Handstitched Report post Posted March 28, 2019 G'Day, It was around this time last year I inquired on this forum about doing a leather top hat. Time flies eh? Well, I have finally finished one. It took me about, I dunno , 4,5,...6 months to complete as I was doing it in my "spare time" in between orders and making stock. Its my very first top hat, but its also my very first attempt at filigree carving. I didn't want to do the ' Slash ' design thats been done soooo many times before, and I'm not into ' steampunk' . The leather is a 1.5 - 2mm black 'Combat' ( as its called here ) , good for motorcycle bags etc. polishes up nice too. On the hat, I did make mistakes on the stitching that I'll learn from when I make another one. The brim, I used the pattern from a ' ye olde' pattern book from the 60's , and my head size. The vertical seam at the back was hand stitched, but the rest was machine stitched. I didn't have any alloy wire, so I just used a piece of ( oiled) galvanised wire . The filigree carving takes a long time, but it was almost addictive, so I will no doubt do more soon hopefully on a belt. The next one will be brown HS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikermutt07 Report post Posted March 28, 2019 Well that is just awesome. Great job. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tugadude Report post Posted March 28, 2019 Very well done! One suggestion would be to consider adding a welt to the top seam. I'm thinking it might hide the stitching and possibly make it more roundish. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
noobleather Report post Posted March 28, 2019 Great job! Great first attempt on the filigree,really makes ya carving pop. I have been thinking about making a hat myself for awhile but don't really now where to start. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rohn Report post Posted March 28, 2019 Nice job on the hat. I especially like the hat band. That filigree looks great. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SickMick Report post Posted March 29, 2019 Great job! Love the band..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handstitched Report post Posted March 29, 2019 G'Day and thank you so much for the great feedback There are some areas I need to refine and pay attention to when I make another one as ' Tugadude' pointed out. I would like that part to be more rounder. I think my measurements may have been a bit off as well. But I am quite happy for a first attempt. The next hat will be brown. I sure am eager to do more filigree work now too I think the key word I have learnt from doing filigree is ' patience' , don't rush it. HS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tugadude Report post Posted March 29, 2019 The brim of your hat is one of the best I've seen. Not easy to do but you pulled it off. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JazzBass Report post Posted March 29, 2019 Yes, that rolled edge on the brim looks especially good. Nice! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
