A tricorn hat is a tribute to the colonial days, and making tricorn hats from scratch is an appropriate and stimulating activity for kids to teach them about the types of clothing that people wore during colonial times. Choose felt as your material of choice to make the tricorn hat, since felt is an easy to use fabric that can be glued or sewn together for assembly. Besides, felt was one of the materials used to make real tricorn hats.
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Things You'll Need
Ruler
3-Inch Wide Sentence Strip
Scissors
Fabric Stiffener
Craft Glue
Marker
Step 1
Wrap a piece of sentence strip around the head of the person who will wear the hat. Sentence strip, which can be purchased at a fabric store, makes an effective band for the hat, which must match the circumference of the hat wearer's head. However, if you are just making a model of the tricorn hat -- without intention of it being worn -- you can simply come up with a dimension for the sentence strip without measuring it.
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Step 2
Cut the sentence strip at the appropriate length. Apply craft glue to both ends of the strip and glue them together so that the band forms a circle.
Step 3
Place the circular strip on top of the felt fabric. Trace around the strip with marker. Cut the circle out of the felt. Spray the felt circle with two coats of fabric stiffener so that the material becomes stiffer and easier to mold.
Step 4
Apply glue to the outer circumference of the felt circle. Fold the edges of the hat into the sentence strip so that the glue affixes to the sentence strip. This creates the tricorn hat's bowl that covers the head.
Step 5
Make the brim of the hat with a fresh piece of felt. Set the hat bowl on top of the felt and trace around it. Remove the hat bowl and cut out the inner circle that you just drew.
Step 6
Line up the end of a ruler to the open hole in the felt fabric. Measure 8 inches out and mark the spot with a marker. Cut a second circle in the felt fabric that is 8 inches away from the round hole in the center. This creates the hat's brim. Spray the brim with two coats of fabric stiffener.
Step 7
Apply glue to the bottom of the hat bowl and affix it to the hat's inner circular opening. Now you have the shape of a hat.
Step 8
Fold three corners of the hat's brim to the bowl. Keep them in place by gluing the corners up against the bowl. This creates the tricorn hat appearance.