Help with baby bonnet

[ZBJ]

I’ve been trying to make a baby pixie bonnet using tutorials from YouTube and a pattern I bought. I’ve finally managed to make it quite cute but it kind of rides up the back of my baby’s head once it’s tied. The pattern is essentially a rectangle of dcs folded in half and slip stitched together. Super simple. I was thinking that it might hug the base of her skull better if it gently sloped upwards. I’m thinking that adding some decreases to make the rectangle more narrow at the end might do it but not sure. Any advice?

[Granny Square]

Adorable!  (Baby and hat!)  

Re: the fit, not sure but I'd have guessed the opposite--if it rides up at the back neck, it would be too short because it doesn't have enough fabric to cover her head and the back of her neck, so you'd want to make it wider/deeper (coverage distance from the mid back of neck to the pom pom).

You could grab a scrap of yarn and add a few stitches there and try it on her to test (maybe graduated sizes (slip, sc, hdc, a few dcs, hdc, sc, slip); or if you really think it's too long, fold it up like a hat brim in the back and see which works better.

 

[ReniC]

Welcome to Crochetville.

In my  opinion, you are correct in assuming the bottom of the bonnet should be a little bit smaller than the upper portion.  Decreasing the bottom a few stitches will bring it together to fit properly around baby's neck. I made many of these types of bonnets back in the day when my kids were little and a few for grand kids. Now there is a caution about tie strings around babies necks with reference to strangling (Yikes!). So, on that note, here is a link for a pattern for you to consider. Also, note the way the neckline looks as I was mentioning. BTW: Adorable baby and cute hat.

[ReniC]

8 minutes ago, Granny Square said:

Adorable!  (Baby and hat!)  

Re: the fit, not sure but I'd have guessed the opposite--if it rides up at the back neck, it would be too short because it doesn't have enough fabric to cover her head and the back of her neck, so you'd want to make it wider/deeper (coverage distance from the mid back of neck to the pom pom).

You could grab a scrap of yarn and add a few stitches there and try it on her to test (maybe graduated sizes (slip, sc, hdc, a few dcs, hdc, sc, slip); or if you really think it's too long, fold it up like a hat brim in the back and see which works better.

 

Ha! Guess we were typing at the same time. Happy New Year.

[Granny Square]

Hi Reni, and Happy New Year to you too!

I don't have any kids to have had bonnet fitting experience and was thinking 'riding up' meant length top to bottom was the issue, never thought of 'gathering' the back center with decreases, makes sense.

[ReniC]

We have a blended family of 4 boys, 3 girls, now all grown. I somehow managed to survive all of them. Even all the grandkids (10 and 4 grt-grands). All the girls when babies got cute frilly bonnets and the boys got beanie type hats. It was so much fun crocheting and sewing for all of them. Not to mention the money I saved doing it myself. I sorta miss those days gone by.  Seeing the OP's photo brought back a few memories.

[ZBJ]

Thank you so much @ReniC and @grannysquare for your advice. I’m a real newbie crochet-er (this is only my second week!!) so the pattern you linked felt a bit complicated to follow...

I ended up trying to decrease by 4 on the last 4 rows which gave a nice result and hugs the back of the head a bit more. The only issue I have now is that the seam where I’ve slip stitched looks a bit puckered (kind of like a peach). Not very attractive. Any idea why that might be happening?? 

[Granny Square]

Cute!  Glad you found a better fitting solution.

I'm going to guess that you crocheted it together at the back, either sc or slip stitch.  That leaves a ridge, which is OK for things on a bigger scale, like blankets, but maybe not so much baby clothes.

In knitting , the common seaming method is the mattress stitch, which leaves a raised edge on the backside but looks flat and invisible on the front.

But...the anatomy of knit and crochet stitches are different, and the way a mattress stitch is done is different--the crochet version, because crochet stitches are thicker/more complex, is flat and pretty much invisible on both sides, no seam allowance.  If you can pick out your crocheted seam, you should have enough yarn to hand sew a flat mattress join instead.  Here is a video showing mattress stitch in DC.  

 

[ReniC]

It looks adorable on. I've used Granny Square's suggestion for a mattress stitch and it's worked for me. Sort of like sewing. Here's another type of easing invisible seaming stitch video.  BTW: I have to say again how cute your baby is.