Beanie Hat for Man or Woman Made Out of Sweater

We had a friend give us a bag of clothes for the girls a month or so ago. The girls went through the clothes to see if there was anything they wanted to keep. 

There were some sweaters that they weren't interested in keeping but the colors on the sweaters were so cute that I thought they would make some cute "ghetto" beanie hats. I asked the girls if they would like the buttons on them 


The girls wanted just the hat and no decorations or ribbing on the edges. So, I didn't have to do much work to make these things. Basically, find a sweater that you think has a good pattern or yarn texture. 

You need to decide how long and gangsta or ghetto you want your beanie to be. They didn't want them to be really long so it was even easier. 


The way to make it without two seams, is to measure the back of the sweater to your head. If the front has a zipper or seam it makes it hard to use without seams. If the back (from side seam to side seam) fits around your head, then you can fold the sweater with right sides together matching the side seams and start sewing. 


You have to sew the seams before you cut them so that the knit doesn't unravel. I sewed a straight seam just inside the side seam. Then, once the seam is sewn straight, cut the sweater on the outer-side of the seam. Once you have it cut, you want to zig-zag the edges so they don't fray. 
 
Measure how long you want the hat once you have the tube made. When you decide how long you want it, sew the edge the same way you did the seam. Cut it and then zig-zag the edges the same way you did the side seam. 
 
Use some string of a similar color to gather the sewn seam for the top. Once it is gathered, tie it off.
 
You can make the hat as long as the sweater which can be quite long for most adult sweaters. 
 
I liked the colors on this one but have a few more that I want to try and make into beanies.

It seems that the style is getting longer and longer. 

If the sweater has a ribbed bottom, you can use that for the band on the beanie. 
 
You can get two to four hats off each sweater depending on how long and wide you want them. If the front is a split front with buttons or zippers, you will have to make side seams which isn't as cute so if you are picking out a sweater to make more than one beanie, I would suggest a sweater that isn't a button or zip up and has a solid front and back.