Leather Top Hats

[Handstitched]

G'Day ,

What is the best leather leather for making leather top hats? I'm not into ' steampunk' .  I thought about  nat  veg tan  ?   , so I can add my own colours etc.  What about the  overall weight, especially on the head  ?  Binding the edge of the brim ?   Any advice will be helpful. 

I've never done leather  hats, but after seeing a few  rad leather top hat designs , I soooo have to do one    Theres no market for them here ,  I just want to make one for the love of working with leather, and the experience ....if I have time . 

Thanks , HS  

[bikermutt07]

I don't have any advice on making one. But, Springfield Leather has patterns for them. I think they have 4 to choose from or all 4 for $28.99.

I'm sure they come with suggestions, or you could call them and ask directly.

[kiwican]

Grey Drakkon made a pretty neat top hat. Hopefully she will see this post and add her knowledge! 

[Handstitched]

G'Day, and thank you so much for your input. I have a few ideas buzzing around in my head  already . 

Thank you,

HS 

[kiwican]

Thinking about this more. Pretty sure I have a pattern for this..I'll double check and get back to you

[Northmount]

Do a google search  "site:leatherworker.net leather hat"  without the quotes.  You will find lots of posts.  You can modify the search parameters to narrow down what you really want to see (could add "pattern" to the search to limit it to include only posts with patterns).  "site:leatherworker.net" restricts the search to this site.  I've copied a few hat patterns from here, but have yet to try making one.

Tom

[dirkba]

On 3/16/2018 at 1:00 PM, Handstitched said:

G'Day ,

What is the best leather leather for making leather top hats? I'm not into ' steampunk' .  I thought about  nat  veg tan  ?   , so I can add my own colours etc.  What about the  overall weight, especially on the head  ?  Binding the edge of the brim ?   Any advice will be helpful. 

I've never done leather  hats, but after seeing a few  rad leather top hat designs , I soooo have to do one    Theres no market for them here ,  I just want to make one for the love of working with leather, and the experience ....if I have time . 

Thanks , HS  

I have never tried making a top hat since I have no use or market for such a hat.

As for the "best leather to use for a top hat" I think the shape requires a stiff type of leather like veg tan, but that could be very heavy to wear.

I made a Greek hat from upholstery leather, which was a disaster and difficult to work with, the weight makes it uncomfortable to wear.

My second attempt was done with "napa" leather and using a stiffener for support. It is much lighter and wears comfortably.

If you are only going to make a top hat for the experience you could look at this thread

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Leather-Hat/

Enjoy the experience!
 

[Handstitched]

G'Day, Your hat looks great !! 

I had a quick look at the link, looks quite good also, but I'll have a serious read a bit later. The brown one pictured is close to what I'm looking at, but just a bit taller . I also found a cutting pattern for a leather  ' cowboy style ' hat  in one of my old pattern books from the 70's , so I am thinking of utilising parts of the pattern from that. Theres 3 different sizes too. I do have one in my workshop  all made up that....someone... gave me, but its so stiff its like wearing a  metal saucepan  on my head  

Thanks for that. 

HS

[Northmount]

Here is a Facebook post you might like.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/elktracks/permalink/2048162658805107/

Tom

[Rockoboy]

On ‎27‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 10:15 PM, Handstitched said:

its so stiff its like wearing a  metal saucepan  on my head  

Can you loosen up the leather by applying some neatsfoot oil, to give the leather a little bit of flexibility?

I have no experience with NFO, but I think I read somewhere that it can assist with improving the flexibility of hard leather.

[wheeldawg]

I am in the process of making this hat, I call it my Frankencow hat LOL, from just some leather scraps of a variety of leathers. I just punched holes and hand stitched using 1mm round leather lace. I know if looks rough, but was not going for anything fancy, I just wanted something different to wear. Still not finished, but just thought I'd share.

[kiwican]

Ha frankincow hat. Sounds like something from the Farside

[Windrider30]

three to four oz leather works great for tophats not to hard to work with and with it being veg tanned its stiff enough to hold up and easy to lace as well as dye what ever colour you want!

[Handstitched]

This project is getting closer. Had a good look on Mr Google, and Mrs Youtube . I may end up doing two . One to ' practice' and the other as a project.

I would have made one made by now  if it wasn't for the ' interruptions'  I've had these past few months or more . 

Love the " Frankencow" hat   What a great way to use up scraps   

HS 

[Handstitched]

I started doing a hat  pattern last week, I wasn't happy  with how it looked ,so I screwed it up,  and,  (with an expletive )  I  threw it in the bin . I did another pattern.... " ditto" .... 

I'll get there eventually  

HS 

[Handstitched]

I started this  thread back in March this year, I have just only completed a pattern . 

I've had so many interruptions.....sheesh!!!  

Its a ' work in progress'       <<<  this mad banana can dance better than I ever will  

HS