How to Make a Bullfighter's Hat
- 1). Set up the hat block outside over a layer of newspaper, weighted to stay in place.
- 2). Make two baseball-sized lumps with your modeling clay. Wrap them in foil, and then tape them to the sides of your hat block.
- 3). Mold the felt to the entire hat block, get it wet, and then cover the block from end to end.
- 4). Wrap the two lumps with rubber bands to give them a defined shape. The tighter the rubber bands, the better.
- 5). Get this felt as tight to form as possible. Make sure the felt is taut against the block. This is what gives the hat its shape, and will make it look even better than a store-bought hat.
- 6). Spray the wet felt hat with fabric stabilizer. The stabilizer will ensure that the hat keeps a rigid form long after you take it off the block. Wet fabric is easy to form, but fabric stabilizer is what makes it keep its form.
- 7). All the hat to dry. This may take up to 12 hours to cure, so carefully take the hat off the block and make sure it's stiff enough for you.
- 8). Add flair to your basic matador hat. Dangle beads from the brim, poms to the lumps on the side of the hat or stamp a bull or some other logo to the front.
