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Costume Design & Construction

Craft Felt Sculpture Hats 5D+10C

In addition to making normal hats with craft felt, craft felt can be used to make unusual sculptural hats, such as those shown here.  Craft felt, when soaked in glue can hold large complex shapes that are very strong: 

Only the central banana in the hat below is made with foam airball, all the leaves, peel, cap and coconuts are just glue and felt:

Felt and glue also makes a good basis for designs using paint to make strong graphic statements: 

The Costume Book: The Non-Professional's Guide to Professional Results

Complete Book of Sewing

The Costume Designer's Handbook : A Complete Guide for Amateur and Professional Costume Designers

The Costume Technician's Handbook : A Complete Guide for Amateur and Professional Costume Technicians

Ali Baba Studios Costuming Secrets Unveiled: Creating Basic Bra & Belt Sets VHS

Stage Costume Step-By-Step : The Complete Guide to Designing and Making Stage Costumes for All Major Drama Periods and Genres

Bodymapping : The Step-By-Step Guide to Fitting Real Bodies

Costuming Made Easy : How to Make Theatrical Costumes from Cast-Off Clothing, Rogers.  Every possible tip one can use to quickly and cheaply turn thrift store clothes into the costumes needed to produce high school and community theatre musicals and plays.  No high school drama teacher should be without this book for showing students how to make gorgeous costumes out of little more than air and a few hours time.

 

Instant Period Costume : How to Make Classic Costumes from Cast-Off Clothing See above description.

The Prop Builder's Molding & Casting Handbook

 

The Prop Builder's Mask-Making Handbook

Fit For Real People 

Complete Book of Sewing

How to Make Sewing Patterns

Clean It Fast, Clean It Right : The Ultimate Guide to Making Absolutely Everything You Own Sparkle and Shine

Crafting Handmade Shoes : Great-Looking Shoes, Sandals, Slippers & Boots

Small prongs, petals and other protruding bits are made very strong with just the glue and felt as support.

Felt is extremely soft and pliable when damp, and can be pulled into curves, or tucked into pleats that mimic natural shapes: 

Felt can be cut into small motifs that can be applied to the surface in raised designs using the glue as both fixative and surface glaze: These felt glue-appliquéd designs become part of the body of the hat, while also having a slightly raised surface that makes paint application easier, and the surface texture more interesting to look at.   

Small, otherwise useless scraps of felt can be blended into a complex whole to make waves, feathers or plant life in gradient color.   

This technique can also be used to make armor and other objects:

The Project:

What you need:

• A wooden or foam head or hat form in a size larger than the performer's head.  
• A plastic bag to cover the form
• White glue that dries clear (nontoxic)
• craft paint brush
• plastic container
• water
• Craft felt pieces and scraps
• T-pins or other strong pins
• Newspapers or plastic to cover your workspace
• latex gloves
• 2 large rubber bands
• craft scissors
• paint if desired

Render your hat design on paper to give yourself a plan to work towards.  You may end up changing your plan slightly, but starting without a plan is definitely a mistake.  The instructions below detail how to do a V-Day "Rose" hat like the one shown, but you may choose to design a different style of hat and can extrapolate your own process based on your design crossed with the instructions below. 

Cover your workspace with plastic or newspapers, bag your head form in the plastic bag, and use a rubber band to hold the bag close to the head without a lot of air space.

Cut a circle or square of craft felt to make the base cap of the hat.  Make sure it covers the head fully.

Mix glue and water together in the plastic container about 50-50, and pour and brush the glue into the felt cap, stretching it around the head as you go. Put the second rubber band around the cap, and use it as a guide for stretching the pleats out of the cap.

Pull some more, and add pins to hold it smoothly.

Cut a piece of felt to make the pleated section in the center of the flower, soak it in the glue mixture, and fold it in pleats onto the surface of the cap. Cut, soak and attach the layers of felt that make the petals. 

Pin at strategic points as you go, to hold the layers down for a few minutes each till they have had a chance to stick.  Keep adding layers, in lighter shades of pink, till the cap is totally covered with pleated petals. add glue and pins as you go.     Let dry till it is semi-soft, but still holds together.  If it dries too long, it will take pliers to get your pins out: 

Force the hat off of the head (difficult). Then use craft shears to cut off the excess felt from the bottom of the cap piece:   Allow to dry completely before painting or adding any decorations.   

When it is finished, photograph the hat and sketch as jpeg files and post them to your File folder at the class eGroup.  Post a message to the group letting everyone know you have posted these pictures so you can get feedback.  

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