Best fleece for hat and mittens

100 weight is probably too thin for a hat, not warm enough

200 weight is 6 ounces per square yard – maybe 1/4 yard for a hat – 1.5 ounces for the hat

300 weight is a little heavier, but still one hat won't weigh very much

I think I've been using 200 weight for my hat which is fine down to 20F when I'm hiking.

If I'm sleeping with my head out of the bag, I'm good down to maybe 32F before I need to add something else.

Maybe that will help you decide.

That helps a lot actually, thanks.

Chris – I have used polartec 100 for mittens and a beanie style hat before and it has worked out fine for 3 season NE camping. I actually prefer the lighter weight polartec since for me it is more versatile. I can use the hat during the summer on cool nights if need be and the mittens work great as a 2 part system with a myog gortex shell. You might want to order a bit of each and see what works best for you, thats what I did. OWF usually has some nice remnant sales if you want to try multiple weights, if they dont have remnants their regular prices are not too bad either.

I've used a wind blocking fleece from Quest Outfitters (I think it is polartec windpro) for a hat and mittens. I really like it. It blocks the wind much better than a regular fleece (I've tried both).

I'll give Windpro and the lighter 100 weight a shot as well, thanks.

I recently made a pair of fleece tights for myself out of generic fabric store fleece and liked the results, so decided to make more out of better fabric. I looked at Seattle Fabrics, Quest Outfitters (where I've bought silnylon before) and OWFI. Hard differentiating all the fleece choices! So, I ordered a some samples from Seattle Fabrics.

The fleece I like is the Polartec 100 Power Stretch. It looks warm and has great stretch — the best of all the 100-weight fleeces I've seen. It has a good-looking smooth side that I would actually use for the outside of the garment.

Their "Tech Fleece 100 Pro-Stretch" looks pretty good as well. Not as stretchy as the power stretch.

Powerstretch is also a great choice. I literally just finished a technical cut fleece hoodie last night, made of powerstretch. It is very soft, very warm, and has great stretch. Throughout the process of making it I kept putting it on to check fit and such, and every time it was a struggle to decide to take it back off…so nice!

Now that my girlfriend has seen it and felt it she is already buttering me up to get me to make one for her too.

I haven't worn the powerstretch in the wind so I can't say how it compares to windpro, but the powerstretch is definitely more stretchy than windpro, and has that really nice looking flat outer face.