Wheel hat

 

This is actually the first hat that I made using the PDF pattern I downloaded from Etsy two years ago, although it's only in the last few weeks that I've reworked it to the point that I find it good enough.  Since it's cloth, I needed help from Mom to assemble the top and sides.

The facing fabric is from an old pair of chinos.  I used a narrow belt from a thrift store for the chin cord and 4-5 ounce (2mm) veg-tan for the visor.  The visor is treated only with neatsfoot oil, conditioner and a little Sno-Seal (emulsified beeswax), which all contribute to darkening the leather to a natural saddle tan color.  With no dye, the color shouldn't rub off or bleed, and with no acrylic finish, it won't crack if creased.  It's also reasonably water-resistant, though less so than a heavy acrylic finish would be, and of course a glossy finish isn't achievable.  If I'd been thinking ahead, I might have made it without vents and used a more old-fashioned slide system for the chin cord, which would make the hat appropriate for the 19th century.  As is, I believe the roller buckle is more of a 20th-century feature.

The band is built around heavyweight, 2mm cotton webbing, 1-1/2 inches (38mm) wide.  I sewed the crown to the band five warp threads down, though I think it could've been three or even two, which would add a bit of height to the band without weakening the construction.  Of course, with a fisherman-style cap like this, you don't really want a tall band; that's more a military peaked cap feature.  Speaking of which, the crown could also stand to be about a quarter-inch narrower all around when working with a forgiving fabric, though this doesn't seem to work with leather unless you make the band taller.

After sewing in the visor, I hot-glued a sweatband of cotton twill tape with the idea that it would be replaceable (since the cap itself can't be washed and its light color will show stains from contact with greasy skin), but it took up too much room on the inside.  Also, the twill tape had a hard face and was uncomfortable, and proved very difficult to remove.  I managed to peel it out and slice off most of the remaining hot glue, and have now replaced it with a chamois leather sweatband in just the front half (where most grease tends to accumulate), attached with rubber cement.  It's still a little too snug - I definitely underestimated the hat size during construction - but much more comfortable.  The crown has lightweight interfacing and is lined with part of a worn-out cotton bedsheet.

I tweaked the visor pattern several times.  I found the supplied version (right) too flat and a bit too proportionally long.  At first I thought that widening it would be the best way to get it to curl down more, but in the last few weeks I realized that the major factor is how curved it is on the interior edge:  the less curved, the more the visor is turned down when stitched to the straight edge of the band.  Theoretically, a completely straight interior edge would result in a visor that points straight down.  There actually appear to have been wheel hats made in the 19th century like that, although I don't see the point of such a thing.  This cap uses the pattern second to the left, which is perhaps slightly too narrow and not quite full enough on the outer edge near the corners to optimally shield one's eyes from the Sun.

Biker cap

 

Yesterday I finished one more small leather cap.  This one is basically the same as the one I made in 2019, with some largely aesthetic differences.

The crown and band aren't factory scrap this time, but the remnants of a Mirrabella lambskin I bought some years ago.  Although the one I bought was officially some shade of brown, it looks almost black in most lighting, though it may fade with exposure to sunlight.  I matched it with a black chin cord and artificial sinew stitching and a visor made from the same almost-black oiltan as I used on the last one.  The lambskin is thinner than the unidentified factory scrap, so the cap weighs less.  Also, despite having a wider crown, it crushes down better, giving it a casual look when worn.

Fitting is the only fussy part.  I tried to size the band to be just large enough to fit my oversized head, excessive hair, and a polarfleece sweatband lining.  Unfortunately, this resulted in it being a little too big for the crown, forcing me to pleat as I went and causing unsightly crimping in a few spots.

The band is made of medium-weight two-inch cotton webbing.  The crown is lined with scrap twill, probably cotton.  The buckle is chromed steel.  Though the buttons also look like steel, I later discovered that they won't stick to a magnet, so they're probably pot metal, which raises the possibility that their shanks may break more easily with use.  Otherwise, construction is exactly the same as the last one.

All-purpose leather cap

A side project I made using this PDF pattern.  The shell is made from a leather remnant I got at a craft store, while the visor is some "blacksmith" leather I bought years ago and have never found a use for.  I would've preferred the visor to match the crown in color, but a number of experiments failed to produce a construction and finishing method that wouldn't bleed dye and deform when wet or "crack" when creased.  I wanted this cap to be functionally indestructible.  The blacksmith leather is extremely dark brown, but appears blue-black in the photos due to outdoor light (it was slightly overcast this morning).  For the same reason, it also has a smooth leather lining inside the band with a replaceable cotton sweatband hot-glued into place.

This is what the cap originally looked like.  However, after completing it on Sunday, I decided that the bright gold buttons and lacquered brass buckle were too ostentatious and military-looking.

Luckily, I had some antiqued brass-plated buttons and two of these 1/2-inch buckles from Tandy Leather, and an uncle of mine had given me a bottle of Blacken-It.  I sanded the lacquer off the remaining buckle, darkened it, brushed back the Blacken-It finish with steel wool (it's still darker than it appears in the photo), and put together a new chin cord yesterday.  The cords are just attached with twisted copper wire through a pair of holes on either side, so they can be easily removed and replaced with needlenose pliers/clippers.  The other cord will probably be used for a costume hat project.

While this style is recognized in the West as a Greek fisherman's or sailor's cap, it was common peasant or working-class headwear, especially in Eastern Europe, so it would also work for any early 20th-century costume.  And because it's made of leather, it also counts as a motorcycle cap.  I like to think the functional chin cord would also work better for that purpose than the simple chain that a lot of them feature.

I modified it in two ways:  First, the band is a bit wider than in the pattern, for more headspace, and second, I also made the visor wider from side to side.  This forces the ends to be pulled in more when stitched to the band, which causes the visor to curl down more, protecting the eyes better from the sun.