Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Vintage Inspired Crafts: Lil Strawberry Shortcake Hat Tutorial



How about a little walk down memory lane for those of us that remember old school Strawberry Shortcake?  I was a HUGE fan and had loads of Strawberry Shortcake dolls & paraphernalia.  It's one of my absolute favorites from childhood.  And now that my daughter is old enough to embrace them, I've had fun gathering my old gear, scoring vintage finds on eBay for our collection and making items like today's Strawberry Shortcake Hat.


Last summer I found out they had re-released an anniversary edition of 80's style dolls and bought them for my little miss.  She has become a big fan too (and has totally enabled my latent Strawberry-addiction).


And since whimsical hats are kind of my "thing", I had to make one in honor of my childhood favorite and I'm sharing how I did it, so you can get your Strawberry fix too;)  


It's got all the details, like mini embroidered strawberries sprinkled throughout:


And a nice juicy plush berry on the tip top:



Materials Needed:
- 3/4 yd pink fleece
- 1/4 yd red fleece
- scrap of green felt
- Peel & stick embroidery stabilizer, red & green embroidery thread ~or~ small strawberry appliques/button
- Small handful of fiberfill
- Sewing notions: rotary cutter/shears, pins, hand sewing needle 

From the pink fleece I cut out a circle with a 23 inch diameter and a peter pan style collar in my daughter's size (3-4T) and trimmed it to make sure it would be about 22 inches on the inner edge.  From the red fleece I cut a rectangle 5 inches high by 22 inches wide and two 3 inch high strawberry halves and a small stem bit from some green felt.


I cut 8 small squares of peel & stick stabilizer and placed them on the wrong side of the circle where I planned to machine embroider the strawberries.  If embroidery isn't an option, small appliques or buttons would work too.


My embroidery machine (a Brother SE 400) came programmed with a small strawberry design already on it, but it had a black outline & seeds so I just skipped that step, so I'd have the classic red berry, green stem look I wanted (my machine embroidery how-to can be found here).


After I did all 8 berries, I did a basting stitch around the outer edge for gathering later:


I folded the rectangle width-wise and stitch the short side together to make the band with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.


Then I opened the band and folded it in half length-wise like this:


Next I took the collar pieces and stitched the outer edges together and trimmed to make the brim:


I turned it right side out and topstitched.


Now I lined up the raw edge of the brim with the edge of the band, pinned and then stitched them together:


Then I took the gathered bonnet portion and pinned it to the other edge of the band, wrong side out and stitched them together.


For the finishing touch, I stitched together the strawberry halves, turned them right side out and stuffed with a little fiberfill.  Then I hand stitched the stem on top and stitched it onto the hat.


And then we were ready to get our Strawberry Shortcake on!


And of course I couldn't stop there, so I made some little green & white striped knit leggings and used the last of some lovely Strawberry Shortcake knit fabric I'd bought a few years back and made her a little tank dress using my Tip Top Tank Top Tutorial.  If I ever find that fabric again I'll get smart and just buy an entire bolt.


We got such a kick out of this little chapeau that I made Strawberry Shortcake the theme for her last birthday party and it was fabulous!  I'm a little ashamed to admit it was nearly a year ago and I'm just now getting my photos together to show it, but baby steps, right?  I promise it'll be worth the wait, so stay tuned for the party reveal in the not-so-distant future;)



I'm also sharing this project with my FAVE LINK PARTIES.
Click HERE to check them out!

70 comments:

  1. Strawberry Shortcake was my favorite also! I hate the look of the new strawberry shortcake dolls. This hat is adorable!

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    1. Right there with you Missy. The new ones are still better than all the other over-made-up dolls out these days, but nothing comes close to the classic doll looks from the past. I really wish they'd make more of the ones from our childhoods - there would definitely be a big demand for them!

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  2. Thanks for sharing this! I love it and I'm going to make it! :)

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    1. I hope you do Angela - I'd love to see it when you do!

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  3. Oh my goodness, that is adorable!

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  4. Wow, Cheryl this is so adorable! Love the photos and the happiness of sweet girl!Lovely idea!
    Hope you have a good week!
    Hugs from Portugal,

    Ana Love Craft
    www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Ana. I think the fact she loves it as much as I do makes it doubly wonderful:)

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  5. Just darling! I love this particular Strawberry Shortcake! Fabulous project and photos, the fabric you chose is perfect to construct the hat.
    I recently found some strawberry shortcake sheeting from this era ! ( you can see a photo of it here http://www.letsgoflyakiteuptothehighestheight.blogspot.ca/2013/06/canopy-tent.html. )

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much and I LOVE your tent!!! Fabulous fabric - I hope you'll link it to this week's Craftastic party - I definitely want to pin it.

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  6. This is adorable! I would have loved this as a kid!!!

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    1. Me too. I just love looking at it, but when no one is looking I totally want to prance around wearing it. LOL.

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  7. I hear you Amy. I went wild on eBay last summer buying all the Strawberry Shortcakes I thought the kids would like to play with (aka that I always wanted). Sounds like a Rainbow Bright Dress needs to go on your to-craft list;)

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  8. Oh my gosh, that is cute! My little girl is becoming obsessed with that show on Netflix, I may just have to make her one :)
    Heidi @ handmadefrenzy.blogspot.com

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  9. Cheryl-we love this pattern for the Strawberry Shortcake - and your daughter is a cutie! Thanks for sharing.

    So glad you linked up with us at the BeBetsy BRAG ABOUT IT Link and Hop.

    We'd love it if you would link back to BeBetsy! http://bebetsy.com

    Have a great weekend~xo
    Sharon and Denise!


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  10. Beautiful!! Great tutorial! I was such a huge Strawberry Shortcake fan as a little kid. I remember my entire room was done it. My 3 year old is just now discovering her. I just might have to add this to the dress up trunk.

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    Replies
    1. It's so fun to re-live it again through the little ones. And I would have LOVED an entire room like that as a kid!

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  11. This is adorable! So very cute. What a fun mom you are.

    I loved Strawberry Shrotcake when I was young too but alas, no girls at my house. So I made lots of Robin Hood hats & Zorro capes.

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    1. Thanks so much Jenny. My older two are boys so for years I forgot all about the girly things I loved as a kid. Now that my daughter is finally into pretend play, dolls, etc. I'm all about it again, but the nicest surprise is my guys like it too - my 10yr old son loves setting up the house, so now I wonder why I waited so long to bring out my old favorites!

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  12. My daughters are obsessed with Strawberry Shortcake and would LOVE this. Also, I didn't know about the re-release of the 80's Strawberry Shortcakes?? I will have to look into this!

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    1. I stumbled across it - apparently it was a couple of years ago, but I found the 3 doll set pictured above on Amazon and I think they still have it. I wish they'd just bring them all back, but I've found some new and like new vintage ones on eBay (I'll be sharing my trash to treasure Berry Happy House find soon), so it's possible to bring the 80's back after all:)

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  13. My granddaughter just LOVES Strawberry Shortcake!

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  14. LOVE it! Your little girl is adorable and you are so talented! Featuring you tomorrow

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  15. Oh my goodness, this is so cute! Thanks for the tutorial!

    Ritchil
    http://chengand3kids.blogspot.com/

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  16. Oh Cheryl you do make the CUTEST things! This hat is adorable!
    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  17. Absolutely darling. Your tutorial is clear and makes me feel like I could actually do it! Pinning this!
    Sherri @ MadeFromPinterest.net

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  18. OMG, that is adorable!! I am not into sewing, so I guess I'll have to be very nice to my Mother-in-law for a couple of weeks so she will make it for my daughter.
    Too cute!

    Greetz from overseas

    Karin/Going Dutch on Decor

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  19. Thanks for linking up to Gingerly Made's Show & Tell party last week. You've been featured! http://www.gingerlymade.com/2013/06/show-tell-features_25.html

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  20. I can't get over how cute this is! And so awesome that you could make it! I'm featuring this tonight at my link party and pinning.

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  21. Oh my gosh!! This is so adorable!! I'd make one for my daughter, but I think I want it for myself!
    I'd love for you to link this on Much Ado About Monday at Huckleberry Love!

    Karla
    www.huckleberrylove.com
    http://www.huckleberrylove.com/2013/06/much-ado-about-monday-no-15-and-giveaway.html

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  22. This is the cutest!!!!! What a great tutorial. I just love it!! Thanks for sharing at For the Kids Friday! I am featuring you at this week's party over at SunScholars!

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  23. Oh gosh this is cute! And such a good tutorial too :) Love that! Would you consider linking up with me? Thanks! http://www.familyhomeandlife.com/2013/06/wow-us-wednesday_26.html

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    Replies
    1. I missed making it over this week, but I'll head over and link to the coming week's party Connie:)

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  24. Holy cow, this hat is adorable! I can't believe you made it, it turned out perfectly! I'm pinning this and sharing it on my Facebook page this week; thanks so much for linking it up to my party!

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  25. Fabulous job, Cheryl, thanks for sharing on Craft Schooling Sunday, and yes she is berry sweet!

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  26. This is just too cute. I am so glad they re released the 80s dolls...the new ones are too adultish looking.

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    1. I couldn't agree more April. If only they'd do that with more stuff!!

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  27. This is so sweet, my daughter use to love this :)

    Thanks for sharing with us at Creative Mondays, featuring and pinning this week at the hop :)

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  28. Hi Cheryl,
    Great tutorial and she is adorable. Thanks so much for sharing with Adorned From Above's Blog Hop. The party will be back this week starting Tuesday and 8:00PM mountain time. We can't wait to see what you have to share this week.
    Have a great week.
    Debi and Charly
    http://www.adornedfromabove.com

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  29. Thanks for linking up to my party! I wanted to let you know I picked your link to feature this week! See my post and grab my feature button here http://handmadecuddles.com/2013/06/create-inspire-73-picks.html

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  30. This is about the cutest thing I have ever seen! I love it :) I so wish I had a little girl to spoil with this one. Very creative darlin'! Fabulous. Krista @ A Handful of Everything

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  31. This is so cute, I love the whole outfit! I have a feeling my stepdaughters would love these...
    I've come over from the Let Them Eat Cake linky party :)

    Jess xo

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    1. Thanks Jess! If you think they'd like it - check out my Strawberry Shortcake party here: http://www.sewcando.com/2013/07/a-strawberry-shortcake-birthday-party.html I think they'd enjoy that too!

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  32. Hi, so I loved this hat so much! I made it for my daughter for halloween, but the material (fleece) that I used doesn't keep the hat puffy like it is in your picture. Is there anything you did to make it keep its shape? I am open to any suggestions! thank you so much

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    1. I'm so thrilled to hear that. Yes - crumbled tissue paper or plastic shopping bags will help shape it out if it's too floppy. I'd love to see a picture of yours Lauralie if you want to email one to info@sewcando.com or post it to the Sew Can Do FB page:)

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  33. I think I am going to convince my daughter to be Strawberry Shortcake for Halloween this year because I need a good excuse to make this hat! ADORABLE!!!

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    1. That sounds awesome Kati - I'd love to see it if you do!

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  34. Thank you, your project enlight my experience creating the perfect Halloween for my baby. She enjoyed every step. Thank you for sharing it.

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  35. This is perfect! Thank you for the tutorial of the hat!

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    1. I'm happy so many people have enjoyed it as much as we have:)

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  36. Cheryl I love this,my twin girls loved her when they were kids and they love her still today.We want to introduce her to my one twin daughters twin girls who ,last month turned 1.I know you broke down ho make this hat,but if you could make pattern pieces availible in sizes smaller and for the size you made for your daughter would be great.Oh by the way I love a lot of things you make,so am book marking you .

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    1. Thanks for the kind words Judith. I can't really offer this as a pattern - it take a lot of time that I just don't have right now. I might add it to my pattern shop one day if I do get some time at some point.

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  37. Thank you so much for this! We used it this year and LOVE how it turned out. Stop by to see! http://brightlyliving.blogspot.com/2015/11/diy-strawberry-shortcake-costume.html

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  38. Replies
    1. You're welcome. Seeing so many people using it is such an honor!

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  39. Good morning! I'm trying to finish this tutorial for my 3 yr olds costume today, but I'm confused about the band. Is the red band stiched once folded lengthwise the second time?

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    1. I'm a bit confused by the question, but hope this answers it: The band is folded in half, right side facing inward, so the short ends are meeting and those are then stitched together. Then it's turned right side out and the new round band it's become is folded so that the raw edges meet (wrong side facing inward). The band is now folded. Then the folded edge gets stitched to the brim and the end with the raw edges gets stitched to the upper portion of that hat.

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    2. Phew this does answer it! Thank you, I'm new to sewing, so pardon my ignorance. I am so grateful to find such great tutorials like yours! Thanks Again!

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  40. Thanks for sharing- its an easy sew. I too had problems with it being flat. Thinking toile inside to firm it and my granddaughter won't tear it out. Her birthday present tmw

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    1. Something like that works great. My daughter was 3 and left the crumpled paper alone - wearing the hat was more fun than pulling it out for her!

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  41. Muchas gracias era todo lo que estaba buscando 😍😍😍😍😍

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  42. So much fun!! I am a novice and had a blast making this. I don’t embroider so I just glued on strawberries I’d cut from extra red fleece. I used those little air packets you get in shipments to stuff it and they worked great to keep it up! It was windy here last night so I also quick sewed on a white ribbon to tie under her chin. What a fun project! Thanks for sharing!

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Getting your comments brightens my day. I'd love if you left one:)

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