DIY Beanie out of Costco Down Throw

I have never worked with down so I though using the Costco Down Throw (CDT) would be a good way to get started. As follow a few pictures of the process of making some down beanies for my nephews and niece out of CDT.

The beanies were composed by three pieces like this sewn together. First, I traced my template over the Costco Down Throw. I made one template for each kid based on their heads dimensions. I aligned the center of my template with one of the sewn lines from CDT so at the end the project would have evenly spaced vertical lines / “baffles”.

Then I follow that line with the sewing machine to encase the down. If you don’t want too much down flying around when you cut your pieces, you can saw a second line about 0.25” outside the first line, and make your cut in between those two sewn lines (Closer to the outer line). I used a tighter than normal straight stitch.

From the same CDT fabric I cut some fabric to make some “bias tape”. I say bias tape in quotation marks as I didn’t really cut the trips on the bias, but just along the edges so I would not use as much fabric. Cutting the strips on a bias would make the edges / seams smoother, but my main objective was just to use this “tape” to conceal the raw edges of the panels.

Then I assembled the beanie by putting together the edges of the panels and encasing the raw edges with the “Bias Tape”. I sew by hand a basting stitch to keep it all together, but I assume you could also use pins. Then run the whole assemble thru the sewing machine, again I used a tight straight stitch.

And since this was for kids, I sew some appliques I found at Joann’s Fabrics to make the beanies more appealing to the kids. Overall this was a very simple project.

Very cool, thank you.  I was considering a similar project with the Costco down throw but for a very minimal pullover vest.  I’ve now found two in thrift stores for only $5 each.

Thank you Wisner.  I think a vest would be another easy / good project for the CDT.  I do enjoy working on these kind of projects and that is the main reason I do it.  Anybody interested on the functionality only of these items is probably better off buying them from a regular store. (Unless their sizing is hard to find).   I read somewhere that the CDT does not “breath” so well.  I have used them for their intended purpose (i.e as a Throw) and I found them OK, but again I’ve seen some so-so comments when used for backpacking summer quilts.   It would be interesting to see how it would work when used to make wearable items (i.e beanies, vests, etc).   Cheers.

Nice! – appliques, using down throw, your design,…

About a year ago I made a down skirt, leggings, and mitts from one of the Costco throws – plus the scraps fit together to make this (but that’s not me in the picture, lest anyone think Erik wears skirts and leggings):

Be seeing that hat again soon Deb.

Cool project.  Thanks.