In the end, I bought one on eBay. I didn't want anything expensive in case I messed up the design also, as this is just for fun, to purchase an expensive top hat is a bit excessive!
My top hat went from a very lightweight, flattened in the post, hat to a rather respectable piece of head-wear.
Materials used
- I purchased the hat for less than £3 from eBay.
- The goggles, a must for my hat, were my most expensive buy, and I did buy these at a Steampunk Fair for £10, but you can make your own. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube.
- Lace, net, black ribbon.
- Cogs, wheels, chrome parts.
- Cards
- Belts
- Anything else that takes your fancy, ideally from a charity shop to keep the cost down and helping a good cause in the process.
The idea is to take the theme of Steampunk and decorate the hat how you see fit. To show off your individualism. We want our hats to reflect our personalities.
I placed a long piece of ribbon around the base of my hat. I wanted it to flow down the back. I also added a piece of netting that I had leftover from making my bestie's StarWars Wreath.
The belt I used across the top was from the charity shop, I'd actually bought 2 belts as I loved the buckle on the brown leather belt, but I decided not to use it in the end, it just didn't go.
I have been collecting cogs and keys for a while, some are jewellery finds, some are the contents of my watches and some are purchases from eBay, altogether making a nice little pot of 'bits'. I selected some varies machine parts for one side of the hat, which I glued on.
But by far, my favourite part of my new hat are the cards, which are placed, not glued on the right of the hat. The cards are from the film Labyrinth, a birthday present from the bestie, who saw them and thought I could do something 'crafty' with them.
She wasn't wrong.
I really enjoyed making this, so much so, I might just make another one!
Nice job! Great explanation! Happy steampunking! 🧡
ReplyDelete