A couple of years ago I needed a tricorn in a hurry. I found the right size/color felt hat for a small tricorn in a second-hand shop and washed it in shampoo. Then I squeezed out the excess water (don't twist), put it into a zip-lick bag - with the zip OPEN - and popped it into the microwave for 45 seconds. The hat comes out warm - careful, it might be too hot for you - and you can form it on a hat block or bowl the size of your head. While it's warm you can stretch it or pull it into the correct size and shape needed. Pin it onto the formand let it dry overnight. I added some metallic trim and fringe for mine, a few hidden tacking stitches to ensure it stayed where I wanted and several padded feathers (any millinery book can show you how easy it is to pad two or three feathers together to make a full feather).
I spent $2 on the hat, nothing on the shampoo or zip-lock bag. It took about half an hour to wash, heat and pull the hat into the correct form one day. I had an extra hour so I padded and trimmed a few feathers. The next day I hand sewed the fringe and trim on and added the feathers - another 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Trim, feathers and fringe were already in my stash, so I really was only out $2 for a hat I received many compliments on every time I wore it. Hats are fussy, but easier than anyone thinks. Go have fun. LynnD On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 9:13 PM, Jane Pease <[email protected]> wrote: > > Albert Wrote ,relative to cocked hats: > > > > A tricorn is just a wide brimmed hat with the brim turned up in 3 > > places...thus TRIcorn. (three corners) > > > > You can get those small hats you find at the craft store and make a small > > tricorn. The straw ones can be covered (first) in fabric if so desired. > Felt > > ones might be a little harder to find....but if you can find a small felt > hat, > > just turn the brim up in 3 places. > > -----------------Yes, well there's the rub. Straw hats are easy to find > and easy to ckck. The felt ones are the trick--finding the right crown with > a shape-wprthy brim in the right color has been difficult. I have had a go > at making and covering a buckram hat, but it sis not look quite right.. but > maybe as you say, it is time to give it another fo. > > Thanks > > Jane > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
