Donald Duck Costume: Hat Tutorial

I mentioned in the main costume post that I couldn't find a tutorial for a Donald Duck hat, and the offerings available for sale just weren't what I was looking for. I decided to attempt to make one myself, and I was surprised at how easy it actually was.

I'm going to go over how I put it together. I was sort of winging it, so hopefully this all makes sense.

For your Donald Duck hat, you will need:

Fabric: Mid-weight cotton or flannel for the main hat. Heavier would be better than too light. Your hat needs some structure. I used about 1/2 yard, but I had a bit left over, and this will vary depending on how big you want your hat to be. Mine is on the large size.

You'll also need a small piece for the "tail" at the top of the hat. I used scraps of quilt weight cotton; you really only need a little bit

Batting or Needlepunch: the same amount as your fabric. Not too lofty, as you aren't looking to pad the hat, just stabilize it.

Wide elastic: Black, at least 3 inches wide and long enough to go around the top of the recipient's head

A large button (optional)

Thread and your sewing machine

The first step is to measure the head of your recipient. Donald's hat sits at the top of his head, and you want the elastic to be snug. Ideally, you should try it on your recipient to be sure it fits. If you just have a measurement, I would use 1/2 to 1 inch less than the recipient's head.

Lap your elastic ends over one another and zigzag with a wide stitch over the seam, catching the raw edge in your stitching. 

Elastic with ends joined to form a ring

It should look like this. Now we are going to make the pattern pieces for the main hat. You will need two large circles of both your main fabric and the batting.

Measuring the larger circle

I used the circle formed by my elastic as a basis for my pattern, roughly drawing a circle 3 1/2 inches around the circumference of the elastic, as shown.

Your pattern, chalked onto main fabric

I also chalked the circumference of the elastic ring onto one piece of my main fabric and added a 1/2 inch seam allowance INSIDE the inner circle. You'll cut this smallest circle out of only one of your main pieces and this will be where you attach your elastic. Don't cut the smaller circle out of the batting/needlepunch. Leaving this circle intact helps to stabilize the shape of the hat.
Once you've cut out your circles (two of the main fabric and two of the batting), baste the main fabric circles to their corresponding pieces of batting around the outside edge.

Circle basted and elastic joined

Now you're ready to attach the elastic to the lower part of the hat. This is a little tricky.

Main fabric tucked into inside out elastic ring

I flipped the elastic inside out at pulled it over the edge of the main fabric ring and align the cut edge of the fabric with the edge of the elastic. Sew around this circle using your 1/2 inch seam allowance. Don't include the batting in your stitching at this point.

Batting still loose, elastic stitched to main fabric

Now you want to topstitch the elastic to the batting layer around the seam. Tuck the seam allowances between the main fabric and the batting to hide them and edgestitch onto the main fabric, through the seam allowances and the batting.

Edgestitching around the elastic

Your bottom half of your hat should now look like this.

Batting side, with the ring of edgestitching visible

Now we'll make and attach the tail to the top of the hat.

Drawing the tail

I folded the top piece in half to give me a rough dimension and drew the shape of the tail onto my fabric with chalk. I know, it ain't rocket science, y'all. Cut two of this shape and seam them together, leaving the top edge open for turning. Turn it and push out the points of the tail with a turner or other blunt instrument. Press it flat, tucking under the open edge and seam it to the center of your top piece.

The two pieces, ready to seam together

Now you are ready to attach the pieces of the hat together! Put the two circles right sides together, and seam them all the way around, being sure to catch all four layers.

Seamed together, before turning

Leave an opening a few inches long to turn the hat out.

Ready for hand sewing

Turn it right sides out, press lightly and close your opening with a few handstitches.
Sew on your button through the main fabric and both layers of batting. This will help further stabilize that shape of the hat.

Put in on your kid or yourself!

Donald Duck costume

Now that my kids are a little older, they have decided opinions about how they want to dress for Halloween, and I was afraid that my days of a cute coordinating family were over, but this year Logan and Myra want to dress as Donald and Daisy Duck!! I'm all over it.

Donald came first. This is one of those costumes that looks a lot harder than it is. It actually came together pretty easily, once I figured it out. When Logan asked to be Donald Duck, I wasn't sure how I was going to make it work. There are a couple of commercial patterns out there, but they are all full body suits, stuffed with batting and made of fur. I knew that wouldn't work for my guy. Since Logan has some sensory integration issues, the costume had to be soft and simple. I actually started with the pants.

Believe it or not, this is an actual pattern, meant to be worn as daywear. I know. When this issue of Ottobre came out (it's the 04/2011 issue), I actually laughed out loud when I got to the page these pants are on. As ridiculous as they are, they make the perfect duck pants. The upper section is basically bloomers that are gathered into the legs with clear elastic. I used a soft anti-pill fleece from Joann for the "duck butt" section and yellow interlock, also from Joann, for the legs. Soft and simple, with no scratchy fur or heavy batting.

The top is the "Art Camp" shirt from the 03/2011 of Ottobre. It is made of flannel (again, Joann.) so that it would be warm and comfortable. I lengthened the sleeves and trimmed them with yellow bias tape, as well as drafting a sailor collar which I inserted into the back neckline and the front placket. The placket closes with red ring snaps, and the bow tie is just quilting cotton with stiff interfacing, hand stitched over the lower snap on the placket.

From the back, you can see the sailor collar, which I bound around the outer edges with bias tape. I even mitered the corners y'all. They look awesome. You can also see the hat in a little more detail. I'm pretty darn proud of that hat, actually. For some reason, there just aren't many Donald Duck hats available out there. All I could find were cheesy baseball caps or headbands with fascinators and feathers. That was so not going to work. I was a little surprised that Mr. Google didn't turn up any online tutorials for making your own Donald hat. We'll be taking care of that oversight in the near future.

He's pretty thrilled with his Donald Duck costume, and so am I. Up next, Daisy. She's actually even easier, so hopefully I'll have something to show you tomorrow or the next day. Then I'll get on that tutorial. Halloween is just around the corner!!