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3 sizes
Child to large adult · English · US terms
Craft
Crochet · US terms
Skill level
Advanced beginner
Yarn & hook
Sport weight cotton · 2.5 mm
Sizes
Child to large adult
About this crochet bucket hat pattern
The Hexagon Bucket Hat is a retro, seventies-flavoured sun hat built from seven African flower hexagons. You make the seven motifs, join them side by side into a band, and then the crown and the soft flared brim are worked straight off that band, so there is no fiddly assembly waiting for you at the end. By the time the flowers are seamed together, the hardest part is already behind you.
Each flower only eats a few metres of each colour, which makes this a properly good scrap yarn project. Four contrast colours is all you need, and because you choose which colour goes in the centre and which goes in the petals, every single hexagon can look different. Use five leftover balls and you get a hat nobody else has.
It is written for an advanced beginner. If you have made a granny square, worked in the round, and joined two pieces together before, you have everything you need. The stitches are all ordinary ones: single crochet, extended single crochet, half double, double, triple and slip stitch. Every motif has its own stitch diagram if you prefer to work from a chart rather than from written rows.
In the download
What’s inside the PDF
- Full written instructions in all three sizes, worked in US crochet terms.
- Photos throughout, so you can see what each stage should look like.
- A stitch diagram for every motif, if you prefer working visually.
- A video walking you through joining the hexagons with mattress stitch.
- A size guide with head circumference and finished hat measurements.
- The full stitch and skills list up front, so you know what you are getting into.
Materials
- Main colour: 150 (160) 175 m / 164 (175) 191 yds, or 47 (50) 55 g of sport weight cotton. I used DROPS Safran (50 g = 160 m / 175 yds).
- Four contrast colours: 30 (30) 35 m / 33 (33) 38 yds, or 9 (9) 11 g of each. This is where your scraps come in.
- Hook: 2.5 mm, or whichever hook gets you the gauge below.
- Notions: yarn needle and stitch markers.
Gauge
With a 2.5 mm hook, one finished hexagon measures 7 (7.5) 8 cm / 2.8 (3) 3.2 in from side to side after blocking.
Gauge matters more on this hat than people expect, because the band is seven hexagons long. Half a centimetre of difference per motif turns into three and a half centimetres around your head, which is the difference between a hat that fits and a hat that sits on top of your hair like a bowl. Make one hexagon, block it, measure it. It takes twenty minutes and it saves you the whole band.
Size chart
| Size | Head circumference | Finished hat | Main colour | Each contrast (×4) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Child | 46–50 cm / 18–19.5 in | 49.7 cm / 19.6 in | 150 m / 47 g | 30 m / 9 g |
| 2 — Small adult | 50–54 cm / 19.5–21 in | 53.2 cm / 20.9 in | 160 m / 50 g | 30 m / 9 g |
| 3 — Large adult | 54–58 cm / 21–23 in | 56.7 cm / 22.3 in | 175 m / 55 g | 35 m / 11 g |
Yarn substitutions for DROPS Safran
Any sport weight cotton that gets you the gauge will work here. Cotton is what gives the brim its shape. A wool or a soft blend will make a lovelier, slouchier hat that does not stand up on its own, which is a real option, just a different hat.
I have only made this one in Safran, so I want to be straight with you: the yarns below are matched on YarnSub by weight, fibre and gauge rather than personally tested by me. The match percentage is theirs. Whichever you pick, make one hexagon and measure it before you commit.
Lana Grossa Elastico
96% cotton, 4% polyester · 50 g / 160 m · 98% match
The closest thing to Safran on the list. Same ply structure, same gauge, and the sliver of polyester gives it a tiny bit of give, which is rather nice in a hat band.
BC Garn Summer in Kashmir
90% cotton, 10% cashmere · 50 g / 165 m · 95% match
The luxurious option, and GOTS certified. Softer against the forehead than pure cotton, with a slightly relaxed brim. Block it firmly and it behaves.
DROPS Loves You 7
100% cotton · 50 g / 170 m · 91% match
My pick if you want to stay with DROPS and keep it cheap. Same shop, same shipping, and the colour range is wide enough to pull four contrasts out of one order.
Valley Yarns Granville
90% cotton, 10% merino · 50 g / 152 m · 95% match
Easiest to get hold of in the US. Gauge matches exactly; you will need roughly one extra ball per Safran ball because the put-up is a little shorter.
Queensland Coastal Cotton Fine
100% cotton · 100 g / 320 m · 92% match
Big 100 g skeins, so half a skein covers the main colour. Comes in solids and multicolours if you fancy letting the yarn do the colour changing for you.
Gazzal Baby Cotton
60% cotton, 40% acrylic · 50 g / 165 m · 91% match
The budget choice, and very easy to find across Europe. The acrylic makes it a touch softer and a touch less crisp, so expect a slightly gentler brim.
Skills you’ll need
- Crocheting in the round, and working into chain spaces.
- Single crochet, extended single crochet, half double, double, triple crochet and slip stitch.
- Joining motifs with mattress stitch. There is a video in the pattern if this one is new to you.
- Simple increases and decreases for the crown and the brim.
Never made an African flower before? Start with my free African flower hexagon tutorial. Make one, see how you like it, then come back.
The design process
This one started on TikTok, the way a lot of my ideas seem to. Someone was making a blanket out of African flowers and I could not stop watching it. I went to bed thinking about it and woke up still thinking about it, which is usually the sign that I am about to spend three weeks on something.
Then I found out that African flowers are not only squares. There are hexagons too. And once I saw the hexagons, I got fixated on one particular idea: if you line them up and change the colours in the right places, you can make a zigzag run across them. I could see it immediately, and I could also immediately see it on a bucket hat. Not a blanket. A hat.
So here is the honest part. Seven hexagons around a head is not very much room, and by the time the band closed up, the zigzag had far less space to show itself than it did in my head. It is there, but it is quiet. I sat with that for a while and decided I liked the hat anyway. The flowers carry it, the flared brim carries it, and the zigzag became a detail rather than the point.
The idea did not go to waste though. I have put a lot more zigzag into the other hexagon designs I am working on now, where there is actually room for it to stretch out. So this hat is the one that started it, even if it is the most subtle of the bunch.
Make one hexagon first. It takes twenty minutes and it tells you everything you need to know about your gauge.
Maki’s tip
Block your hexagons before you seam them. Flat, even motifs make the join almost invisible, and it is much harder to fix the shape once everything is sewn together. If you make a lot of motifs, my DIY blocking board tutorial will save you a great deal of pinning.
Part of a collection
The Flower Power collection
The Hexagon Bucket Hat is the first pattern in a collection built around the African flower motif. Same flowers, same colour play, different garments, so anything you learn making one piece carries straight over to the next, and your leftovers keep working across the whole set.
- Hexagon Bucket Hat: out now. You are looking at it.
- Two tops in two variants: currently with my testers.
- A blouse: on my hook right now.
- Still to come: a sweater, a sweater vest, and probably a few more accessories before I am done.
If you want to know when the next one lands, the newsletter sign-up is at the bottom of this page. Subscribers hear about new patterns first, usually with a launch discount. Tester calls always go out on Instagram first.
Questions I get asked
Is this a pattern or a finished hat?
A pattern: a PDF you download and make yourself. Nothing physical is shipped to you. The download link arrives straight after checkout.
Do I need to know how to make an African flower hexagon first?
No. The pattern walks you through the motif from the beginning, with a stitch diagram as well as written rounds. But if you would like to try one before you buy, my free African flower hexagon tutorial is a good place to start.
Can I really make this from scrap yarn?
Yes, and it is one of my favourite things about it. Each of the four contrast colours only needs 30–35 m, which is a very small leftover ball. The main colour is the only one you need a proper amount of, at 150–175 m depending on size. Just keep all your scraps to the same weight so the motifs come out the same size.
Can I use a different yarn weight, like DK or worsted?
You can, but the hat will come out bigger, because the size is set by seven hexagons in a row. A thicker yarn makes bigger hexagons, and seven bigger hexagons make a bigger head opening. If you want to try it, make one motif in your yarn, measure it, and compare it to the 7 / 7.5 / 8 cm in the gauge section. That tells you which size you are actually making.
Will the brim hold its shape or flop down?
In a cotton like Safran it holds a soft flare. Not stiff like a straw hat, but it keeps its shape and does not collapse. If you substitute a wool or a cotton-acrylic blend it will be softer and floppier. Blocking makes a real difference here either way.
I’m between two sizes. Which should I pick?
Size up, or make the smaller size with a slightly bigger hook. A bucket hat that is a little roomy still looks right; one that is tight does not.
Can I sell the hats I make from this pattern?
Yes, finished items are yours to sell. Please credit Artsy Maki as the designer, and never resell, copy or share the pattern file itself.
What if I get stuck?
Email me at artsymaki@gmail.com with a photo of where you are. I answer every message, usually within a day or two.
Ready to make one?
The full pattern, all three sizes, stitch diagrams and the seaming video. Instant download.
