How to Make Felt Hats for Women
Felt fibers are a base fiber used to create sheets of felt available in many craft stores. They're also used for many kinds of crafts, among them millinery. Millinery, or hat making, is a surprisingly easy craft. With just a few hours of work and items around the house, you can combine millinery and felting to create beautiful and professional-looking felt hats.
Things You'll Need
- Pantyhose
- Two colors of loose pieces of wool (available from specialty yarn stores), torn into 4-inch-long by 2-inch-wide pieces
- Rubber ball
- Water
- Garage or workspace that can get wet
- Dishwashing liquid soap
- Plastic mannequin head or hatblock
Instructions
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1
Cut the legs off your pantyhose and discard the top part. Keep the legs.
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2
Lay the strips of the first colored wool around the ball to make the lining of your hat's crown. Lay enough pieces of wool to cover the ball without any gaps.
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3
Lay down your second color of wool around the ball until no part of the lining color is visible. Try to lay more than you normally would to ensure the lining layer doesn't peek out. You can also make everything one solid color if you wish, but make sure to layer the pieces of wool on the ball generously and evenly.
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4
Cover your ball with the pantyhose, with a friend holding the ball in place. Do this from the opposite direction as well using the other pantyhose leg.
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5
Mix dishwashing liquid soap with hot water. Pour the solution on your ball.
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6
Dribble and roll the ball for about 5 to 10 minutes, until no more water comes out.
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7
Pull the pantyhose off the ball. Once you're sure the edges are dry, carefully peel the felt off the ball. If the hat is still not dry, replace the pantyhose on the ball and continue dribbling it for a few more minutes.
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8
Cut off the hat's uneven edge. What you should have now is the basic felt hat form, which will need to be adjusted to create a hat of your liking and head size.
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9
Place the hat on a plastic head similar to your head size and run your hands over the felt, pounding it to the form of the plastic head. Continue to squeeze out any moisture.
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10
Shape your hat to your liking. If making a cloche, or 1920's flapper hat, roll back the edges of the hat and work the rest of the hat to fit closely to the plastic head form.
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11
Fold the edge of the hat and begin pulling it out slowly, if you wish to make a hat with a brim. Flatten the brim with your hands and continue pulling it until the desired width (see Resources).
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Tips & Warnings
If you wish to add a pattern to your felt hat, you can add strips of wool or yarn to the top layer to create a design on your hat. You can also sew other pieces of felt sheets available at craft stores onto your hat to create designs.
