Trick Hat

This hat has a nice place to pull stuff from, but no one will see from where you pulled it from. And best of all, the hat is made to fit your head. I first did the basic part of this hat because I couldn’t find a white top hat for a costume that I was putting together.  I’m not going to lie, it will take a bit of math to build this hat. Items that you will need is:

2 sheets of Craft foam

Bristol board or Cardboard

fabric (optional)

ribbon

tape measure

ruler

pencil & paper

calculator

mirror

math compass

hot glue gun with glue sticks

scissors or an exacto knife

The first thing to do find out the circumference of your head. Take the tape measure and wrap it around your head. The number closest to the end of the tape measure when it reaches back around your head, is your head’s circumference. Best to write down this number and other measurements that you’ll be taking. It will make things easier later on.  Next is to figure out how big of a brim for your hat that you want. Place the end of the tape measure to your forehead and pull the rest out from you head. Looking in a mirror side ways, will help you decide how big of a brim that you want. The final measurement will help you figure out how tall of a hat you want. Place the end of the tape measure on the top of your head and stretch the tape up until you reach the desired height.

Now it’s time for that bit of math. Take the following formula to figure out your head’s radius. This will help you in creating the interior of the hat.

(your head’s circumference ÷ 3.14) ÷ 2 = your head’s radius

The following pictures will help you understand how the measurements will be used.

Radius + extra height = height of hat’s main body

circumference = width of hat’s main body

radius = hat’s top and interior top

radius + extra width = outer edge of brim

Cut out a rectangle of craft foam using the height and width measurements that you just calculated. For me, it took 1 and a bit sheets of craft foam to create the body of my hat. Next cut out a circle with your head’s radius out of craft foam. Down the center, but not quite to either edge, slice a line in the foam. This will allow you to access the hidden compartment that you will create in the hat, but do to shadows in the hat, the audience won’t see it. Next cut out a circle that is the radius plus extra width from bristol board or cardboard for your brim. Remove a hole that is your head’s radius from the center of the brim, to make room for your head. The part that was removed from the brim, now becomes the top part of your hat. 

Take the rectangle and glue the short ends together, forming a tube. Place the tube over the brim, lining up one end of the tube with the interior edge of the brim and glue in place. Take the interior top and place it inside the tube, about an inch or two from the top of the hat and glue in place. Then glue in place your hat’s top. You now have a hidden compartment in your hat, between the interior top and the hat’s top. Now to finish your hat. You can choose to overlay the foam and board with fabric by just using the same measurements for the hat’s top, main body and brim. If you chose coloured foam and bristol board, you may only need to put on a hat band using your choice of ribbon. Have fun with this project.