Upcycle ANY hat with embroidery in 6 easy steps
(beginner friendly!)
Free pattern included!
One of my favorite upcycling projects is embellishing an old hat with embroidery. This is a great way to transform those hats in the back of your closet or add some personality to your latest thrift find! Below is one example of an upcycled hat that started with some machine embroidered letters and ended with my custom daisy pattern! A few variations of this pattern(with instructions) will be included for free in this article.
Before
After
A lot of the hats that end up in secondhand stores already have a design or brand on them, but I’ll show you some techniques to remove these designs so you can flip ANY hat you find. These hats are often in great condition and with a little TLC they can be turned into something new that you will love wearing.
I’ll be explaining step by step how to upcycle your own thrifted hat using embroidery. This includes a list of the materials you will need, tips for selecting your hat, how to clean it, and instructions for making any repairs. I’ll go over a few ways to remove an existing design as well as some options you have when prepping your hat depending on the materials you have. For the most fun part, the embroidering, I’ll give you some nice-to-know info before you begin so you can avoid all the mistakes I’ve made and then you can embroider my free pattern with instructions! Or ya know, do whatever design you want! Check out some of my favorite hats that I upcycled using embroidery.
Table of Contents
Step 3: Make any needed repairs
Step 4: Remove the previous design
Step 5: Prepare your hat for embroidery
Step 6: Embroider my free pattern
Materials needed
Here’s what you’ll need for this project:
- Hat
- Embroidery needle
- Embroidery floss: recommended brand, pick colors that contrast with your hat so they will be visible in the final piece
- Scissors or snips
- Water soluble pen or water-soluble stabilizer
- Optional:
- 3” or 4” embroidery hoop
- Seam ripper(if the hat has an existing design)
- Fabric dye if you want to change the color of your hat
- Finger guards
1. Selecting your hat: what to look for and what to avoid
If you don’t have a hat to flip already, head to the thrift store to find one! These tips will help you pick out the right hat for your project.
Color and construction
First thing to look for are colors that you like to wear, and the type of hat you want. There are usually tons of baseball caps at the thrift store but I also find beanies, bucket hats, sun hats and visors as well. If you like the color and make of the hat, you’re that much more likely to keep wearing it for years to come!
Existing designs
A lot of of hats at the thrift store have machine-embroidered or vinyl designs. Don’t disregard these! I’ll be going over how to remove these types of designs so you can still upcycle these hats. It does take a little extra work, so it’s definitely something to keep in mind when you’re searching for your hat.
Hat quality
You will want to quality check your hat for staining, tears, holes, broken hardware, etc. These are all things that can be fixed(and I will go into some tips on that in the repairs section), but it’s good to know ahead of time if you’ll need to fix anything and what tools you might need. If you find the perfect hat with minor issues, don’t give up on it, I’ll show you what to do!
Machine-embroidered hats
These are hats with designs stitched in thread. To upcycle these, I use my seam ripper to cut and remove the stitches. An important thing to look at is the width of the stitches in the design. Hats with wide stitching are much easier to remove because you can easily slide your seam ripper between the stitches. For example, a hat which has fine lettering is more difficult to remove cleanly because the stitch you have to get your seam ripper into is much smaller. It is still possible, but it takes more time and greater care so as to not accidentally rip the fabric of the hat itself. Check out the design removal section for more detailed instructions on how to remove these designs!
Vinyl hats
The designs for these hats are made with Heat Transfer Vinyl and applied using a heat press or iron. These designs are not thread based, but instead they are flat and smooth. There are a few ways to remove HTV, check out the design removal section for instructions on how to handle these.
Size and placement of an existing design
Once you remove the previous design there are usually some remnants of it such as small holes where the stitches were or some frazzled/frayed texturing. The goal is to cover this area with your new design, so you’ll want to make sure the size and placement of the existing design roughly matches the design you want to embroider over it. You can totally pick your hat first and then make your design based on the space you have to work with, but it is something to keep in mind as you are looking.
What to avoid
It is rare, but I have run into issues with certain hats that prevented me from being able to upcycle them. The most common issue I see is with hats that have a very sturdy material in the front above the bill of the hat. They could be reinforced with interfacing or fabric, but in any case its really hard to get a needle through that thick layer(and this can hurt your fingers!) so for me these aren’t worth the effort.
Another issue I’ve run into is with hats that have a lining. A lining is just another layer of fabric that covers the back of the design so you can’t see it from the inside. With hats like this, you’d have to first remove the lining to get access to the back of the design in order to remove it. Since this involves deconstructing and re-constructing the hat a bit, I stay away from hats like this.2.
2. Cleaning your hat
You definitely do not want to skip this step, especially if you thrifted a hat. It’s super easy to clean a baseball cap and get rid of any dirt and sweat that may be lingering in the fibers. Basically you will soak the hat in warm water with laundry detergent, scrub it, rinse it thoroughly, reshape it and let it dry. I follow the instructions in this article to clean my hats and they go into a lot more detail on that process so check it out!
3. Make any necessary repairs
Various issues like stains, tears, holes, and broken hardware can be easily repaired.
Stains
The cleaning process should alleviate any stains in your hat. Make sure to scrub thoroughly over stained areas for the best results. For more persistent stains, use a tide stick after the hat is dry. This won’t work for every stain out there, so you can always cover it up with embroidery, acrylic paint, or a fabric patch.
Tears and Holes
You can always adapt your design a bit to cover up any holes by stitching over the problem area. If the rip is in a place where you were not intending to embroider, you could use a thread color that matches the hat to stitch it back together. Another option is adding a patch to cover the area. If you want the patch to be unnoticeable, make sure to choose a matching color.
Broken construction or hardware
Some hats may have a broken seam or an adjustable clasp that is missing or broken. In the case of the broken seam, if the underlying fabric is still intact you can stitch the seam back together.
If any piece of hardware(the metal components of your hat) is broken you can find replacement parts at any craft store and follow their instructions to attach.
4. Remove the previous design
Seam ripping basics
Seam ripping is the process of removing stitching. This is done by inserting the pointy end of your seam ripper into the stitches of the previous design(making sure to grab only the stitches, not the fabric of the hat), and pushing your seam ripper through the stitches to cut them. I switch between the front and back side of the design since there is stitching on both sides. Once you’ve cut through the seams, the thread should pull out of the hat easily. There may be multiple layers of stitching to work through since the embroidery machine first outlines the design with a single stitch, and then uses filler stitches to quickly fill sections of the same color.
Factors that affect your seam ripping success
Seam ripping has varying rates of success depending on the size of the stitches and the material of the hat. This will also affect how ‘clean’ the hat looks after removing the previous design. If the hat you chose is a thinner, less structured fabric you may have a hard time not damaging it since the seam ripper will more easily puncture weak fibers. Puncturing this fabric can result in a small hole or tear. Some fabrics have a weave that is farther apart, so these hats may leave a more visible remnant of the design where you can see the small holes of the previous stitching. Holding your hat up to the light will show you where these holes are, you can generally see them up to the light in some way but depending on your fabric these holes can be more noticeable.
Tips for removing narrow stitching
As I mentioned earlier, this will be a bit trickier for hats with smaller stitching. If you have a hat like this, you should be very careful when using your seam ripper to only catch the stitches of the design, making sure not to pierce through the fabric itself. If you catch that fabric you will end up with a small hole. You can just embroider over this hole but it may change your design if you weren’t planning to have to embroider over that spot.
If you’re having a hard time getting under those stitches, one thing I do to loosen them up is to use my needle to get under that stitch line. The tip of the needle is smaller than the end of your seam ripper so it will fit under the stitches more easily, and then pushing the needle along will stretch the stitches enough to get your seam ripper into them(needle should not be threaded). Removing narrow stitching takes a lot of time and care so I typically avoid hats with fine lettering unless I absolutely love them.
Cleaning up remnants
After seam ripping the previous design you may be able to see tiny holes where those stitches were, or some fluff remaining from small fibers breaking. To make these issues less noticeable, I try and relax the fabric back into its original place by gently scraping the non-pointy side of the needle across those holes. Essentially we are pushing the fibers of the hat back into that open space. I repeat this process on the inside of the hat as well for the best results.
You can snip with scissors or use a razor to trim any fuzziness left over after doing this.
HTV removal
Vinyl can be removed in a few different ways, you can use Vinyl Lift-Off, a product made for HTV removal or you can re-apply heat to vinyl with an iron ,and peel off the design once it has been heated.
5. Prep your hat for embroidery
Choose your design
You can embroider anything you want onto your hat! Between designing it yourself, buying a pattern online, or finding free patterns from creators like me, there are so many options out there. I’ve included two variations of my daisy pattern below that you can try out for free with instructions to make these hats on your own!
Transfer design onto hat
There are a few ways to do this depending on the materials you have! If you don’t have any of these tools, you can always free hand embroider.
Dissolvable stabilizer
This is a type of paper that you can draw your design onto, then attach to your hat with the sticky backing. This stabilizes the hat so it is easier to embroider and is useful for materials that are thin or stretchy since it holds the fabric in place so the final piece isn’t distorted. Once finished just use water to dissolve the stabilizer from your embroidery.
Water-soluble pen
With one of these, you can draw your design directly onto the hat. You’ll embroider over it and soak the design in water afterwards, rubbing the area a bit to remove all the ink.
Pen, pencil or chalk
Any of these can also be uses to draw your design. Keep in mind that some of your marks may still be visible after embroidery if you used a pen.
Attach the hoop(or don’t!)
This is optional since you can definitely embroider without a hoop, but it is a very nice tool to have!
Using a hoop
A 3” or 4” hoop should work for most hats and will help you keep a consistent tension in your fabric while you are working so the stitching comes out neat. If you will be doing a design with a lot of tight stitching I do recommend a hoop so that you don’t end up puckering your fabric.
You attach the hoop by unscrewing the top bolt, separating the two wooden pieces and moving the inner hoop to the inside of the hat and then reassembling the hoop. Pull the fabric taut as you tighten the screw to get the right tension. It should feel a bit like a drum.
Free-hand stitching
If you have a really thick, non stretchy fabric like denim, you may not need the extra tension or stability from the hoop. With fabrics like this you can get away without using a hoop by creating that tension with your fingers and being careful not to pull super hard when you are stitching.
Depending on the placement of your design, you may not be able to use a hoop at all. If you are trying to embroider along the base of the hat, this is a really hard place to get your hoop to fit into so you may opt to go free hand!
6. Embroider my free pattern!
A few tips before you begin
On most baseball caps there is a flap right above the bill on the inside. Depending on where your design will be placed, it could get in your way. Since I’ve stitched through it many times before, not realized for a while and then had to cut my stitches out and redo, I like to hold my hats with this flap down against the bill so to avoid doom.
It may be tougher to get through the middle seam of the hat than the surrounding fabric. This is because the fabric of the hat is typically one layer thick, but the seams have been folded over for a professional finish. This makes it a little tougher to get through especially if your hat is made of thick fabric already.
Once you’re ready to embroider you’ll need to gather your needle, thread and scissors. Embroidery floss comes in strands of 6. For really thick lines or filler stitches you can use all of them, or for finer lines you can split the strands into any number that you want.
Cut an arms length of embroidery floss and split as desired. Tie a knot onto one end of the floss and thread your needle with the other end. Pull the needle so it is near the middle of the thread, making sure the un-knotted end is shorter than the knotted one. Then you’re ready to start stitching!
You can always create your own design but if you need some inspiration, keep reading for the steps to my free embroidery pattern!
Daisy Pattern Instructions
Pick any three colors you’d like to use, I typically use yellow for the flower center, white for the petals, and green for the vines and leaves but you may want to switch it up depending on the color of your hat, or your color preferences.
The same four embroidery stitches are used for both variations of this pattern. The center of the daisy is a single french knot and the petals are made using the lazy daisy stitch. The vine or stem is made with an outline stitch, and the leaves are made with the fishbone stitch. I use all 6 strands of embroidery floss for this pattern.
Each step will include a diagram with numbered points indicating the order your stitches should go in, as well as a video for visual instruction.
1. Start by making the center of the daisy(or daisies!). Thread your needle with the color you chose for the flower’s center and bring your needle up through the center of the daisy from the back of the hat to the front. Pull the thread taut and wrap the base of your thread around the needle 4 times before pushing the needle back down right next to the hole you just came up from. Holding the remaining thread taut as you pull your needle through until a knot is formed. Note: the video wraps the thread around twice, I do 4 times to get a larger knot but this is up to you and how big you want that center to be!
2. Continue by making the petals around the center of your daisy. Start with the topmost petal and work your way clockwise. Thread your needle with the color you’d like to use for the petals and bring your needle up from the back to the front, at the base of the petal on the left side. Go back down into the base of the petal on the right side. Instead of pulling all the way through, leave a small loop and bring your needle up at the top of the petal, catching that loop to form the petal. To secure your petal in place, bring the needle back down right above the top of the petal.
3. Once the daisies are finished, thread your needle with the color you chose for the vines and leaves. Following along the vine or stem of the flower(depending on which pattern variation you chose), pull your needle up, go forward a stitch length and pull the needle back down. Don’t pull the thread all the way through, but leave a small loop making sure to keep the working thread above the stitch line, and come up at the same point as your first stitch. Pull the thread taut. This should make a little twirled look.
4. With the vine in place, you’re ready to make the leaves using the Fishbone stitch. Pull your needle up through the top point of the leaf, and go down a stitch length, pulling the thread all the way through. Come up to the left of your very first stitch, a little bit below it following along the curve of the leaf. Go back down right below the end of the previous stitch. Repeat this on the right side and continue alternating in this way until the leaf is filled in.
And that’s all! Now you have a cute new hat and an awesome way to upcycle any hat you want. Thanks for reading my tutorial and let me know if you tried it!