This is what I want to make. The photo is from Vogue 8869, a men's hat pattern with several styles. Patterns are expensive. Why do I need a pattern? Especially when I have the Internet. I google free fedora hat patterns and get lots of semi-useful hits. One is a pattern for a fedora to fit a doll. Hey, maybe it can be enlarged! At a minimum I can see the shape of the pattern pieces that form the fedora look. So, here's the pattern and a little quick-and-dirty hat I made from it. Pathetic hat! But recognizably a fedora. And I have seen just what I want to see -- what shapes in a flat pattern form those classic curves.
I'll study this for a while. Already I can see several differences between the photo and the paper model. For one thing, the brim pattern piece needs to be more curved so the resulting brim will flare out more, as it does in the photo. See, how it is different in the front?
Making these kind of 2-D to 3-D comparisons is an interesting brain shift. I used to be much better at it, but I think I'm just out of practice. It is a natural way of thinking for me, and exercises like this really intrigue me. Will I ever actually make a wearable hat? You'll just have to --
Stay tuned...
