How to Sew a Simple Baby Doll Bonnet from a Handkerchief

Who doesn't love a sweet baby bonnet?  These two Effanbee Patsy Babies are wearing bonnets made from vintage hankies.

Here are some slightly larger dolls, a 17" Effanbee Bubbles and a 15" Effanbee Lovums, both wearing hanky bonnets.

This style of bonnet does not need to be made from a hanky...it could be cut from any piece of vintage linen that has a pretty lace border, such as a napkin, dresser scarf, tea towel, etc.

Remember this Madame Alexander PRECIOUS doll I showed you yesterday?

She is 12" tall and wears a white bonnet I made her because I couldn't find the right shade of yellow to match her original dress.

But I finally found the right shade of yellow in this beautiful, lace-edged hanky at the doll show this past weekend.  Would you like to see how I turned it into a bonnet?  Then follow me!

My hanky measured 11" x 11".  Measure your doll from earlobe to earlobe, going up over one side of her face down to the other.  In my doll's case, this measurement was 7".  In order for the bonnet to have a ruffle, you want your hanky to be about 1 1/2 times that measurement.  This would mean I would need a width of 10 1/2".  Since my hanky was 11", this was just right!  You don't have to have a ruffle--a little straight edged bonnet is precious, too.

Next step--turn back however much you want on the front edge.  Sometimes I turn back less, but this time  I decided to turn back the entire width of the wide border lace.  It just all depends on what kind of look you're going for.

Measure from the front of your doll's head back to the crown of her head--for my doll, this was about 3".  Add about 1/2" for the casing.  In this photo you can see that I have measured 3 1/2" over from the turned back lace edge.

Now comes the scary part--cut!  But if you've measured correctly, you have nothing to worry about.

I like to add another strip of lace across the very front edge of the bonnet.  This extra lace adds a little more ruffle, plus it helps to hide the gathering stitches you will be sewing next.  These are some of the laces from my stash that I was choosing between.

I think this one is it!  It has a slightly yellowish tint to it, so I think it's perfect.

Make a casing along the back edge of the hanky by pressing under 1/4", and folding it over again another 1/4" and pressing.  Stitch.

Cut your piece of lace just a little longer than the front of the bonnet so that you can turn under the raw edges 1/4" on each edge.

Attach lace by sewing a long gathering stitch along the edge of the bonnet.  Run another gathering stitch about 1/8" away from the first row.  Here you can see that the casing in back has been stitched, and the gathering rows have been added to the front.

Draw up your gathering threads to fit the measurement of your doll's head from earlobe to earlobe.  Tie off both ends securely.

Here I am testing the fit before I tie off the gathering stitches.

Take a small ribbon and thread it through the casing.  I use a bodkin (one of my favorite sewing tools!), but you could also use a tiny safety pin.  Draw up the ribbon to fit the back of your doll's head.

Attach some ribbon ties (I used vintage rayon ribbon in a pale yellow) to each front side and voila!  You have completed the bonnet.  Easy Peasy!

And just look how cute!

I finally found this little sweetie a pair of vintage shoes and socks.

Side view--I just love how the lace poofs out and frames her little face.

Back view

Now, there is no reason your little dolls (or bigger ones!) can't have a sweet bonnet.  Of course, you don't need to use a vintage hanky--you could also cut out a piece of fabric to the measurements you need, and then add some lace to the front.  You would also need to hem the sides since you are working with raw fabric.  Now, go make a bonnet!