How to Make a Wire Top Hat
Top hats remain an iconic fashion accessory, signifying class, elegance and fortune. Craft your own top hats for a variety of occasions including for school play or dance recital costumes, to wear to a New Year's Eve celebration or to hand out as party favors. Make attractive, durable top hats inexpensively out of wire and black cotton fabric. Join the seams of a top hat together with fabric glue and eliminate the need for sewing. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Tape measure
- 12-gauge wire
- Wire cutters
- Black cotton fabric
- Scissors
- Rotary circle cutter
- Fabric glue
- Black ribbon
Instructions
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1
Measure the circumference of the head using a sewer's tape measure. Cut two pieces of 12-gauge wire, each measuring 1 inch longer than the head’s circumference, using wire cutters. Bend the wire pieces to form them into circles. Twist together the final 1/2 inches of each end to connect the circle.
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2
Cut a piece of wire to line the edge of the hat brim. Make the wire 9 inches longer than the diameter of the head. Twist together the ends to create a circle.
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3
Cut six 5-inch long pieces of wire. Create the wire frame for the brim. Set one of the smaller round circles in the center of the brim circle. Connect the two by coiling the 1/2-inch end of each 5-inch long straight piece to the smaller circle circle then coiling the other 1/2-inch end to the larger circle. Space the straight pieces equally apart.
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4
Cut four 7-inch long pieces of wire. Complete the wire frame for the hat body by coiling the 1/2-inch ends of the four straight pieces of wire to one circle then coiling the opposite 1/2-inch ends to the other circle. Space the straight wire pieces equally apart.
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5
Cut out a round piece of fabric for the top of the top hat that has a 2-inch larger diameter than the circumference of the head using scissors. Place the axis point of a rotary circle cutter on a piece of fabric and set the wheeled blade of the cutter to the correct measurement. Rotate the blade around, holding the axis point in place, to cut out the circle.
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6
Cut a rectangular piece of fabric for the body of the top hat. Cut the fabric to have a length measuring 2 inches longer than the circumference of the head and to have a width of 10 inches. Measure the dimensions with the tape measure and cut out the rectangle with scissors.
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7
Cut two donut-shaped pieces of fabric for the brim of the hat, using the rotary circle cutter in the same manner as the top circle was cut. Make the interior hole with a circumference that matches the circumference of the head. Cut the exterior diameter to measure 4 inches larger than the brim diameter.
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8
Stack the donut shaped pieces together with the wire brim frame sandwiched in between. Extrude a bead of glue around the top edge of the upper donut piece. Fold in the top edge and the bottom edge, pressing them together to secure the glued seam and to hold the wire frame tightly inside.
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9
Glue together the rectangular hat body piece and the round top piece to create the entire hat body. Form the rectangular piece into a cylinder and glue together the ends with a 1-inch overlap. Connect the cylinder and the round top piece by pinching in and gluing the seam with a 1-inch seam joint.
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10
Cut 1-inch deep slits spaced 1 inch apart all around the bottom edge of the cylinder. Glue the flaps to the underside of the hat brim to connect the brim and the hat body.
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11
Insert the wire hat body frame into the fabric hat body, giving the hat its structure and form.
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12
Cut a long strip of fabric measuring 2 inches wide and just longer than the circumference of the head to cover the wire inside the house and keep it from rubbing against the head while wearing the hat.
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13
Glue the long strip over the wire that goes around the head. The glued strip protects the head and keeps the wire hat body frame in place.
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14
Tie black ribbon around the base of the hat, just above the brim.
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References
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