A Hat is Merely a Crown That Lets No Rain in

Far from being a talented tailor, I had the idea to make a hat by myself. Also because they are quite expensive if you want a good one. All you need is about 10 Euros, an old sweat-shirt and some patience. There are many ways how to make a hat. This is how I did it.

1. On this pic you can see what I will use. Basically you need scissors, needle and thread, thicker paper and a tape. Not on the picture are an old sweat shirt (or any kind of fabric) and a ribbon for the finishing.

2. I cut out two oval shapes for the basis of the hat. The measurements I take from an existing hat.

3. After that I cut out the inner part of the oval after the size of my head. The inner part I will keep for later use. The long sheet of paper will be the main part of the hat. The paper I bought is not thick enough, so I take everything double.

4. For a top hat I would have needed twice the height. I cut out the shape as can be seen above.

5. Then I put all the parts together and try it on, to see if everything fits properly. The cut-out part from before I glue on top.

6. Of course I would like to wear this hat also when it is raining or snowing. Therefore – and also to make it more stable – I put tape around everything. For the uneven parts I use an iron to flatten it.

7. Now the sewing part begins. The main part of the hat gets a “cap”.

8. I glue the fabric on the hat’s basis and sew the two parts together. After that I combine the basis and the main part with needle and thread.

9. To make the top part and the outer part nicer I glue the ribbon on the hat with the glue gun. This takes quite some patience. With an iron I flatten the ribbon.

10. Voilà – here we go! Now try it yourself and tell me how it was.