mhippisley@ecuad.ca
Felt Hat Re-Design
Various Thrifted Hats
Wool or Polyester
Various Embellishments
Process
The felt hat project was both a material research study and an opportunity to learn more about hat-making techniques. I explored the properties of felt by working with both wool and polyester to better understand their differences. To deepen my knowledge, I conducted an interview at a hat shop, where I learned valuable insights about felt materials and shaping processes. Using this information, I sourced old and damaged hats from thrift stores, which I then reshaped, redesigned, and restored as part of my hands-on exploration.
I began the process by cleaning the felt hats to remove any dirt and debris. Then, using steam, I carefully reshaped and restored them by hand, molding the felt back into its intended form. Through this process, I found that wool felt was much easier to work with than polyester, as it responded better to steaming and held its shape more effectively.
Next, I wanted to experiment with adding design elements by burning patterns into the felt. I started by sketching the designs with chalk, then used a woodburning tool to carefully draw them in. When working with polyester, I noticed stark differences in quality — the higher-quality polyester created a plasticky texture with a nice colour, while the cheaper polyester burned through very easily, requiring extra care. The cheap polyester also had a pressboard-like texture, which made controlling the woodburner challenging as it tended to follow the grain. Wool felt, on the other hand, was much easier to burn, but it came with an unpleasant side effect — a strong, burnt hair smell that lingered throughout the process.
I then experimented with paint, trying both hand painting and spray painting techniques. For one hat, I taped off sections to create a divided pattern before spray painting it. On another hat, I hand-painted a design and then sprayed over it without taping — interestingly, the spray paint adhered strongly to the painted areas, creating a bold effect. For that same hat, I also experimented with layering by lightly spraying it, sanding it down, and spraying it again. This technique allowed the original colour to show through slightly, giving the hat a refreshed look with added depth and texture.
For the final touches, I used a torch to burn certain areas of a few hats, adding more texture and character. I also incorporated additional woodburning details and created intentional creases to enhance the designs. To finish each hat, I added decorative elements like beads, feathers, stitches, and custom hatbands, giving each piece a unique and personalized look.
Throughout the iterations, I experimented extensively with various techniques, including steaming, burning, painting, sewing, and adding embellishments. In the end, I found that wool felt responded far better to these processes than polyester. The more I worked with the wool, the stronger it became, as the repeated manipulation effectively reinforced the fibres, further felting the material and enhancing its durability.
Final Hats
Minimal Embellishments - burlap ribbon and ribbon and rope hat bands
Needed a lot of work to reform it as it was crushed, and it was slow but fairly easy to reshape and way more rigid when I was done.
Minimal Embelishments - beads and leather band
Needed some work as the brim was slightly twisted, but it was fairly difficult to work with. It did not want to move.
Minimal Embelishments - beads tied on a rope and a cork hatband, with a burnt design on the side
Didn’t need too much work, but I wanted to change the shape to a more cowboy-style fedora with a different brim. This one was slightly harder to reshape than the white hat, but in the end, it came together. This hat was also waterproofed.
Lots of Embelishments - Jacard band, velvet band, leather, ribbon, leather cord, beads, chains, feathers, a burnt playing card, stitches along the felt, brunt in designs, torched designs, and spray paint
This hat was super easy to reshape and very structural.
Lots of Embelishments - cordory band, lace band, leather band, beads, feathers, burnt-in design, painted design, spray paint
This hat took a decent amount of time to reshape as it was a softer wool at the start. This hat was also waterproofed.
Lots of Embelishments- cordory band, green canvas band, leather, beads, feathers, torched design, burnt in design, rope band
This hat was fairly easy to reshape for a polyester hat, as although it needed to be steamed for a while to hold its shape, it also had wire in the brim.
Minimal Embelishments - Painted design, burnt design
This hat was a super cheap Halloween hat, purely used for experimentation. It burned straight through right away