The Start of My Folk Hat

After leaving my other crown on the side I went to work on the design I drew last week - Since I made a little plan of production it was easier to get straight in and get started. 

First off I started to make a wire frame that would hold the shape of the faux fur top half of the hat - which was a pain to do but I thought that using wire would be the best thing for me to use since it isn't too stiff, like cardboard but not too floppy that it wouldn't hold its shape (and since I used the strongest wire in the cuboard I think it will do nicely.)

Getting the correct shape was hard but I think the shape I manages was fairly accurate to the picture I was using for reference. 

After getting the wire frame into its correct shape I focused on the bottom half of the crown. I needed some sort of band that would wrap around the base and make it more comfortable to wear but also be something that I can attach the medallion like decoration that I am planning to go around the hat.

So I measured the circumference of the crown and make a band of fabric in dark brown elasticated fabric and after sewing it together I then had to attach it to the base of the frame. I had ideas to use a glue gun but then I thought if might ruin the fabric and make it uncomfortable to wear so I hand sewed it on which caused one or two swear words to come out my mouth.

I now need to get a rough idea of where I would be putting my gold embroidery pieces on the hat - so to get an idea about how it would look so I cut out the shapes out of grey board. In the original design the shape is more of an almond shape but I thought that it wouldn't fit nicely on the hat, so as a compromise on the shape I cut out teardrop shapes and arranged them in the way I had planned. Even though the shapes were a bit big I got the general gist of the look - but I think the final decorations on this piece should be more circular. 

My next step is to start planning the decoration to go on the hat, I'll have to look at symbols and patterns in Tibetan folk culture so see what kind of decoration I can use on this hat.