1570s Tall Hat: Construction

This post is exactly that--the image heavy, step-by-step article of how I made the tall hat.  It is not the Documentation, with all the information on the style and my thought process.  That article can be found HERE, and should be read first.

 Paper has been folded in half, and the slightly curved, 6 inch tall and 23 inch long (17.25 inches at the top) pattern for the sides has been drafted.  I had some issues getting it even, and never did succeed.

Freezer tape was used to "pin" the pattern pieces to my fabric.  Pins would destroy the paper, and not attaching it somehow wasn't an option.

For demonstration purposes only--showing how the canvas and felt were layered.  The half layer was decided on in order to give a little more stiffening to the base, and so that I could sew the base to the brim on the inside more easily (I ended up not sewing it on the inside, anyways).

Layered properly, with the layers aligned.

If you look closely, you can see that I am going around all the edges with a large overcast stitch.  I figured that would hold my layers together while I worked it with the pad stitching.

Same as above.

And the basting completed. But, you can see the cut (at the bottom of the image) prior to my fully cutting off 3/4 inch because I felt it was too tall.  I ran basting stitches to the inside of the marked cutting line; after cutting, I whipped teh fresh edge.

This is...sideways.  Tilt your head to the right, please. I worked the pad-stitching from left to right (I am a lefty, remember), so that I wouldn't be bending the finished stitching.

Finished stitching, front and back.

When patterning the brim, I only actually drafted the inside (which was done by folding the paper in quarters, and drafting the curve for an oval).
To get the front/back and side/side measurements, I used my hands and the ruler as a rough caliper.  It worked quite well--just make sure your hands are parallel, and vertical.

And marking the center--I moved the pattern piece right after this, measuring to center it.  I then marked around it with a sharpie.

As you can see, to sew up the back seam I used a whip stitch, on both the inside and outside of the butted seam.  Each side of the stitching only goes through one or two of the 4-5 layers of material.

The brim has been overcast around the edges to hold everything in place, then a line of basting stitches following the inner edge of the brim.  This was to both keep the layers together, and to mark both sides of the brim.

The pad-stitching has begun.  I decided to do it radially, rather than in concentric circles, or all running the same way.  I figured that doing it this way would provide maximum stiffening--which I believe it did (obviously, I would have to do comparative tests to determine whether it truly was the best way.  Regardless, it stiffened the brim enough for my purposes).

After the brim padstitching was complete, I cut out the center with a 1/4 inch (approximately...) seam allowance.  The seam allowance wasn't really necessary--it got trimmed in a couple of steps--, and the way I cut it meant that I would have to cut fresh material for the top of the hat (rather than cutting it from the scrap piece).

I used a weird combination of stab and overcast stitch to stitch the brim to the sides.  From the outside, you see an overcast stitch.

But the inside is a neat (or as neat as I could make it) running stitch.  The stitch goes down through just the brim, over slightly, then up to come out about 1/4 inch up the hat side.

The framework is beginning to come together.  At this point, I measured the circumference of the top edge, and calculated what the diameter of the top would be.

I had no idea how to best pad stitch this.  I began by doing concentric rings, then switched to an extra fat cross.  To be honest, it probably didn't matter, so long as I kept my stitch tension light (so that I didn't stitch in a rounded or curved top).

The top was simply sewn on with an overcast stitch.  Nothing complicated there.

And the framework all sewn together.  I was half tempted to leave it like this.

From the underside.

Cutting out the linen lining.  I traced directly around the brim for that portion, giving a seam allowance to allow for the hem.

As I said in the documentation, this project is part of an ongoing experiment with sewing and working from a crosslegged position.  Here, you can see me pressing the seam allowance flat on the lining, using my lapboard covered in a towel--at this point, I stitched the vertical seam with a backstitch.
I chose a backstitch primarily for ease--a running stitch may be easier and faster, but I do not care for the results.

Carefully sewing the top in place--this was a bit of a pain, but I managed to ease it in place neatly.

And the lining pinned and stitched in place to the top, so it couldn't fall down on me.

I needed to determine how wide to make the circle of velvet, and the best way to do so was to measure over the top of the hat.  Measurements were taken along both axis, to make sure a perfect(ish) circle would even work.

 Circle cut from the velvet,

Laid on top, for no particular reason.

Multiple rows of gathering stitches are needed--I probably should have gone with three, but didn't feel like it.  After stitching the outer row by eye, I used the ruler and marked three inches in from the center of every stitch; that way the inside row of stitches would be in line.

Laid on top, and cinched down.  At this point, I hadn't played with the pleats at all.

The next step was to fiddle with the pleats at the bottom to get them even, and stitch them down.  Then repeat with the tops, until they were more or less even and straight.
As you can see, I stitched the top slightly--about 1/2-3/4 inch below the gathering line.

Not pictured is the fact that each of the pleats got stitched to the side at the bottom, which would allow the hatband to lay more snugly at the bottom.

One of the most obnoxious parts was installing the velvet covering for the rim.  Because I did not have a pattern for cutting out the center, I approximated, forced it down, then added relief cuts.  I really did not care how it looked there, since it would be covered with a hat band.

The seam allowance of the top-brim was turned to the underside of the brim, and sewn down with large whip stitches.  An occasional relief cut was needed, but not that many.

At this point, all that remains is the lining and hatband.

The brim lining was installed as one piece--I neatly pinned it in place, and finished the stitching before cutting the center hole.  The edge was turned under 1/4 inch from the edge of the brim, and secured with a slip stitch.

And in place...

I cut the opening about 1.5 fingers from the edge of head opening.  The lining was stretched down into the hole and secured with (once again) a slip stitch.
Note how the body lining is still stuffed down in the top of the hat--securing it was the last step, since it covers any stitching which goes to the inside.

I decided to make the hatband in a purple silk twill, which matches the accents on my pluderhosen (really, only the codpiece, since I never got around to applying all the trim).  The edges were turned under and pressed, then the bottom was sewn down with a rather long backstitch.  This was a major pain, since I was sewing through so many layers of material.
The top edge of the hatband got slipstitched to the top of each pleat.

Now, it was time to turn under the last raw edge of the lining, and secure it...with a slipstitch (yes, yet again).

And a finished hat.  I placed several peacock feathers together (it took several tries to find an arrangement that I liked), and whipped them together with the heavy linen thread.  They got trimmed, and tacked in place through the wall of the hat (under the hatband).







© John Frey, 2016. The Author of this work retains full copyright for this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.  Photographs of my work may not be duplicated.