How to Make a Waitress Hat

Often, the most trending Halloween costume ideas are retro in nature, bringing back a sense of nostalgia for the good old days. From soda jerk to waitress, waiter and restaurant chef, you can create a whole host of costumes by looking at the food service industry alone. So a restaurant kitchen, checkout line, or coffee shop are perfect opportunities to score a cosplay or costume idea before your next event or Halloween party.

This tutorial will show you how to make a cap hat for a waitress uniform costume that looks both retro and glam.

Taking orders, walking back and forth from the restaurant kitchen, and serving customers are all a big part of a typical day working as a waitress. Just like an old-time chef is still known to this day for their chef hat, an old-school waitress is still known nowadays for the cap hat as part of their waitress uniform. This trendy Halloween costume idea is unlike any other, so grab your supplies, and let's get started.

Take a piece of colored felt, 9 x12 inches in size, and fold it into thirds. You'll want to make sure to do this the long way so that the folded felt now measures 3 x 12 inches.

Run a bead of hot glue along the inside of each felt fold and press the folds together until the glue sets.

Turn the folded felt horizontally so that the folded edges are now on the top and bottom.

Run another bead of glue along the bottom edge of the felt, put the lace trim in place, and press firmly until the glue sets.

Fold the top left corner down to meet the bottom of the hat, forming a triangular fold on the top left side. Turn down the top right corner to make an identical triangular fold on the top right side. Run a bead of hot glue along the edges of the folds, press them together, and wait until the glue sets.

Put the waitress hat in place on top of the head and secure it using bobby pins.

If you prefer, you can hot glue the waitress hat directly onto a headband instead of bobby-pinning it to your hair.