How to Crochet Ribbing on Hats Easily – Bottom Up Hat Tutorial

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This crochet tutorial will teach you how to crochet ribbing on hats easily and quickly using this photo and video tutorial specific for bottom-up beanies.

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Has this ever happened to you:
Person 1: Hi! Look what I made for you!
Person 2: A hat! Just what I’ve always wanted!
Person 1: Yay! Try it on! How does it feel?
Person 2: Well, it’s okay…a little snug. Ugh!
Person 1: What happened? What’s wrong?
Person 2: I can’t get it off! It’s stuck!
Or this:
Person 1: Here’s a new hat I made for you.
Person 2: Um…thanks?
Person 1: Don’t worry. This time I made sure it’s plenty loose.
Person 2: Okay…if you say so.
Person 1: How does it fit?
Person 2: It’s so loose! I can’t see anything! Where did everybody go?

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering how to size the ribbing on your hat to ensure it is not too loose or too snug and continues to fit just right through many years of use, this is the tutorial for you! Please continue down to find both photos and videos which guide you through the process.

After getting so many messages about how to crochet the perfect ribbing on hats for bottom-up beanies, I felt like I needed to create a tutorial to make it easier for everyone. Crocheting bottom-up hats can be frustrating for some crocheters as the ribbing will stretch out quickly and so most do not know how to compensate for that.

Don’t worry, I am here to help. I will provide you with the way I crochet all my bottom up hats and how I crochet the ribbing on hats for any head size I am making the hats for.

But there is one very important reference table I need to show you that is extremely crucial to making the correct size of ribbing.

This reference table will provide you with one specific, but estimated, measurement you will need for ribbing on hats. And that is the head circumference. I shared this table in my Perfect Hat and Beanie Tutorial where you can learn to crochet any hat you wish.

When you crochet ribbing for hats, you will need to make sure that you pin your “slightly” stretched ribbing, when it is not a circle yet, so you can measure it out. I go into a lot of detail about this in the video below. But stretching it first, will allow you to get a more accurate measurement for the ribbing. Please remember, that ribbing always stretches out when you wear the hat for awhile.

A great way to prevent too much stretching of the ribbing is to make it folded over. In that case you would crochet the ribbing taller (about double than a non-folded ribbing), because double the layer of ribbing stretches less.

I prefer to crochet a non-folded ribbing with a stitch count of 7 – 12 (add 1 when making a chain). And for folded over ribbed brims I double that number of stitches so they have the same height of ribbing when you wear the hat. For example, below you can see some of my free crochet pattern hats – some with folded over ribbing and some with normal ones.

1. Suzette Hat – folded over brim hat
2. Sunset Hat – non-folded brim hat
3. Apache Tears Hat – non-folded brim hat
4. Peek-A-Boo Hat – folded over brim hat

So, any time you want to crochet a bottom up hat you will need to decide whether to crochet a folded ribbing or not. You can also crochet a top down beanie and add a perfect ribbing to it that looks just like a bottom up hat ribbing.

The Most Important Part of all: Crochet Ribbing on Hats Tutorial

So first, make a chain according to your preferred length or according to the pattern. In my example below, I chained 9. Then crochet 1 single crochet in each chain starting from the 2nd chain from the hook. Turn your work. Do not make a chain (read more why you shouldn’t do it HERE). Now, start crocheting 1 single crochet in the back loop only in each st (8 stitches in my example).

After you’ve made a few rows, it should look like the picture below. Keep crocheting the same pattern until you reach the length of a rectangle (equivalent to the size of the head circumference) you need according to the head size you make the hat for. Please remember to pin it down slightly stretch, as mentioned above, so you get the correct measurement.

You might have to add or remove a few rows once you made your measurement. Crochet the ribbing snug to the head, but not that it would hurt the person wearing it. You also don’t want it to be too loose. Remember that tension and gauge play a huge role when it comes to the amount of rows you need to crochet. The yarn type is also part of this equation.

Once you reach the correct length, fold the rectangle in half and now slip stitch the first and last row together. After that, flip the ribbed hatband inside out, such that the slip stitched edge is on the inside of the hat.

You will now crochet the single crochet row around the edge of the ribbed brim. Again the number of single crochet stitches depend on the pattern you are making or the stitch pattern you want to use and its corresponding stitch multiple. If you watch the video below, you will see how I evenly spread the single crochet stitches around the edge, as well as how I prevent the gaps from being shown when you make the single crochets into the ripped rows.

Sometimes, you will need to add more than 1 single crochet per crocheted row, but sometimes you also need to skip one row. For worsted weighted yarn, I usually crochet about 5-10 single crochet stitches less than rows I made for the ribbing, because I know that the ribbing will stretch out and crocheting less stitches around the edge will keep the hat from being stretched out so much that one can’t wear it anymore.

So it keeps the hat more sturdy, just like fold over ribbed brims do. But remember that some yarn weights might now allow you to crochet less stitches than rows, especially heavier weighted yarn.

It really is a trial and error on the crocheter. Everyone’s tension is different. They use different yarn weights and different patterns. You will need to test it out and see what works for your hand and yarn. Then keep track of it, such that you can use that information whenever you use someone’s pattern. You can make adjustments easily and you will then always have the perfect ribbing on hats.

If you had any trouble with the above photo tutorial, I highly recommend for you to check out my below video tutorial to learn how to make ribbing on hats. It is very detailed and shows every step.

The Break-Through Moment: Video Tutorial to Crochet Ribbing on Hats

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