Tiger Baby Hat - Free Crochet Pattern
I think tigers are one of the most beautiful animals on Earth, so I hat to make a crochet hat version of the animal! Making a crochet animal hat is easier than you might think. You simply make each face piece separately and then sew them onto the hat. The hat in the photo above is newborn size, however the face pieces from the instructions below would work for a hat up to size 12 months. If you want them larger to fit a larger hat, then try using a larger crochet hook.
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SUPPLIES
Use any worsted weight yarn you like. You'll need Orange and Black for the hat and the amount you'll need depends on hat size. Plus, you'll need very small amounts of White, Coral, and Green.
I used Simply Soft yarn in these colors:
Pumpkin (orange)
Black
White
Strawberry (coral)
Pistachio (green)
NOTE: For a white tiger, you can use the same pattern, just change the colors slightly. Use white instead of orange on the hat. Use light blue instead of green for the eyes. Use light pink instead of coral for the nose and mouth. Make the ears white with gray centers.
You'll also need:
STITCHES USED/ABBREVIATIONS
CH - Chain
HDC - Half Double Crochet
DC - Double Crochet
SC - Single Crochet
SL ST - Slip Stitch
MAGIC CIRCLE (tutorial here)
HAT
Using my Basic Beanie Hat Pattern, make a hat that alternates between 2 orange stripes and one black stripe. Orange is the main color and black is the accent color, so figure out your starting color so that you'll end with orange. We want orange to frame baby's face and it will also match the orange ears. View my How To Switch Colors tutorial if needed.
NOSE
With Coral, magic circle, CH 2. *[HDC 2, CH 1] repeat from * 2 more times. (count=9) Join with SL ST in top of first HDC. Cut long ending tail. Weave in beginning yarn tail only.
SNOUT
With White, magic circle, CH 2.
ROW 1: HDC 10 in center of magic circle. Pull beginning yarn tight to close the circle. Join with SL ST in top of first HDC. CH 3.
ROW 2: DC in same space, DC 2 in each of the next two stitches. HDC 2 in each of the next 2 stitches. DC 2 in each of the 3 stitches. HDC 2 in each of the last two stitches. (count=20) Cut long ending tail. Weave in beginning yarn tail only.
EYE (make two)
With Black, magic circle, CH 1.
ROW 1: SC 8 in center of magic circle, switching to green on last SC. Pull beginning yarn tight to close the circle. Join with SL ST in top of first SC. CH 1.
ROW 2: SC 2 in same stitch and each stitch around. (count = 16) Join with SL ST in top of first SC. Cut long ending tail. Weave in beginning yarn tail only.
EAR BACK (make two)
With Orange, magic circle, CH 2.
ROW 1: HDC 9 in center of magic circle. Pull beginning yarn tight to close the circle. Join with SL ST in top of first HDC. CH 2.
ROW 2: HDC in same stitch and in next stitch. HDC 4 in next stitch. *[HDC in each of the next two stitches. HDC 4 in next stitch] Repeat from * one time. (Count= 18) Finish off, weave in all ends.
EAR FRONT (make two)
With White, magic circle, CH 2.
ROW 1: HDC 9 in center of magic circle, switching to Orange on last HDC. Pull beginning yarn tight to close the circle. Join with SL ST in top of first HDC. CH 2.
ROW 2: HDC in same stitch and in next stitch. HDC 4 in next stitch. *[HDC in each of the next two stitches. HDC 4 in next stitch] Repeat from * one time. (Count= 18) Cut long ending tail. Weave in both white tails and the orange beginning yarn tail.
TOTAL 9 PIECES
Hat
Nose
Snout
2 Eyes
2 Ear Fronts
2 Ear Backs
ASSEMBLY
Position the face pieces onto the hat to get a general idea of how you'd like them positioned. Smaller sized hats will have the face pieces closer together and larger sized hats can have them spaced out a little more. Use the hat rows as a guide to ensure even placement on both sides of the hat.
View my video tutorials (How to Sew On Appliques and How to Sew on Ears) to learn how to sew on the pieces and then sew them on as follows:
1- Sew nose onto snout
2- Stitch mouth on snout (demo in video below)
3- Sew nose/snout onto hat on the font, in the center, near the bottom.
4- Sew eyes to hat above the snout on either side. For smaller sizes, they will be very close together and close to the snout. Larger sizes can be spaced out more.
5 - Sew ear fronts to ear backs
6- Sew ears to hat (across one entire side of the triangle).
7- Stitch on some whiskers (as shown in video below).
View all of the above info in a video:
