Tricorn Pirate Hat

Arg Matey!!! If you're gonna be a pirate or a politician for Halloween you need a tricorn hat. If you are just adventurous with your headgear, this is the hat for you! Patriotic? Wear this to the voting booth in November!

I've adapted this from an late 50s pattern, Butterick 6550. The shapes are easy to recreate and you don't need to be perfectly precise. The most important choice is fabric. I think it would be ideal in Ultrasuede or a light leather. A heavyweight felt or vinyl would work also. It has to be a 2 sided fabric or you'll have to sew 2 identical pieces together and then sew the raw edges by machine or hand. It requires about a yard of fabric, about 36 inches wide, depending on if you need to double the tricorn. Read through the instructions, and start looking around for fabric....(those drapes are nice...) Start with some scrap fabric,or use newspaper like I have, for a practice run. Save the good fabric for the final hat.

First, measure your head or the head upon which the hat will sit. Leave room for hair or a doo-rag. Cut a long piece of fabric that length plus 1 inch and make it 2 inches wide. Sew the short ends together with a half inch seam. Next draw a circle with the circumference about double the measurement as your head. The outer edge will be gathered to fit the "headband".

Sew the gathered circle to one edge of the headband. Now you have a nice mushroom hat!

The 3rd piece will be be a little trickier to design and cut out. Study the pattern and then starting with the inner circle, draw one with a circumference that measures the same as your headband measurement without the seam allowance, and around that, create a pear shaped outline, similar to the pattern piece.

The straight edge is laid on the fold of your fabric or cut 2 pieces of pattern and place the straight edges together to create a whole pear shape. This is the tricorn. Cut out the center circle and toss it in the air. Cut along the edge of the tricorn (great punk band name) and this is the edge to worry about ....how will you finish it? Edge stitch it? Whip stitch it? or sew 2 identical tricorn pieces together and turn them inside out to hide the seam? Only you can decide. This is one of the creative parts ! . Exciting, huh?

Now you need to sew the center circle of the tricorn to the bottom edge of the band. You can stretch the band, stretch the tricorn, and take tiny little snips on the edge of the tricorn to ease it to fit on the headband. Try it on! Decorate it with a feather and call it macaroni.......Toot toot....you made a tricorn hat once you roll and tack the edges up to look kinda like the picture.

Keensfloral has feathers. 

ppfdesign has Ultrasuede. 

Tessa Rhew's Bridal Creations has lots of marabou! 

Of course, the local thrift or fabric store has got what you want.....but look around your house first.......got an old leather coat or an 80s leather skirt around? (you know your sister does) some heavy upholstery fabric?(you know your grandma does.) That would work also.

Need I really mention.... Jack Sparrow!

Your eBetty DIY Files Hostess is funkoma vintage!