How To Decorate The Mesh Chemo Bucket Hat

How to decorate the Mesh Chemo Bucket Hat is easier than you think. I found this pretty bunch of silk flowers at my local Walmart. After finding the flower bunch, they were ushered to the yarn aisle. It was exciting to see that they matched the colors of yarn, that are in the Lion Brand Coboo line. This yarn is wonderful to use when making chemo caps, as it is so soft. It is a blend of cotton and bamboo. 

Lion Brand Coboo yarn is wonderful to use when making a chemo cap or hat.

After the hat is made, it will need to be handwashed and laid flat to dry in order for the yarn to keep it’s beauty. Info on the wrapper says that the yarn says that you can easily machine wash and dry.  It is really up to you on how to wash & dry the chemo bucket hat. 

How To Decorate The Mesh Chemo Bucket Hat:

Supply List:

1. Silk Flower of your choice; 2. sewing needle and thread; 3. Hot glue gun and glue sticks; 4. Small piece of felt; 5. Utility scissors; 6. Wire snips if needed.

This bunch of ranunculus flowers that I chose are beautiful, and very sturdy.

Most silk flowers will pull off the stem easily, but then they might “poof” fall apart. This little bunch held together very well. If a different silk flower is chosen to decorate the mesh chemo bucket hat, test the flower head, to see how sturdy the construction is. 

Removing the flower head from the bunch of flowers to decorate the Mesh Chemo Bucket Hat is easy.

Place your thumb in the very center of the flower, then grab the bottom of the flower with the rest of your fingers. Hold the flower head as if you are pushing the plunger on a syringe. Tighten down with all fingers and pull the flower head, off the stem. If the flower head won’t come off easily, use wire snips to cut it off the stem, while continuing to hold the flower head tightly.

Checking the flower head, to see how sturdy it is.

Slowly loosen your grip on the flower head, to see if the petals are adhered and not moving. Most flowers petals will move and shift after they have been removed from the stem. If they act like they are going to shift, tighten the grip on the flower head again. Use a glue gun to secure the petals. Click the following link “How Secure The Flower Petals” to view a photo tutorial.

Shifting flower petals are easy to fix in place. 

Continue to hold the flower head and peel back the layers of petals. Stick the tip of the glue gun into the center and drop a dab of glue in there. Some flowers will appear to be glued, but are unstable. Glue until you are happy that the petals on the flower head are secure.

1. Rununculus flowers were purchased at Wal Mart.

2. Flower heads were easy to pull off the stems. When they don’t pull off easily, use wire snips. If you are using a different flower than pictured, you will want to securely hold the flower head. Having the flower head fall apart after you have pulled it from the stem is disaster. Hopefully that won’t happen. Be sure to hold everything in place. Pull back the petals and put hot glue gun in the center of the of the flower head, to keep them all in place.

Use the leaves that come on the stem of the silk flower to create the decoration. 

Cut the leaves by cutting them off with scissors, or pull them off the stem. After the leaves have been removed, they can be used in the flower arrangement. Don’t ignore the leaves as they can add so much to the arrangement, and some of them are very beautiful.

3. Look at the leaves that come with your silk flowers. Find a pretty arrangement of leaves. Three leaves as one piece was very convenient to use. 

4. Pull off the leaves, just as you did the flower head, or cut them off with scissors or wire snips

Remove all stems from the back of flower heads and leaves.

Those little plastic or wire stems need to be removed, or they will poke through and scratch the skin of the person wearing the hat. A plastic stem is easy to remove. Use a pair of utility scissors. When the stem has a wire, use a pair of wire snips. 

1. The flower head I am working with has a plastic stem that needs to be cut off. It’s an easy job for a pair of utility scissors. Snip it off close to the base of the flower head.

2. This leaf arrangement has the same plastic stem. Cut it off with utility scissors, just as you did the flower.

Arrange your flowers and leaves together, in a manner that is pleasing.

Use a hot glue gun, or a type of glue you are happy with, glue your arrangement together. Glue the sides that are touching together. For example, if a flower petal is touching the flower petal on another flower petal, then place glue right in that spot. If there are loose leaves, glue them into place as well. Glue the arrangement together so that the glue isn’t able to be seen.

3 & 4. Place the flower head on the front of the leaf arrangement, to see if it is a good fit.

Can I just glue the leaves anywhere?

Yes you can. Glue them in any manner you choose. With this bunch of flowers that I purchased, the leaves made nesting the flower head down into the leaves, very easy. They were a perfect fit.

1. Use a glue gun to apply glue to the back of the flower head. Use caution and please do not burn yourself with the hot glue.

2. Place the flower head on the leaf and hold in place until the glue has secured the two pieces together.

Cut a piece of felt to place on the back of your flower arrangement.

There are not exact measurements on how big to cut the felt, as it is impossible. Every flower arrangement is a different size. Cut a piece bigger than you think you need. Place the felt on the back of the arrangement. 

3. Cut a piece of white felt or whatever color is suitable for your project. If you cannot match the felt to the color of the hat, white or cream will be fine, as the felt doesn’t show.

4. Place it on the back of the flower. This piece will need to be trimmed.

Trimming the felt to fit the back of your flower arrangement is easy.

Lay the felt on the back. Use scissors to trim off the rough edges. It doesn’t have to be perfectly round shape. The felt piece may be oblong. Just make sure to cover any rough edges that may poke through the hat, and scratch sensitive skin. When the felt is the right size, glue it in place

1 & 2 Trim the felt to fit the bottom of the arrangement.

3 & 4 Add hot glue on the felt piece and glue to the back of the arrangement. You will need to mold the felt, as the flower arrangement is rounded.

Now it’s time to sew the decoration on the brim of the mesh chemo bucket hat.

This is the easy part. Use a needle and thread to sew the arrangement in place, catching the felt as you go. Sew all around the edges, and take a few stitches in the center as well. Use a running stitch with an occasional back stitch. 

1. Place the arrangement on the brim of the hat where you think it would be pleasing. Thread a sewing needle with a double strand of thread.

2. Hold the flower in place on the brim. Turn the brim over and proceed to sew. Make sure the knot goes into the fiber of the yarn, so that it won’t scratch sensitive skin.

Catch the felt with the needle, especially around the edges.

You won’t need to dig the needle into the glue or flower portion. Catch the felt only with the needle and thread.

3. When you are finished sewing. Knot the thread, burying the knot into the yarn fibers, and cut your thread.

4. Add beads or vintage jewelry to the center of the flower. You can glue the beads, and jewelry in place. If the jewelry is a precious piece, I recommend sewing it in in place.

How to sew a large decoration on to the brim of the mesh chemo bucket hat?

When the arrangement is large, the brim will need to be stretched slightly as you are sewing it into place. The whole width of the flower arrangement needs to be sewn to the brim. 

1. A simple arrangement that is larger, is easy to add to the brim. They are lighweight and add a bit of beauty and sparkle. You can add felt to the flower head only, without leaves to make a dainty arrangement for a child.

2. It is just as easy to add a larger arrangement of flowers. The brim of the hat will need to be stretched while sewing the arrangement on to the brim. Watch this video at the 22:00  mark to see how to make the arrangement and how to stretch the brim.

3. You can also make a pull tie bow and sew it on the brim of a child sized chemo cap.

4. The Mesh Chemo Bucket Hat is beautiful without decorations on the brim. Make it a bit longer, so that you can roll it back to look like a flapper. 

If you would like to make the small flower, please watch this video tutorial.
How To Make A Small Crochet Flower

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This pattern is protected by copyright©KrissysOverTheMountainCrochet 2022, Do not distribute, alter or share this pattern in any shape or form. You have my permission to sell the product you make using my pattern, no mass production is allowed.