Making Felt Hats (with tutorial) - INDY hat added

[Itchybitz]

I've recently been learning to make hats out of felt using a tutorial by Tony Barton I found at the OSW,Tutorial : Making felt hats .
My first two were pretty pathetic but the third wasn't too bad and the fourth a little better still:

HAT No. 1

HAT No. 2

HAT No. 3

HAT No. 4

HAT No. 5

HAT No. 6

 

[Itchybitz]

Re: Making Felt Hats

I started by making a block for forming the hats out of Fimo, the first one was all wrong as I hadn't tapered it and it was a bit too big.

It took a lot of trial and error to end up with a passable one sixth hat and I put my own ideas into Tony's excellent tutorial.

For my fifth hat I decide to photograph the process so I might pass on the little I've learnt.

Now I don't profess to be any kind of an expert but for what it's worth here's my attempt at a tutorial...

First boil your felt in water and let it cool until you can handle it.

Now place over the block and , placing one hand firmly on top pull down hard on the edges but try not to rip it. It will help if you do it on the edge of a table. (That's what she said!)

 

[Itchybitz]

Re: Making Felt Hats

Now you can push the tube on to it. Then hold on to it pressing down while holding it and pull the edges outwards until it will lay flat without wrinkles.

Then give it a good Iron and it should look something like this.

At this point I like to flip it over and spray the underside of the brim with extra hold hairspray. This helps to keep the hat's size.

Then when it's dry enough (leave it a good few hours) pull off the tube.

Now you'll need something to draw out the shape of the brim. This will, of course, vary depending on the style of hat.

I've found the best way to cut this is with a knife but then again you may be way better with scissors than I am.

Now you can remove the hat from the block for shaping. I'll start with the brim which is already quite firm and push up the sides or, in this case, snap it down at the front. Then I gently push in the top of the crown with my finger and pinch the front between thumb and forefinger. At this point it's a good idea to put it on a head, get it just right and give it a damn good spray with the hairspray.

Once it's set, very carefully, run a ligter over the hat (it doesn't take much) to get rid of the fuzzies and...

Voila!

Questions are welcome

 

[**16k**]

Re: Making Felt Hats

Man, that's an awesome tutorial!!!!

Thanks for that!!!

 

[Aneses]

Re: Making Felt Hats

Thanks for sharing!! Amazing tutorial!!

 

[Mr. EcKo]

Re: Making Felt Hats

Thanks for sharing man Awesome tutorial , they look great , Matt Damon and Jason Statham = Gangsta

 

[Itchybitz]

Re: Making Felt Hats

Man, that's an awesome tutorial!!!!

Thanks for that!!!

Glad you liked it and you're welcome

Thanks for sharing!! Amazing tutorial!!

Any time

Thanks for sharing man Awesome tutorial , they look great , Matt Damon and Jason Statham = Gangsta

You're very welcome
Btw, it's Marky Mark not Damon, though they are kinda interchangeable

 

[Itchybitz]

Re: Making Felt Hats (with tutorial)

Indy hat on the way

 

[Cheungkinmen]

Re: Making Felt Hats (with tutorial)

Thanks for sharing man, looks like a fun project.

 

[Itchybitz]

Re: Making Felt Hats (with tutorial)

Thanks for sharing man, looks like a fun project.

It really is

 

[Itchybitz]

Re: Making Felt Hats (with tutorial)

Here's my first shot at Indy's famous fedora, I know it's not very good but that's why I'm posting these pics. I'm hoping that the insight of my fellow members will help me along the road to getting it just right.

Is the brim wide enough?
It's all too easy to go too far either way and both can look equally as off.
Is the crown tall enough?
I'm very unsure on this one.
Is the hat band too dark?
Looking at reference pictures it seems to come in a vast variety of shades, it's quite frustrating. I've gone with black for now because, well, that's the ribbon I have.

All comments, criticism and suggestions are more than welcome


BTW, I apologise for Indy's far less than screen accurate costume, it's made up of mostly GI Joe bits that I threw together some ten or more years ago. - I really must get one of Steveo's belt sets and a decent whip, not to mention a better jacket.

 

[Itchybitz]

Quick update; I managed to find a some narrower (though only by one millimeter) ribbon. It's a different colour, obviously, but I think it looks way better.
I also tried tying a bow this time instead of gluing it, I'm not too displeased with the result.

I didn't realise just how much it still needs cleaning up though until I saw the full screen images of these outdoor pics.

 

[Itchybitz]

 

[Itchybitz]

 

[Itchybitz]

 

[Itchybitz]

I think I'm going to try another Indy hat today, any more pointers before I start, size, color, etc?

 

[Itchybitz]

 

[Itchybitz]