How to Make a Unique Mom Hat That She Will Love and Use!

Learn how to heat press a hat with your own handwriting to create a unique and sentimental mom hat for Mother’s Day or a birthday.

Ever wonder if you can make your own hat?  The answer is YES, you can and it’s very easy to do.

I’ve been seeing the little mini iron and have been wanting to try it out and I knew a mom hat was the perfect project.  Adding the free SVG file I have for you along with my kids’ own handwriting turned this into my favorite hat!

This is a perfect hat to make for your self or for Mother’s Day, birthdays, Christmas, etc.  You could even make a Grandma hat with my free Happiness is being a Grandma SVG files.

I also made a full detailed step by step video tutorial on how to make your own hat (from the very beginning, through Cricut Design Space, and then to applying HTV to a hat) plus printable directions at the bottom.  Make sure to turn on the volume for the directions@

Materials Needed for DIY Mom Hat

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links from Amazon and/or Cricut.com. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my links (purple text).

• • hat– I used this one from Amazon
  • iron-on vinyl
  • mini ironor an EasyPress Mini
  • Cricut cutting machine – always check prices between Cricut.com and Amazon (click links to compare!)
  • teflon sheet
  • Sharpie and paper
  • free Mom Hair Don’t Care Download – see below

Design Your Own Hat

I wanted this a super personal hat so I had my kids write their names so I could add them onto the hat.  I used the same concept when I made a glitter epoxy tumbler with their handwriting for my Mom as a birthday gift.

The Cricut cutting machine makes all of these possible and opens up the door for so many unique and custom gifts and decor.  Make sure to browse through the Ultimate Guide of Cricut Ideas for more inspiration.

Simply have your kids (or anyone) write their names or anything you can think of on a blank piece of white paper with a black marker.  You want as much contrast as possible.

Then take a picture of it with a smartphone and either email it to yourself or upload it a cloud that you can access on your computer.

 

Upload it into Cricut Design Space.

To clean it up, click the Simple image type and hit continue.  Make sure the wand is checked in the top right-hand corner and click your mouse on the gray background.  Then place your cursor over any sections that did not turn checkered and click (the insides of letters).

Click continue and then “save as a cut file”.

Download the Mom Hair Don’t Care SVG cut file and upload it to Design Space.  Ungroup the file and delete off any of the ones you don’t want to use.

If you’d prefer to have the PNG cut file, click here.

As with all my files, these are for personal use only.  If you would like to purchase a commercial use license, click here.

Size everything to how big you’d like it.  I made my Mom Hair Don’t Care about 4.5 inches long and all of the names about 2 inches long. 

Cut them out of iron-on vinyl on mirror setting.  Make sure to place the HTV with the shiny side down on the mat. The names will probably take over 5 minutes to cut since the edges are not smooth.  You could also use Adobe Capture like I did when I added my Grandma’s old apple pie recipe to an oven mitt.

Weed off all the extra vinyl.

How to Heat Press a Hat

Find a container that your hat can fit snuggly on.  It can be a large container, bowl, or even a pot.  Since mine was plastic, I used my EasyPress mat under the front of the hat, in between the hat and the container.  You could also use a towel.  Adjust the back of the hat so that the front is pulled relatively tight.

Turn on the mini iron and set to 4.  Once it’s preheated it will beep.

Start by applying the iron on the plain hat to get the excess moisture out.  Center the Mom Hair Don’t Care iron-on vinyl where you want it and start pressing down with the iron.  I did one side first and then ironed down the other side moving from the center to the outer edge.

Depending on what kind of iron-on vinyl you are using, remove it when it’s warm or wait 30 seconds or so for a cooler peel and remove the plastic backing.

Place a teflon sheet over the vinyl and press all over again to ensure it’s adhered.

Add the hearts on.  Gently press them a little with the tip of the mini iron so they hold in place.  Then use a teflon sheet and press them firmly.  I was using holographic vinyl so I let it cool a minute before I took off the backing.

Now I removed the hat from the container and opened the back of the hat so that it would lay flat on the EasyPress mat.  (You could also use a towel or ironing board).

Repeat the same steps for the names.  Apply some heat to the section you want to apply the names too.  Place the name down and then iron all over it.  Remove the backing.  Place a teflon sheet over it and iron it again.

Repeat for each name and you’re done!

Now you’ll always have something with your kids’ handwriting on it.  I love any sentimental gifts for Mom for myself or my own.  I think they just mean so much more.

If you’d like to save this mom hat tutorial for later, hover over the top left of the image below and PIN It now.

 

Here are the printable instructions on how to make your own hat…

Thank you so much for stopping by and please comment below if you have any questions!

Have a creative day,