Crafting: Making your own Duck Tape Hat Block

As a followup to my post on Making Your Own Dress Form, I've decided to share how I made my own duck tape hat block. Now, I'd like to make it perfectly clear that this isn't nearly as durable as a regular hat block, and because of the duck tape it isn't appropriate for hot applications or steaming (though now I'm starting to think up ways to make it work!) but it will work as a sort of dress-form-for-your-head if you intend to make stitched hats like I do!

I made my hat block using pretty much the same basics as my dress form. The hard thing for me was getting the actual oval shape of my head right. I have a very large head (size 7 5/8) and so using one of those foam heads from the craft store just isn't a viable option for me. My head is also very oval-shaped, so those people who start with round objects like bowls and tupperware - I commend you, but your methods just won't work for me.

You will need:

• A roll of duck tape
• plastic wrap or a plastic bag of some sort
• sturdy wire
• cardboard
• strong glue
• sturdy filling of some sort (taxidermy pine, pine shavings, firmly crumpled bits of paper... use your best MacGyver skills, here!)

First: The way I got the shape was by using armature wire and shaping it snugly and comfortably around my head. Armature wire is a lightweight wire used in sculpture and you can get it in all sizes. You could probably also use a simple piece of craft wire if you're careful, but I had this lying around and really wanted to make sure the shape was appropriate. This is for use as a template.

Second: Trace the oval/circle of your wire onto at least four sheets of cardboard and cut them out. Take all of these pieces of cardboard except one, align them and glue them together to make one über-sturdy oval. Mark the front of the oval with a bold marker of some sort so you can align it correctly later. Keep the one cardboard oval separate, as it will help you fill your duck tape shell later.

(If you want to make a longer hat form like I did, trace this oval as many times as you are willing to and make yourself a tall stack of glued cardboard. This will add sturdiness to your hat block later on, and give you some vertical space to work.)

Third: Carefully fit your head with plastic wrap. You don't want it to be bulky at all.

Fourth: Take a piece of duck tape and wrap it firmly around your forehead to the back of your head. Try to keep it level with the ground (not sloped) and from shifting around. I actually used a bit of tape to tape it to my forehead so it wouldn't move.

Fifth: Using carefully placed strips of duck tape, it's time to cover the rest of your head. I can't stress enough how important it is not to get folds or crinkles, since we are adding to the actual circumference of your head. Try to follow the natural curve of your skull.

Sixth: Once your head is covered in two smooth layers of duck tape, you can remove the shell from your head. It is fragile and will dent/warp if you fiddle with it too much at this point, so be careful!

Seventh: Place your duck tape shell in a large bowl (larger than the shell, so it doesn't have to be warped to be placed inside) and carefully begin to fill it with your filling. You want to pack your filling into the curve without damaging it, so be very careful as you're doing this to pay attention to how the duck tape shell is pressing into the bottom of the bowl. When it is pretty much full, you can manipulate the shape a bit if it has warped.

Eighth: Once your shell is as full as you can get it without warping it, tape your cardboard oval over the bottom of the shell, leaving at least one area untaped. Use this little untaped area to wedge additional filling in, making the shell more and more firm. Again, try not to warp your shell. You can use a pencil or dowel to reach in and shape any areas where the filling is uneven.

Ninth: Once you are happy with the firmness of your shell, tape your additional oval stack to the bottom of the shell and, again being sure to avoid wrinkles or folds, carefully cover the entire thing with one more layer of duct tape.

Et, Voila! 

Now, this hat block isn't particularly durable. In fact, I really should be calling it a "hat form" instead of hat block, to harken back to its similarities to my dress form... Still, if you intend to make stitched or pieced hats of any kind, this is a great inexpensive alternative to a wooden hat form! 

This is a draped mockup of a hat that I simply pinned to the block. It allows me to see how the fabric will act on the curves of a head without using my more expensive fabric. This duck tape block is really coming in handy! It's much easier than sewing the mockup using trial-and-error, and much less painful than if I were to pin the mockup directly to my head!  (Just kidding folks!)

Have you made your own hat block? Share your results in the comments section! 

xoxo Emily

Crafting: A Valentine's Pincushion Bracelet

Hiya! It's approaching that time of year, again... You either dread it, or you love it... or you're like me and you remain fairly indifferent to it. Valentine's Day!

Still, despite my indifference, this is a great excuse to work on cute projects that are shaped like hearts. I was working on draping a blouse the other day and the constant turn-bend-turn-pin motions were making me seasick. Obviously I needed a pincushion bracelet! 

You can make this one of two ways. In my photographs, I show you how I made mine with little pleats in the polkadotted fabric to make it poof out extra. If you find this too tedious, you can simply sew the inlaid fabric in flat and it will still poof up enough to make a fine pin cushion. 

First, you're going to want to sketch yourself a nice plump heart shape on a piece of paper. You can find heart graphics online, or draw your own. I cut mine out and folded it in half to make sure it was symmetrical before I used it. 

Once you have a heart you're happy with, cut it out, pin it to your fabric and cut out one heart from your inlay fabric and two hearts from your felt. I used wool felt for my project, but synthetic felt works just fine (perhaps even better, honestly). 

Then, fold one of your felt hearts in half and cut out a smaller heart shape to create a window.

The next part is the most difficult, in my opinion. If you want the inlay to "poof" out, you need to pin small pleats along the edge. I did three pleats along each edge of the heart, making six pleats total. This takes some careful pinning! Once the pleats themselves are pinned, you're going to pin the inlay fabric into the felt window heart that you've made. 

Now... before you start to panic, let me tell you that YES, it going to look a bit like the guy from Hellraiser for a while. There are more pins than fabric on this poor thing! Still, this is one of those instants in sewing and crafting where you have to take a deep breath and look a little closer. Are all of your edges pinned to the window edge? Is nothing gaping? Good. Continue. (Breathe...)

You're going to sew – slowly – with your sewing machine (or by hand!) once around your felt window edge. If you go quickly, you're more likely to bunch fabric, hit a pin or get lost in your own stitches (seriously folks, it happens). Once you've gone around once, pull out your pins and check your work. I used very tiny stitches here and I'm not particularly happy with it. I should've used more standard stitches, but I thought I'd see what happened. Live and learn. 

If at this point you see that you have a spot where you missed the inlay edge or have made a mistake, you're in luck! If you're using contrasting thread, you can simply re-pin the area that's giving you trouble and do a second time around, all the while telling yourself that it's a decorative edge. 

Next you're going to cut two or three strips from your felt that are long enough to go around your wrists and pin them flat together so their edges are even. Also cut your velcro pieces and lay them out on your band (remember, the go on opposite sides of the band! I had a derpy moment and stitched them to the same side of the band. Heehee.) Stitch a couple of times across them (be creative here!) to create a more sturdy felt wrist band. While you're doing this, stitch your velcro into place as well. 

Once you're happy with the stitching on your band, place and pin it over the rear heart and stitch it in place. 

Finally, stitch the window heart onto the rear heart and leave a small section open so you can stuff it (another totally derpy moment here - I stitched mine closed! I admit it, I was watching Doctor Who and got distracted...). You can stuff this with pretty much anything... I used torn up quilt batting scraps, but you can you fabric, wool, dog hair, dryer lint... Haha. This is another chance to be creative!

Once the heart is stuffed full, pin it closed, finish the edge, and stick some pins in it! Ya know, while this is totally adorable and heart-shaped, I'm beginning to see a bit of irony in the whole giving-someone-a-heart-to-stick-pins-in thing. Ah well! Enjoy!

xoxo Emily