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.
Beautiful creation – it’s not possible to tell you made it yourself! The ironing seems to be a crucial part here to achieve the smooth outcome. Hey People, be careful with that step, don’t melt your tape to your iron! A sheet of baking paper might come in handy 🙂
I’d love to find some notes on measurements here. I do love a good DIY, but without any reference (I’m sure there’s a bunch of people, who don’t own a well-fitting hat to take the measurements off) it often gets quite complex to get it right. Also, I bet a lot of people aren’t able to design a good oval from scratch. Remember the maths lessons you skipped? Now you know why you should’ve been there the first hand.