Thread: "pillbox" hat?

I'm looking for a pattern to make a pillbox hat. I'd love to make one, but buying a blank or form would be fine.

I've seen some embroidered-looking ones on dancers, and they are fabulous. I'm a head-covering and hat type of person anyhow, so ...

I'm wondering if I'm also using the wrong terminology. What are the word/s for those hats?

I don't have a pattern, but I use buckram to make the base of my hats- pretty easy to tweak & mold to the perfect shape- and then cover them. The only problem is finding good buckram! The local Joanns doesn't carry it, and it seems like every time I find a supplier I like, they go out of business or stop carrying it, so I've learned to order in bulk when I do find someone.

I bought bare buckram pillbox hat forms in large and small (@ 5" and 3" in diameter) from Southern Importers based out of Houston. It's been years, though, and I don't know if they are online.

I would think that trying to make a pillbox hat shape out of flat buckram without a proper hat form would be difficult.

Here's a link to S-I's hat frame page; unfortunately I don't see any pillbox frames listed (and their "fez" fram looks like a lampshade, LOL!)

http://www.southern-importers.com/buckramframes.html

Here's a better link. What a great selection they have of all kinds of hat frames, including some headbands that looked like they could be turned into crowns!

Buckram Frames

yeah, Tamra Henna! thanks for the link! but I do some weird funky shapes with some of mine, it's not that hard to manipulate buckram- I have a couple blocks my hubby made for me, but you can actually carve your own with craft foam too- or stretch felt or buckram over bowls, canisters- just about anything with an interesting shape, really; then cut it down, hand form to tweak, add wire as necessary, etc. Ah, for those long gone childless days when I actually had time for all this...

Originally Posted by Lara L

yeah, Tamra Henna! thanks for the link! but I do some weird funky shapes with some of mine, it's not that hard to manipulate buckram- I have a couple blocks my hubby made for me, but you can actually carve your own with craft foam too- or stretch felt or buckram over bowls, canisters- just about anything with an interesting shape, really; then cut it down, hand form to tweak, add wire as necessary, etc. Ah, for those long gone childless days when I actually had time for all this...

Interesting! My only experience with how hats are made is watching a video of fez construction - do you have to steam the buckram or felt to get it to conform to your new shape?

steaming works best for buckram, but you can get away with misting if you don't have a steamer. for felt, I dilute tacky glue, soak the felt & then stretch over my form. if you are doing a brim, it works best to mold the base & brim separately, then put the brim over the base & tack it on. you do need lots of pins to keep things in shape while drying. Yet another addicting creative hobby... I should also say that my creations are not exactly high fashion, sell in the shop quality- I think they look awesome, but I don't have the cash to invest in Italian forms, high quality felt & a nicer steamer. I won't be charging triple figures for any of my creations any time soon!

I dont use buckram for mine, I cut an oval or circle for the top and a band roughly 3 inches wide. I tack wool felt to both pieces and then sew the top to the band, turn the bottom edge under and hem.

Originally Posted by basina

I dont use buckram for mine, I cut an oval or circle for the top and a band roughly 3 inches wide. I tack wool felt to both pieces and then sew the top to the band, turn the bottom edge under and hem.

do you use any kind of stiffener, or is the wool felt heavy enough on it's own?

I use the cardboard lid from a round container of Blue Bell ice cream (other brands work, too), for a base.

Originally Posted by basina

I dont use buckram for mine, I cut an oval or circle for the top and a band roughly 3 inches wide. I tack wool felt to both pieces and then sew the top to the band, turn the bottom edge under and hem.

basina, what do you cut your oval and 3-inch band from? Would stiff interfacing do? like the stuff I use for my belt?

Do you tack the wool felt to the first material with needle and thread? glue?

I only have 2 layers, the surface fabric (either silk dupioni or a one of the 'brocades" from joanns) and the wool. I cut out the brocade first and then use that as a template to cut the felt. I sew the felt to the brocade with the sewing machine, with a seam thats VERY close to the edge. then I sew the band to the circle with a normal seam allowance.

I have a friend who did hers out of interfacing, but after sweating in them alot, the interfacing eventually collapses. I find that the wool felt (which tends to be slightly heavier than craft felt), holds its shape better.

That sounds verrrrry nice! Thanks so much for the info, basina. And it sounds comfy, too.

So I measure my head and add a little for that small tacking and seam, divide by 4 for the band.

Does one make a mock-up from newspaper or something?

Originally Posted by nadyasidhe

I'm looking for a pattern to make a pillbox hat. I'd love to make one, but buying a blank or form would be fine.

I've seen some embroidered-looking ones on dancers, and they are fabulous. I'm a head-covering and hat type of person anyhow, so ...

I'm wondering if I'm also using the wrong terminology. What are the word/s for those hats?

I also adore these. I think you could find a form at a wedding store. I only know them as pillbox.

California Millinery Supply in Los Angeles, CA has a great selection and great prices. Their website shows the selection, but the website is a little elementary side. You can call them first at 213.622.8746 to make sure you have what you want, they're very nice.

You can get lucky at wedding supply shops but it's often faster and almost always cheaper to order these from one of the few millinery suppliers that still stock them.

Buckram hat frames, pg.#1

-Devora

I measured where I thought the hat would lay, and somehow made an oval of exactly that measurement (and added seam allowance). Then I cut a strip of the measurement plus the seam allowance times 2.



Then I pinned and sewed and pinned and sewed.



and except for those pins, and the un-pushed-out seam, this is the finished product.

How does it fit?

Not great. 21" is a size that "fits" slid back a ways? But its so soft and squishy, the hat, not my head ... well, maybe both, that I'd have to put loops inside the band and then pin it on, maybe over my wad of braids, if the wad is placed high enough.

It's too squishy. I'm looking into getting a buckram form. If I can get it to work, I'll put lots of beads on it ... Mmmph

The instructor at an Ouled Nail workshop I attended years ago suggested buying a small wheel of Brie and using the box it came in as a hat base. They're very sturdy... and the Brie is always yummy. ..g.:

Cheeeeese! Hmmm