PLEASE HELP: How do i, fashion student create a really huge brimed felt hat ?
Hello everyone,
i am a student from Germany and study fashion design. For one of my current courses, i want to create a look including a felt hat, inspired by the illustration u can see below. The small Problem is i have none and my Professor only limited Knowledge of hatmaking, luckily my University has quite a lot of equipment for it.
Now to the question or rather problem, how do i get a really huge and oversized felt brim stiff enough ?
Would be a normal stiffner like shellack or something simmiliar enough that it wont "flop" down? I as well had the idea to include, maybe small hidden wooden or metal rods in the brim is that an option or another idea to hold the brim up ? Or should i maybe choose an entirely differnent material, since felt can be quite heavy ? I really have no idea what i can do so any tipp is welcome :)
Thank you very much for any answers or tipps i really look Forward hearing from even just one of u.
Sincerly your overwhelmed
Jacob
Tags: brim, fashion, felt, hat, ideas, stiffner, student, tipps
Views: 312
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sharon Panozzo -
First, this is a drawing that is exaggerated so getting those proportions would be very difficult and almost impossible to wear. The only thing I can suggest it to make a wire frame for the felt to sit on and then sew it down. Good luck.
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Permalink Reply by Jacob
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Yes that’s right It’s quite extreme drawing. To be more precisely Im kinda looking for flat top fedora with a brim that is at least 20cm wide (8 in) maybe even wider. Would u still suggest a wire frame for that as well.
And thank u very much for the answer
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Permalink Reply by Sharon Panozzo
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Oh, I though you wanted a 29" or more brim! You should have no problem with making a felt brim 8" in size. Sombreros are that size and I have made cowboy hats with that size brim. You just need to have the right felt. You need a very heavy felt made for men's hats. It is much thicker than regular felt. Some of the vintage felts (which is what I use) are thick and can be used for this. You will also need to size it quite heavily (layer at a time) but the thicker, better felts can handle it just fine. I You might want to contact a Hatter or men's hat maker and see if you can get a felt cart or cartwheel from them. You might refer to it as something different. It is like a cone but has a already has a wide flared brim. I have included a photo. If you look closely you can see the felt is much thicker. This brim is already 6 inches and has not yet been blocked. Hope this helps.
