Hat Knowledge: Hat Materials and Making – Aung Crown

The Common Hat Materials

According to different seasons, occasions, and design needs, there are lots of materials to make a hat. The materials for making hats can be divided into main materials, sub-materials, and decorative materials.

1. Main Materials

The main materials means the basic materials for making a hat, including woven band, hat blank, cloth fabric, leather, etc.

Woven band:

There are 2 types of woven bands: natural and synthesized. Natural woven bands are made with natural straw fibers, mat grasses,  linen, etc. Synthesized woven bands are made with artificial fibers, such as nylon, synthesized paper bands, artificial thin film, cords, etc.

Hat blank:

Hat blank can be sorted by materials. There are two main types. One is made with velvet or felt products. The other one is usually called straw hats, or cool hats, and is made from threads and bands that are woven and then pressed.

Cloth fabric:

Cloth fabrics are similar to clothing fabrics.

Leather:

Natural leather, like goatskin, pigskin, suede, snakeskin, etc., and various artificial leather have special processes, then all of them can be used to make hats.

2. Sub-Materials and Decorative Materials

In general, according to the thickness or thinness of the fabric texture, the lining of a hat is adapted to cotton, silk, various chemical fibers, etc. Then, the sub-materials for making a hat include hatbars, linings, labels, specialty brims, buckles, elastic bands, buttons, and more. Finally, the decorative materials are various, including leather, ribbon, lace, feather, artificial flowers, and other ornaments made with metal or plastic.

The Hat Making

The production of a hat is specialized and needs professional devices and tools, and special accessories. The tools for hat-making include wooden molds, metal molds, ironing devices, iron machines, scissors, and special sewn devices.

The shape and size of a hat originate from heads. The initial step in creating a hat involves measuring the size of the head.

Ascertain the head height by initiating measurement from a location found approximately 1 cm away from your left ear, proceeding along the top region of the cranium, and concluding at an area approximately 1 cm distant from your right ear. The calculated length refers to the elevation of the upper part.

Determine the dimensions of one’s head circumference through the utilization of a malleable tape measure that starts at the front hairline,s encircles behind their skulls either counterclockwise.

Methods of Hat Making

According to the design needs of hat making, the production of hats can be sorted into the molding-press method, tailoring method, shaping method, woven method, etc.

Molding-press method:

Felt fabrics as materials and shapes felt on the molding-press mold. After molding, roll up the brim and sew them together into a hat. Some hats undergo molding-press first, then start tailoring and sewing, even adding flower or ribbon ornaments, which can create a great effect. Some berets or roll-up brim bowlers are made through the molding-press method.

Tailoring method:

The most common way of hat-making is the tailoring method. According to the design needs, cutting the fabrics into the designed shape, and adding lining, and sub-materials to sew the hat.

Shaping method:

Using plastic or rubber to shape in a special mold. Then, after shaping, add the inner lining and supports. Helmets are made in this way.

Woven method:

It’s common to use a woven method in hat making. Woven materials are processed fiber materials, including cords, wickers, bamboo strips, straw, linen, grass, etc. There are many woven methods. Here they are the whole woven method, the partial woven method with sewing. In addition, dense woven, hollow woven, double-layered or multi-layered woven can create unique looks, which are pretty and practical. On the basis of weaving, we can add ornaments on the hat, like lace trims, flowers, beads, feathers, etc.

Coordination Between Hats and Outfits

There are many factors to make up the overall performance of the clothing. However, it’s essential for hat designs to take into account the harmonious coordination between the headwear and clothing choices. In the following sections, we present an array of hat styles, each necessitating a corresponding adjustment in accordance with shifts in outfits.

From styles, the style of a hat should be similar to the outfit. Both of them are in the same macrocosm and complement.

In the creative aspect, the design of a hat can be bold, stunning. However, the style of the hat should be close to the outfit. Therefore, on the basis of matching outfits and coordinating styles, a hat can create a new and novel look for the whole overall.

In general, there are several color-matching for hats with clothing in the following ways:

Same Color-Matching:

Same color-matching means the colors of hats and outfits are in the same or close color schemes, brightness, or pure, which can create a sense of coordination in vision. However, it’s easy to create a sense of singleness.

Same Pattern Matching:

The color of the hat is followed by the main pattern of the outfit, which can complement the outfit. Therefore, the whole overall is full of strongness and the style is vivid and lively.

Floral Hats + Plain Outfits:

The color of the outfit is elegant, plain. Hence, the color of the hat should be the same style. So, the hat can choose floral or lattice patterns in the same color scheme as the outfit, which can make the whole overall plain with a sense of youthful vigor.

Strong Color-Matching:

This style of matching should choose outfits with strong features. So, choosing one of the contrasting colors in the outfits is the color of the hat, which is bold, strong, and exaggerated.

Weak Color-Matching:

This style is aimed to show the gentle style of the whole overall. Although it’s color-contrasting, the brightness and pureness of the colors are not so much different. For example, the effect of the pink color contrasting is to emphasize the sense of gentleness of the outfits.

Conclusion

In the end, all we talked about above are hat materials and making. In addition, all are great for how to choose a hat and how to style a hat. What’s more, this article is great for new hat designers or DIY crafts. Aung Crown is a professional hat maker founded in 1998 with almost 25 years of experience in hat making and a bunch of expertise in hats. Therefore, you can totally trust it. If you are interested in hat knowledge, please save this page to your favorites, then you can check the update and the latest news.