How
to make a Great Character Hat
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Now
that you've seen our great hats we're
sure you'll want your own Custom Hat -
so what are you going to do with your
old one? It'd be a pity to relegate it
to discard. Our solution is to rotate
it out and make a great Character Hat.
First you want to make sure it's at least
a 5X fur-felt - or know for certain it's
weatherproof - because if it isn't - you'll
end up with a blob that used to be a hat.
The
Hat to the bottom left is our re-worked
character hat, fashioned from the Dirty
Champie (left) by following the suggestions
of Tom Mix - the first true movie star
and one time performer in Buffalo Bill's
Wild West Show.
Years
ago I read a story about how Tom Mix used
to crease and work all his custom hats
himself in the shower. So I decided to
take his advice and am more than pleased
with the results. The amount of time it
takes is up to you. I had the Ellsworth
fashioned in less than 5 minutes - then
a further half hour fine tuning the look.
The steps I went through are pretty simple.
- Find
a picture of how you want the hat to
look and print it. Make sure your hat
lends itself to the picture of your
character hat. You'll never make an
old Boss of the Plains design look like
an upcurled cavalry trooper. Study the
picture and make sure you know how you
want the creases and brim shape to look.
- Make
sure the hat you're doing this on is
weatherproof BEFORE you start.
- Take
off the hat tband - it's only held on
by a little glue or a stitch or two.
Or if it's too tough or just a satin
cloth with bow - leave it on.
- Start
your shower - put the hat close at hand,
but not in the shower.
-
Grab your hat and away from the water
put your hat on. This is done so the
inside lining stays as dry as possible.
Step under the shower head and let the
warm water completely soak the crown
and brim - when water starts to soak
thru the underside - it's wet enough.
- At
this point all I did was step to the
back of the shower and work the hat
with my hands. This is what I did.
Crown:
Widened and shortened the centre crease,
and made the pinch deeper on the sides.
Put a deep pinch on the back of the crown.
Brim:
Curled the front and upturned the rest
of the brim slightly.
When
I was satisfied with my handy work I tossed
the soaked hat on the sink and finished
my shower. After getting out I fiddled
with the look and left it to dry in the
garage. Twenty-four hours later it was
dry and ready to wear!
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