best option for these is to use a cinch.
• Cinching is accomplished by completing a square shape (as pictured below) and running a strand of yarn through the last completed row (similar to a running stitch).  This will allow flexibility for expansion.
• Make sure to add a secure small tassel and don't make the ties too long that a baby can chew on them, get tangled in them, or no loose parts.
• Another option is to work the entire hat height in a square, then gather in the corners to close the top of the beanie, which creates an X at the top of the beanie.  You continue to draw in the corners to the center and sew them shut until no more holes remain.

like this:

You're finished!
I hope you enjoyed this post and learned something new today!
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below, we are happy to help!

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