Anatomy of a top hat
Top hats are broken down into 3 basic parts: the tip, the sideband, and the brim. Each part is created separately and then joined together at the end. For the sake of durability, I dislike the use of buckram in hats. I think it breaks down too quickly. Unless I am making the hat completely from felt, I like to use different types of plastic for the tip and sideband, using felt only for the brim. Each part then gets covered in fabric and then joined together. The tip, or lid, is the top oval of the hat, sometimes slightly rounded, sometimes completely flat. When flat, I use 1/32" thick rigid HDPE polyethylene sheet from McMaster-Carr. This plastic is rigid enough to hold its shape, yet thin enough that I can sew through it by hand or by machine. The sideband is the column that connects the tip to the brim. This part is often curved, so I need to use a formable thermoplastic. I like to use a product called altra form from Douglas and Sturgess: Altra Form, Medium, (43"X 55"). This product is a cheese cloth fabric with a heat sensitive plastic impregnated into it. It can be formed with hot water or a heat gun and draped over a form. When cool, it keeps its shape very well and can also be easily sewn to. For the brim of a fabric covered top hat I use 1/8" thick industrial felt. After wiring and sizing (stiffening) it creates a very nicely shaped brim that can be steamed and refreshed easily.
Various blocks used to form the sideband with.
Fabric covered and full felt top hats.
I decided to do a fabric covered top hat. I want a look that is classic in shape, but very eye catching. I got some reflective ribbon and fabric from Welcome to Reflectivefabric.com. I want to explore some kind of woven ribbon effect.
I gathered together the components I will be using: Gemma, FLORA Accelerometer/Compass Sensor - LSM303, NeoPixel Ring - 16, Flora RGB Smart NeoPixel version 2 - Sheet of 20, NeoPixel Diffused 5mm Through-Hole LED - 5 Pack, Stainless Thin Conductive Thread - 2 ply, Tactile On/Off Switch with Leads, Silicone Cover Stranded-Core Wire - 2m 30AWG, Lithium Ion Polymer Battery - 3.7v 1200mAh.
Here is a test I had done with the modified library for the compass sensor. The 16 NeoPixel ring represents the 16 NeoPixels that will be sewn around the brim of the hat. I have it programed so that a cluster of three pixels, one red pixel flanked by blue, point to North as the wearer turns around. The code is available from my codebender page https://codebender.cc/sketch:42502
Coming up next...
How to pattern and shape a brim.
