The Back Story of this Autism Hat Tutorial
For a while now I’ve been contemplating making something that would possibly make my life a little easier. I’ve had enough meltdowns on outings with my ASD kids to know I wanted to do something to indicate we are an Autism family.  I also wanted it to be an item I could keep in my car or diaper bag and pull out if we had an unplanned excursion.  (Those are the kind that prompt the most meltdowns).
There are great t-shirts out there, but those would be wearable once and then need to be washed. I would also have to get it back into the bag/car after it was washed. (Which might be a challenge since I’ve forgotten to restock diapers for the baby from time to time). I also wanted to have whatever I made available for daily use on our vacation to Disney World.
I thought about creating vests out of lightweight material, and I may still do that, but another crafter in the fabric store suggested hats to me. This made total sense to me since I need to have all the kids pack hats for the Florida sun anyway. I checked out the store and they both painters caps and plain baseball caps.
I also found this puzzle piece flannel in the fabric store. (2021 note: At the time I made this hat, multi-colored puzzle pieces were considered a symbol for Autism, so this was perfect for my needs. If I was making the same project today, I would make one with rainbow infinity symbols like the fabric HERE).
Materials Needed:
- Hat of your choice
- Fabric of your choice
- Iron-on Interfacing
- Embroidered letter iron-ons
Alternatively you could use heat-transfer vinyl- the process will be similar.
Autism Hat Tutorial
- First adhere your iron-on interfacing to your material. Use whatever the directions are for your particular brand.
- Use your SVG cutter for your Mickey Mouse head in the center. I used my silhouette cameo with a fabric blade and iron-on interfacing.  Flannel is thicker, so I find the canvas setting works well. You can use this SVG Mickey head for your machine and software. I cut three from the fabric. You can’t really see two cut Mickeys with this photo below, but they are there.
3. Make sure you have some kind of support for your baseball cap/hat to iron on the Mickey head. I recommend a folded towel. I first tried using a wadded up pair of jeans I was repairing. It didn’t give enough support. Then I used a folded towel which worked much better. You need a consistent amount of support in order to be able to press the letters and cut shape firmly onto your hat. If you have a heat press machine that can handle small areas like hats, that’s even better. Just make sure that whether you’re using an iron or a heat press, you use the appropriate settings.
Note: I looked high and low to find the right scale letters for my hats. I also bought a fabric paint pen. The fabric paint pen didn’t give me the look I wanted, and I was lucky enough to find what I needed at Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby doesn’t carry them any more, but you can find them on Amazon. They are JOY brand Baby Monogram Letters and Numbers. You can find them here.
4. Using the T as your starting guide, lay the letters first on the hat; playing with the configuration until you are happy. Then warm up the hat with your iron, and start attaching the letters, again starting with the T. I found it easiest to keep working in one direction with the letters since the iron had heated up the fabric and made the glue on the letters start to warm up a little.
5. Finish applying all of the letters…And you’re done! Look how cute they all turned out!
The finished blue cap.
The painter’s cap
I love how the finished white baseball cap with a bit more embellishment looks!
My Thoughts
I am pleased with the end result overall. I had the kids wear the caps to the Disney, and instead of glares, I got smiles and patience. Acroboy wore his cap and sat front and center at Turtle Talk With Crush and he was chosen to talk to Crush. (Boy! Was he excited!). I’m not sure if it was because of the hat or where he had chosen to sit, but he was nonetheless thrilled.
I think the hats also were a blessing when Acroboy wandered and was lost for a few moments. He found a parent with kids (like we’ve trained the kids to do), and they were all talking to a Cast Member when we located him. The hat let the Cast Member and kind parent know we had some special needs going on.
A Final Note on Care After Some Use
The hats of course got dirty, and we lost one of the letters I hadn’t ironed down enough. When we got home I washed them in a sweater bag (the mesh kind that sometimes they hold nylons and other things too). I figured if any more letters came off in the wash, they would end up in the bag. I recommend you do the same, wash them in a tightly woven mesh bag and air dry them.Â
See the clean, but damaged hat?
To repair the hats, iron the letters back on to the hat, include any missing ones you may have lost, and they look as good as new!
I’m happy this worked out so well. I think we’ll be using these for a long time.
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Updates and Conclusion to the Autism Hat Tutorial
Update July 2017 –
We definitely use these hats a lot. We actually lost the painters cap pretty quickly, but both baseball caps are distinctive enough we’ve been able to find them again when we’ve lost them.
They still help us get more smiles and patience. The older kids (who are now teenagers) have been testing and pushing themselves and so they rarely have meltdowns in public anymore. They have also pushed themselves to wait patiently in lines for about 45 minutes, so they don’t really use the hats as frequently as they used to. Their abilities to wait, process and recognize their limits are huge progress for us.
Acroboy still uses the hats regularly and it’s a good thing. He is almost six years younger than Lawboy and it is reflected in his behavior. While he is also pushing himself to do more, he is younger and has lower limits/thresholds than his older siblings.
Update Sept 2022 –
As I mentioned earlier in the post, I would definitely use a different fabric if I were to recreate the same hats today.
Since my youngest boy is now 15, in high school and also expanded his patience and limits, we don’t really use these hats much anymore. I am really glad we’ve had them for all of these years though. They made some tough outings when we were at our limits much, much better.
My boys have done pretty well with learning their limits and recognizing them. Last October I took most of them to Disney World by myself and we had a great trip. I recommend practicing outings over and over. Give your kids a chance to stretch a little each time you go out-even if it is just adding one new thing. I also highly recommend making a personalized autism hat for your own family member(s) to create awareness and acceptance on your own outings.
Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed this autism hat tutorial and that you too are able to have many successful adventures with your family.
Cheers!
Momma Bee
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