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: 274

Attachments:

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

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.

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 

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. 

FOLLOW US

Hat Headlines: Newsletter

   © 2024   About | Contact | Help | Privacy | Terms   Powered by

   |     |  Privacy Policy  |  Terms of Service