Diaper Cover and Bear Hat Patterns
When you purchase through links on my site, I may earn an affiliate commission.
Here’s how it works.
It’s time for my Crochetyay Project Reveal! I finished crochet the diaper cover and bear hat. You can make these baby crochet projects too with this free pattern!
Baby Pattern: Crocheted Diaper Cover and Bear Hat
I crocheted the 3 months size diaper cover and bear hat. The pattern was designed by Michele Wilcox and is available here: Crochet Bear Hat and Diaper Cover
Diaper Cover and Bear Hat Written Instructions
The diaper cover and bear hat pattern is written in U.S. Crochet terms and it is listed as an Intermediate level project.
I found the pattern easy-to-follow. The total number of stitches was provided for each size, in each section, and the directions were clearly written.
The ears were created in a very unique way.
I tried to follow the pattern exactly but I ended up making a few small aesthetic color changes.
Baby Bear Hat
If you want your hat to follow the same color changes as the hat pictured in the actual pattern, on page 2, at the Body section of the hat you need to change your color to color B.
When I started the Body Section of the hat I switched to my larger hook 5 mm (H). I used the larger hook to crochet the remainder of the hat.
I crocheted the ears with the 5 mm (H) size hook.
The Bear Hat is worked in rows starting with the Rib section. It is shaped using simple decrease stitches at the crown of the hat. After it is done it curves in on itself because of the shaping. This is normal 🙂 I’ve included an image of mine below so you can see what I mean!
For my bear hat I wanted my hat rib section to be the same color as the waistband of the Diaper Cover. So I started with B for the band and then switched to color A for the remainder of the hat.
Diaper Cover
The diaper cover is worked in rows in two separate pieces. The pieces are not the same size. First you crochet the back waistband (rib section) and the back part of the diaper cover. It actually folds over the hips and you attach the front section to it.
As you decrease along the bottom edge it leaves little steps down for each row until you reach the bottom. This will vanish once you add the leg cuffs in the Finishing Section.
The front waistband is crocheted next and is also worked in rows from the waistband down.
Diaper Cover and Bear Hat Finishing
When I was seaming my bear hat and diaper covers, I used the same color of yarn as the section I was seaming and a simple whip stitch method. Learn how to do the whipstitch here: Whip Stitch Tutorial
For the diaper cover I started at the crotch seam. I worked through both loops (front and back) of both single crochet stitches. This makes a stronger seam than if you work through only one loop of the stitch, on each piece.
Then I seamed the waistband section and finally the body of the diaper cover. I always used the same color of yarn so if I didn’t have an end left over at the spot I needed to work, I added one to the inside of the fabric by sewing it through some of the stitches in a few different directions. Just like when you weave your yarn end in and the end, except I overlapped the yarn end to hide it as I worked.
Bear Hat
For the Bear Hat, I whip stitched the rib band first before closing the top of the hat.
To close the top of the hat I used my simple closing method for hats and mittens. It is super easy to do and cinches the hat top together nice and neat!
After I closed the top of the hat I continued working down the seam line of the hat. I used a whip stitch to seam the edges together and lined up the rows as I went. I only worked 1 whipstitch per row for the hat edges.
Diaper Cover Leg Cuff Section
I joined my yarn using a standing single crochet (rather than a slip stitch to join, ch 1 and 1 sc) when I crocheted the leg cuffs. I finished off using an invisible join technique rather than a slip stitch.
For my diaper cover I did 1 round of single crochet in the same color as the body of the diaper cover, before switching to the contrast color. If you would like to do this instead too, crochet 1 round using Color A and then 2 rounds using Color B.
Bear Face
For the bear face, the instructions indicate to use a satin stitch for the eyes and nose and straight stitches for the mouth. Here are 2 tutorials to help you with these stitches if you’d like to try them.
I simply sewed my bears eyes and nose with my yarn and yarn needle and chose to omit the mouth.
For the ears, try to follow the row across to line-up the top of the ear on each side and then do the same for the bottom. You may want to use small pins or tie some scrap yarn in a different color to hold the ears in place where you think you want them and then step back and take a look to see if you like the placement. You can just untie those scrap pieces of yarn after you get a couple stitches in place and then your ears will be exactly where you want them to be!
Get the downloadable PDF copy of the pattern here: Crochet Bear Hat and Diaper Cover
The diaper cover and bear hat instructions include multiply sizes. You can choose from:
3 Months. Diaper cover waist: 15 inches [38 cm] and hat circumference at bottom edge: 13 inches [33 cm].
6 Months. Diaper cover waist: 16 inches [40.5 cm] and hat circumference at bottom edge: 14 inches [35.5 cm].
12 Months. Diaper cover waist: 17 inches [43 cm] and hat circumference at bottom edge: 15 inches [38 cm].
These are the supplies I used to make my crocheted baby set:
Diaper Cover and Bear Hat Supplies
Yarn: 2 balls of Red Heart Babyhugs Medium yarn. 4.5 oz / 127 g ; 247 yds / 225 m. Machine Wash and Dry. No dye lot. I chose 1 each of colors Teddy and Shell.
Hooks: Susan Bates 4 mm (G-6 US) and 5 mm (H-8 US) Silvalume Soft Ergonomic Crochet Hooks
Accessories: Susan Bates Stitchpins, Susan Bates 2.75 inch steel yarn needle and scissors.
Pattern: Crochet Bear Hat and Diaper Cover PDF Pattern
I really enjoyed working on the diaper cover and bear hat patterns. I’ve never crocheted a diaper cover before and I honestly thought when I first looked at it that both the front and back would be the same and we would be seaming up the hips.
For the gauge I did a gauge sample. Multiple times…
I need to tell you my gauge was not quite right when I worked my 4 inch square and I fiddled around switching hooks and trying to reach the right gauge and I couldn’t get the gauge to line up. My 4 mm gave me the right stitches per inch but it did not give me the right stitch height.
I finally decided to just start the project and see where I ended up because I was close to where I needed to be.
When you work the rib with the smaller hook (4 mm) and then you work into the rib with the larger hook (5 mm) it helps you control the size of your stitches somewhat. I am happy to say I ended up almost reaching gauge on the project itself using the rib waistband as my guide.
The diaper cover ended up being 15.5 inches across at the top (waistband).
The hat worked out to be 13 inches circumference and 6 inches in height.
I can’t wait to see it on my friend’s baby!
Pop back in June to see what Crochetyay project I am making next month 🙂 It is another baby crochet project and it is super cute!
P.S. Marly has a video tutorial available for this project now too! Here it is:
For more information about Red Heart
please visit their Website, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram or Facebook.
