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When they finally appeared, many people thought they were unnecessary, impractical and even scandalous
Summer is coming! That means it’s time to refresh your wardrobe for the warmer months ahead. By adding embroidery to your plain garments, you can give them a new lease of life. This is true for kids’ clothing and accessories too!
In this guide, we’ll show you how to update a bucket hat with a fun yellow digger design, ideal for transport-fanatic kids! It’s a great way to not only spruce up a plain hat but to encourage kids to wear a hat for sun protection.
What you need to know about hat embroidery
We’ve kept it simple with this pattern. Using only Backstitch and Satin Stitch, you’ll have this design whipped up in one afternoon. If you need help with those stitches, check out our guides below. Otherwise, you can skip straight to our detailed step-by-step tutorial.
What type of hat should I use for hat embroidery?
The beauty of embroidery on clothes is that most designs can be applied to any garment or fabric. To keep things beginner-friendly, opt for an easy design and apply it to a hat with an area of fabric without any seams and where the fabric is smooth.
A bucket hat is perfect for this design, but you could also embroider baseball caps or beanies.
Transferring an embroidery design onto a hat
We transferred the design onto an adhesive-soluble stabiliser and attached it to the hat, ready for stitching. You don’t need to use an embroidery hoop for this project, as the fabric of your bucket hat will be sturdy enough to hold in your hands.
Once you have stitched the design, the stabiliser can simply be washed away.
Top tip: Add their initials for an extra special touch.
How to embroider a hat by hand
What stitches will I need?
Looking for more tips and tricks to upgrade your stitching? Check out our embroidery stitch library.
What materials do I need?
- A bucket hat in a colour of your choice
- Stranded cotton: 1 skein each of black, light blue, gold, orange and yellow
- Adhesive soluble stabiliser
- Basic embroidery kit
- Free embroidered hat digger template
Step 1
Transfer the design to your hat
Transfer the design from the template onto the stabiliser using a fine pen. Enlarge or shrink the design to fit your chosen hat.
Step 2
Trim the excess around the edges, leaving a 2cm border to help it stick to the hat. Peel off the backing paper and attach it to the hat.
Top tip: Avoid placing it over any seams as the extra layers will be harder to stitch through.
Step 3
Start by stitching the digger’s arms using a small, vertical Satin Stitch in three strands of orange.
Follow the direction of both the front and back arms.
Leave gaps between each stitch and then fill in the missing sections.
Top tip: Keeping the stitches parallel will help to achieve a smooth, even finish.
Stitching for a new baby?
Personalising an item for a new baby is a beautiful way to congratulate the new parents. Embroider sweet florals and ladybirds onto a soft linen bonnet to create your own treasured heirloom.
Step 4
Next, stitch the main body of the digger with three strands of gold, using a horizontal Satin Stitch.
Pay attention to the direction of your stitches on each section of the digger, as they add an extra dimension to the design.
Step 5
Add the window details in Satin Stitch using three strands of light blue.
Once complete, use three strands of yellow to work long Satin Stitch around the windows.
Step 6
Continue with Satin Stitch to add the roof in three strands of gold and the front scoop in three strands of orange. Leaving the smaller details on the back scoop unstitched for now.
Step 7
Using two strands of black, stitch the outline of the whole digger in Backstitch.
Step 8
Fill in the finer details on the scoop at the back of the digger with Satin Stitch in three strands of orange.
Step 9
Next, stitch the centre of the wheels in Satin Stitch using three strands of black.
Then, fill in the outer section of each wheel with rows of Backstitch in three strands of black. Start around the outside edge and then work in a spiral towards the centre.
Step 10
Fill a bowl with lukewarm water and carefully wash off the stabiliser. Allow the hat to dry completely before ironing around (but not over) the design.
That’s it! Your hat is ready to be worn.
Embroidery can take kids’ clothing to the next level!
Adding embroidery gives a plain piece of attire a whole new character! It’s also a wonderful way to personalise a garment to give as a gift.
Embroidered dungarees for little cubs!
How adorable is this embroidered lion pattern by Julia Staite? Stitch this roarsome character onto dungarees, t-shirts, hats and jackets.
