My son started Hebrew school this fall and I am trying to get him comfortable with the idea of wearing a kippah (yarmulke) in synagogue. On Yom Kippur, he was pretty excited about wearing my Bukhari-style kippah, so I thought I'd amplify that interest by bringing in some fabrics that shout YES to 6-year old boys. As you can tell from the rest of the blog, they are not exactly my style. Which is the whole point, I suppose.
This kippah is great because it's comfortable, machine washable, stays on the head of a small, active person without clips, and is totally reversible. I will use the term "lining fabric" in my directions, but both sides are completely wearable - the only difference is that the lining fabric side will have 2-3" of hand-stitching visible where the band meets the lid.
We did the whole project together this morning and it was really easy and fun, so I thought I'd pass on the directions in case they are useful to you (and so that I don't forget when I make my next one, which requires me to find princess fabric for one side and gymnastics fabric for the other).
Pre-wash your fabrics. You'll need 2/3 yard of two different lightweight 45" quilting cottons. If you're willing to cut your bands on the opposite grain (and I'm not enough of an expert to tell you where that might land you), you'll only need 1/4 yard. As a fabric miser, I felt that I had to let you know.
1. Find a kippah that's the right size or too big and pin it until the circumference is comfortable for the wearer. Measure the adjusted circumference and add 1.25" to it. You'll need to cut one rectangle cut to this length that is 3.75" wide (assuming a finished side band width of 2.5" for your kippah). For my son, we wanted a finished circumference of 21.5" so our rectangle was 22.75" x 3.75". I am using 5/8" seam allowances here.
2. Cut a circle that's 8.25" in diameter (note: if your rectangle is a different length, you should adjust the circle size accordingly). If there's a pattern in your fabric, think about where you want the pattern to fall on the kippah (my son wanted the Millennium Falcon in the middle on one side, and Wolverine centered on the other). We had some fun poking around the house for something this size, since we don't own a compass, and found a pot lid that was perfect!
3. Cut out 1 more rectangle and 1 more circle in your contrasting fabric.
4. Sew each rectangles to itself on the short end to make the 2 bands. Try band on wearer to be sure you're headed toward a good fit. Here's what you've got at this point:
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| One band sewn into a loop + one circle = lining |
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| Testing band size - a tiny bit loose is okay because it's going to tighten up slightly once lined |
6. For your primary fabric, sew the band to the circle after pinning amply between your quartered pins. I found it best to do with the circle face up in the machine so that I could keep an eye on potential puckers and beat them out with a pin. For your lining/secondary fabric, do the same but leave a 2-3" gap in the stitching so that you can turn the garment later. Trim seam and press band away from circle (edge of ironing board is good for this).
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| Outer fabric kippah is sewn all the way around |
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| Lining fabric kippah is sew nearly all the way around, leaving a small gap to turn fabric later |
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| Right sides together, seams lined up |
8. Hand-stitch closed the gap you left in the lining fabric. Press kippah (again, take advantage of the edge of your ironing board). Edgestitch along bottom of band.
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| Why yes, I am still in my bear pajamas. And I'm showing you the gap that you need to hand-stitch shut. |
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| I have hand-stitched shut the gap and you can hardly see it by my thumb. |
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| We are good to go. |
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| Outer fabric, with Wolverine prominently displayed |
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| Inner fabric, with Millennium Falcon front and center. Hand stitching is nearly invisible so this is truly reversible. |
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