Thursday, June 2, 2011

Steampunk Cereal Box Hat

If you couldn't tell, I've been all about making hats this past month. First, I made another pirate hat with pop tabs. Then, we reworked felt hats. Now, I'm showing you a hat made from cereal boxes covered in paper mache and tissue. You should not be in want of inspiration for headwear on my blog.



I wore this hat to the last weekend of Scarborough Faire. There was some confusion as to the actual "Day of Wrong" traditionally held on Memorial Day weekend. We took advantage of this and chose to dress steampunk for Sunday. ;)



I was trying to urge my SO to make a prototype for his second leather hat (I will post this soon) out of cardboard, so he'd have a pattern to work from. But, as usual, he decided to just wing it. That got me thinking that I could just make a wearable hat with the cardboard. The hat went together fairly quickly. The toughest and most time consuming part was deciding on a color to paint it. :)



This hat is made from a large "family-size" Frosted Flakes cereal box. Never thought we'd finish that cereal, the box was so big. But, it was just the right size to make the brim in one piece. This was important to avoid having an unwanted crease in it. I chose to piece together the crown of the hat.



The ribbon hatband is the only part of this hat not made with the cardboard. It is really long in back. I think it's a nylon or polyester fabric used in sheer curtains. My mom had kept this large piece back from her bellydancing days in the 70's. I ripped off a narrow piece and hemmed it with the sewing machine. I got the idea from the hatband scarf Joanie Stubb's wore on her gray hat in the HBO series "Deadwood". However, mine hangs down to my calves. I should mention that this isn't very practical. Being so breezy at faire that day, I had to tuck the end into my belt to keep it from reaching out and strangling passersby.



It was SO's idea to make it slant down in the front. He also came up with the idea to make the fake hinges on top when I was inspired to create a trunk look with the keyholes. The brass nails are just paint. I can't count how many folk asked me if it opened. Sadly I had to reply that it didn't. Next time, I will make one that opens. I'm always for functional garb and perhaps some ventilation up there. :)



Hope you've enjoyed reading about my hats. You should have seen the photo shoot my mom and I had outside the other day. We hung a white sheet from a tree and I played musical hats. :) That's why we get occasional dappled light on the hats. I really have enjoyed making and wearing these hats. I'm tempted to just wear them everyday. It makes me surprised and saddened that traditional hat styles lost there fashion appeal for so long. I hope they make a permanent comeback in everyday wear.

22 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey , agai a great idea... I loved this one!! :D

mieljolie said...

Hello, raioX! That's very kind of you! Thanks so much for stopping by again to comment. :)

Mieljolie

Rosa Forino said...

le tue creazioni sono molto originali complimenti per la fantasia nell'utilizzare materiali di riciclo ciao rosa.kreattiva

mieljolie said...

Hi, Rosa! I've no idea what you wrote, but thank you for commenting! :)

Mieljolie

Patsy said...

That hat is positively awesome.
Great job, love it.

mieljolie said...

Erin from Geek Crafts was kind enough to let me know they featured this paper hat on their site. You can check it out at geekcrafts.com.

Thanks, Erin!

Mieljolie

Daylina Miller said...

You are brilliant! Thanks for sharing this tutorial!

FerrellGraph-x said...

I am in complete awe of you hat! Wow!
Upon searching for inspiration on a Steampunk Papercraft I stumbled across your blog. I hope you will come participate in a challenge at http://papercraftstar.blogspot.com/
Kindest regards,
Jennifer Ferrell

mieljolie said...

You're welcome, Daylina! If you have any questions on how I constructed the hat, just ask.

Mieljolie

mieljolie said...

That's very kind of you, Jennifer. Glad you stumbled in. I'd love to participate in the steampunk papercraft challenge. Not sure I can find the time right now, but we'll see. Miracles can happen. :)

Mieljolie

Neki said...

Just found this and I love it!
Going to my -must do- list, keep the good work! :D

mieljolie said...

Thanks, Neki! If you try it out, I'd love for you to show your results. And, if you have any questions, I can try to answer them.

Mieljolie

Anonymous said...

This was wonderful. How on earth did you do it? (seriously, I'm gonna need a step by step process. :P)

mieljolie said...

Hi, Anon. I'll try to fit in a tute for the cardboard hat making in the future. Until then, I dicuss a little more about the steps in a similar hat post (http://www.mieljolie.blogspot.com/2012/06/ive-entered-yet-another-craftster.html). If you have any specific questions, just ask.

Mieljolie

Julie said...

Love this! Posted it on our Dirigible Days FB page : )

mieljolie said...

Thanks so much, Julie! I'm truly honored.

Anonymous said...

I really want to make this! Do you think you can post instructions?

mieljolie said...

I will try to come up with some more details on the construction, perhaps if there is time this fall/winter. Sorry, it takes me awhile to put tutorials together.

Mieljolie

Dee said...

I know this is an *old* post, but I stubmled upon it when looking for Steampunk inspiration. We're going to an event in a couple weeks, and it's an excuse to "get my craft on." I decided to try to mimic this hat and make it (sorta) functional. If you read this and would like to see the final product, I'd be proud to show you. :-)

mieljolie said...

Hello Dee! I would love to see your creation! :) Please do share! You could post a link or send me an email from my profile.

Mieljolie

SoCalMonet said...

These hats are phenomenal! I agree with you about how it's too bad unique and respected hats aren't worn mainstream anymore. I suppose that's one of the reasons many people enjoy festivals...to dress in different ways and from cool time periods. You have a great vision and talent. Have fun creating more and sharing with us.

mieljolie said...

Thank you, SoCalMonet. I'll use any excuse to get dressed up. I've been busy making stuff, but I'm getting a bit behind in sharing. Need to remedy that soon. :)