Easy DIY Party Hats : Tutorial & Free Template!

DIY

Jan 20

Written By Innes

Picture this: you're hosting a gathering next weekend, and while scrolling through party supplies online, you find yourself staring at a pack of generic paper party hats that cost way more than they should.

I had this exact moment last Spring, which led me down a delightful rabbit hole of creating my own party hats. Trust me, there's something almost magical about sitting at your kitchen table with gorgeous fabric, ribbon, and whatever pretty bits you can find, crafting something that'll make your little ones and their friends smile.

Since then I've discovered that homemade party hats aren't just about saving money – though that's certainly a nice bonus. This is a really sweet way to make your children's celebration uniquely theirs.

Maybe you want to match them perfectly to their chosen colour scheme (bright pink for my birthday girl!), or perhaps you're like me and enjoy making something that only you could have made. Either way, I'm here to share everything I've learned about creating these little pieces of joy, and I promise it's easier than you might think.

Download the FREE DIY Party Hat Template

Fill in the form below to get the free pattern sent to your inbox to make your own hats.

IMPORTANT When printing your free party hat pattern, check your print settings carefully. You need to make sure you've set it to print at 100% (or 'actual size') and check the measurements of the boxes on the page to ensure it's printed at the right size.

How to Make Your Own Party Hat

You will need:

Free pattern (download above!)
A piece of scrap fabric
A piece of stiff iron-on interfacing or buckram
A 40cm (16”) long piece of 10mm (1/2”) wide elastic
Ribbon, trim or a strip of scrap fabric
Fabric glue
A pom pom maker and yarn (or ready made pom poms)
Pair of scissors

Download the free pattern, print it (making sure to print at 100%!) and cut it out.
Cut one of the pattern piece in your fabric and one in a piece of stiff interfacing. Don’t cut the dotted lines on the template just yet.

3. Iron the interfacing to the fabric then overlay the pattern onto your hat and cut the dotted lines on the pattern. Make sure to cut them precisely to the size on the pattern.

4. If you need to, make your pom pom, then glue it carefully to the top of the hat. The glue should hold but you might like to add a few small stitches just to keep it in place.

5. Take your elastic and thread it through the two holes. If the holes have been cut accurately then the elastic shouldn’t need gluing (which will make it adjustable!) but if you need to you can add a dot of glue inside the hat.

6. If you’re using ribbon or fabric to trim the bottom of your hat, you may want to gather it. You can do this by hand using running stitch, or machine gather it by setting your machine stitch length and thread tension both to the maximum they can go.

7. Glue the ribbon or trim to the bottom edge of the hat, being careful to keep the glue away from the elastic so that it stays adjustable.

8. Form the hat into a cone shape and slip the tab on the side of the party hat into the opening on the back to close the hat. You might wish to glue it closed for security, but I like having the option of storing these flat, so I choose not to glue them.

FAQ

Can I make this with paper rather than fabric?

Yes! Try cutting the template out of card stock and gluing patterned scrapbook paper or leftover wrapping paper on top.

Can I use a hot glue gun?

If you're making a fabric party hat, hot glue gun is unlikely to work well as it tends to bleed through fabric and leave a visible mark. Fabric glue is the best way to go if you're making a fabric hat, but if you're making a card hat then you could use PVA glue or possibly even a strong glue stick.