How to Make a Stovepipe Hat
When you think of Abraham Lincoln, you most likely think of his stovepipe hat, beard, black tailored trousers and long frock. This look was typical for gentlemen of the late Victorian era. Using some felt and shirt cardboard, you can make your own version of the 16th President's signature hat.
- Difficulty:
- Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- 3 9-by12-inch sheets of black felt
- 3 8 1/2-by-11-inch sheets of shirt cardboard
- 1 paper plate, 8-inch diameter
- 1 paper plate,10-inch diameter
- Scissors
- Hot melt glue gun
- Clear hot melt glue sticks
- Wallpaper sizing
- Water
- Painter's tray
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1
Place an 8-inch-diameter paper plate on a sheet of shirt cardboard. Trace around the plate with a pen and then cut the circle out of the shirt cardboard with scissors. Using this shirt cardboard circle as a template, cut an 8-inch-diameter circle from a felt sheet.
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2
Place a 10-inch-diameter paper plate on a sheet of felt. Using the paper plate as a template, cut a 10-inch-diameter circle of black felt.
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3
Mix the wallpaper sizing with water in a painter's tray to make a thin mixture. Soak the two felt circles and an uncut felt sheet in the wall sizing.
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4
Roll a sheet of shirt cardboard into a tube with an 8-inch diameter. Secure the edges of the tube with hot melt glue and let the glue set. Use the 8-inch circle of shirt cardboard that you used as your felt template as the top of your hat by gluing it to an end of the cardboard tube.
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5
Squeeze excess wall sizing from each piece of felt. Spread the 8-inch piece of felt on top of the cardboard hat mold. Spread the uncut felt sheet around the circumference of the cardboard tube portion of your hat mold. Allow to dry.
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6
Glue the 10-inch circle of black felt to the 10-inch circle of shirt cardboard.to make the hat's brim. After the glue has dried, attach the felted cardboard brim to the bottom of the cardboard "hat" mold you are making. Pipe clear hot melt glue around the brim to secure. Wearing rubber finger protectors or rubber gloves to protect your hands, spread the glue carefully.
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7
Trim the inside of the hat to fit your head. Cut a small hole with scissors first, then gradually trim the material on the inside of the cardboard tube until the hat fits your head securely.
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1
Tips & Warnings
To make a waterproof version of this hat, paint it with clear acrylic.
Be careful to use good ventilation if you paint your hat with clear acrylic. If you can smell fumes, you do not have adequate ventilation.
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References
- Photo Credit Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
Comments
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cracklegator
Mar 02, 2009
For those of us with few skills, it would be nice to have some critical coaching in how to accomplish some of the tasks requiring extreme manual dexterity. For instance, how does one simply glue an 8-inch diameter tube together? I found the task to be daunting, and had to invent a press to hold the two sections together as the glue dried. Surely not everyone can take the time and resources to do this. What is your secret for gluing the tube seam together flawlessly? -
cracklegator
Mar 02, 2009
A major problem is that nowhere does it tell how high the hat should be. The instructions say to "Roll a sheet of shirt cardboard into a tube with an 8" diameter," but it doesn't give the other dimension of this rectangle of shirt cardboard.
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Jane Smith
Feb 07, 2009
I'd love to see a photo of the hat when you complete it, cracklegator. :)
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Jane Smith
Feb 07, 2009
Thank you for reading and attempting this project. It is always good to have feedback. It is amazing the difference another's point of view makes in clarity of directions. I corrected the diameter versus circumference issue you noted. I also clarified a few things in the directions. The third sheet of black felt listed in the "things you need" section is the "stovepipe" portion of the hat. The first two were cut into an eight inch and ten inch circle. The eight inch circle of shirt cardboard is the top of the hat, and the ten inch circle is the brim. The rectangle of felt is the third sheet of felt listed in the directions. You do not need to cut a rectangle as the felt sheet already is one. Sorry for not making that specific. The "felted brim cardboard" is the larger of the two felted circles. A brim is usually larger in diameter than the crown of the hat. Hope this helps. I'd love to s
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cracklegator
Feb 07, 2009
Some of the directions for making this hat are obscure at best. Step Four, "Spread the felt rectangle around the diameter of the cardboard tube portion of hat mold" is virtually impossible to do. The diameter is simply a measurement of the thickness of the tube. Nothing can be spread around a diameter. Does the author mean "around the circumference"? That would work. Also in Step Four, there is no "rectangle" of felt mentioned anywhere. What rectangle is the author talking about? We are instructed to cut out two circles—those are the only shapes mentioned. I'm wondering in which step I was supposed to cut a rectangle? In Step Five we are instructed to attach "felted brim cardboard" but nowhere in the previous discussion is the term brim made. What piece is the brim? All I have are pieces of materials I've cut into shapes, but I don't know which is a brim that has been felted. Last, fo
