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Perf Hat-WIP
For those of you who wanted a Perf hat but couldn't afford to reach the higher tiers of the kickstarter fundraiser, I will attempt to make one and have a easy, step by step guide along the way.
I personally have very little sewing experience so I'm going to make this guide as clear cut as possible.
The first thing that any prop or costume maker needs are reference photos. Having photos on hand of the hat will keep you on track and to get the closest possible match to the original. Grab every photo and screen shot from different angles and have them at the ready to pull up when your not sure or something dosen't look quite right.
I'm going to skip to the Eureka! moment I had while doing research for this hat since it will make things much easier and cut your head scratching and build time down.
When constructing a normal wizard (Gandalf) style hat you need to put reinforcement (buckrum) in the cloth to keep the brim from simply flapping around too much. Even when you put said reinforcement in your hat it will still have quite a bit of give to it. But when you watch Perf wear and handle his hat it's clear that it is far more rigid than that. So how did the costume designer do it?
Well the answer can be found in observing how Perf handles the hat. If you watch him put it on, he holds it like the iconic Indiana Jones, highlighting the subtle ridges and folds in the top to show that it is actually a small/medium brimmed fedora hat!
So the designer circumvented making a traditional hat, avoided lots of backing and put one of the most iconic hats underneath Perf's hat. It was therefore only necessary to use a little backing to widen out the brim and add the crown (floppy top part).
After gathering a slew of photos and having a good idea of the colors and textures, you now want to go down to Goodwill or another thrift store and find a fedora or cowboy hat, both are of a similar design and will end up being coverd by fabric anyway. I got mine at Goodwill for $5.99.
While we have no way of knowing what exact color or fabric Perf's hat or costume is made from, we can deduct that since the show was made on a budget the materials used to make the costumes are more than likely pulled from easily available materials/off the shelf. That said, I think the material of the hat is flannel or synthetic felt, but it's possible that the brim is made out of fleece.
I'll be continuing this build as the week goes on and hopefully have it done within a week. My next post will include measuring and cutting fabric for the brim and crown of the hat.(note there is a snow storm about to hit the Seattle region where I live and might hinder my ability to get supplies).
The link below is for a guide on how to build a Gandolf hat which I am
referencing for the crown.
http://www.sallypointer.com/gandalfhat.htm
Stay tuned,
-Brian the Blue Robe
Tags: Costume, DIY, Hat, Journey Quest, Perf, Perf Hat, Replica, WIP, Wizard, Yellow Robe, More…
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Nicole S. on -
Wow, I never realized Perf's hat might have a fedora underneath! Good eye!
What fabric they used for the hat is still a puzzle to me I think. Although the hat does look like a flatter material with some thickness to it, as you suggested possibly flannel, I'm wondering if it's actually more of a cotton?
The reason I'm considering this possibility is because Perf's hat and robe seem to be the same color of yellow (his tunic on top is a lighter yellow). In this picture, you can see the color of his hat appears to match his robe which would lead me to believe that they might be the same fabric. Just a thought!
Looking forward to your next post!
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Permalink Reply by Nick on
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That is a very impressive deduction!
The Indie and Perf comparison pics work great to illustrate your point. I don't have an eye for such things but even I can see the two brim's same shape.
This thread should be quite fun to follow and I too look forward to your next posts.
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Permalink Reply by Brian K on -
Update:
While the Seattle storms have slightly hindered my progress, I press on.
Shopping list:
Yellow flannel cloth- I got 3 yards of it for $8
Cloth Stiffener- white fabric seen in the photos, I used this instead of buckrum since Walmart didn't carry any
Stuffing- for the top of the crown to make it more filled
Yellow thread- for sewing it all together and to match the fabric
Glue gun- a must have for any costume maker
Scrap paper- for figuring out how wide you want your brim to be and to use as a template, newspaper worked well for me
Marking tool- I used a bic pen but I'm sure there is a special pencil or chalk to use
Scissors- make sure you have sharp ones
Measuring tape- of course
Sewing machine and accessories:
If you know someone who has a sewing machine that you can borrow, it will save you a lot of time. I had to ask a family member to show me how to use one. It took ten minutes to master and if you know how to operate power tools, bansaws, sabersaws, ect. then you can easily learn how to use a sewing machine. It's really not hard to pick up and if you're planning on making Perf's robe as well then you will need to know how to use one anyway.
Measuring:
First, I would recommend taking your thrift store hat and putting newspaper around the brim to figure out how far you want it to go out. The inner cutout for the I hat I bought ended up being approximately 8-8 1/2 in to fit the oval shape of the hat. I decided to make the outer brim 5in wide extending from the inner circle. You're going for a donut look here.
Note that I made a cut in the back--this is for overlapping it later in order to make the brim more bent.
Next cut the cloth stiffener to the same dimensions as the scrap paper. I felt that one layer of the cloth wasn't enough so I doubled it up. I cut each one separately then hot glued them together and trimmed off the excess.
Next, use the white backing as a template for the yellow cloth. You want to leave about a 1/2in of excess fabric around both the outer and inner edges of the yellow layer so that you will have room when sewing it all together. I decided that the yellow cloth that I got was too transparent, so I cut 4 rings instead of 2.
Now its time to measure and cut the crown. Trying to get the right length took a few tries for me so I used darker scrap fabric until I got it right. Looking at the Gandolf hat tutorial you can get a better idea of proportions. In the first picture below you can see the odd triangle with the rounded bottom edge. The rounded edge goes around your hat. Make sure that there is enough room to go all the way around before you cut it. I also decided to double up the fabric here as well.
Now you should have almost all the pieces cut and be almost ready to start sewing. Put all the peices on your hat, make sure it all lines up and check to make sure you have left enough fabric to fold over to get seemless edges.
In my next update I'll cover sewing and how to piece it all together.
Stay Tuned!
-Brian the Blue Robe
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Permalink Reply by Colin Reynolds on -
Amazing bit of info, thanks! And two for the price of one (an Indiana Jones hat AND a Perf hat) since I didn't know what Indy's hat was (and now I even have an excuse to find out more about a 'fedora').
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Level 2Permalink Reply by Sheena Trepanier on -
Very clever, would like to see a finished product for sure. Good luck!
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