The original idea for this hat was to feature cut-outs in the pigskin with molded leather protruding up slightly through the cut-out. I chose a trefoil motif—a Celtic knot with three lobes—as the ornamental design. I decided to go with fairly bright, highly contasting colors to make the elements really jump.
In addition to the trefoil molded leather coming through the cut-outs I designed two sizes of faux ivory resin buttons: Four larger ones with the identical trefoil design in relief, and twenty small rounded triangular ones around the bottom band to further accent the trefoil theme.
The basic pattern for the cap was drafted from a plaster hat form that I had cast and shaped. It consists of four identical triangluar panels—with their points meeting at the top—and a circumferencial band with modified scallops. In the middle sides of the four panels I added in contrasting cut-outs of modified diamonds, these having finely cut leather pieces in contrasting colors.
The twelve large trefoils dyed in pink and teal were made of vegetable tanned pigskin, cased and pressed into a rigid trefoil mold. When dry, they protruded gently but noticeably, at which point I applied the dye.
The molded trefoil pieces were hand-stitched into the panels with waxed thread, and the four panels were stitched together. Then the diamond pieces were stitched in, and the band was stitched on. Lastly the faux ivory buttons were attached with waxed thread.
At this point the hat was a little lumpy, as I expected it would be, and so I soaked the entire hat, cased it and pulled it over my hat form. To facilitate getting a nice smooth shape to the overall hat I place a plastic bag over it and using a vacuum pump sucked out the air, so that the damp leather was forced tightly against the hat form. While I did get the smooth profile that I wanted, I unfortunately flatted out the molded trefoils, and so lost that part of the original look that I was after.
How I made the Rus Viking helm |
How to make an American Dragoon helmet |
Making a British Dragoon helmet |
How to make faux ivory buttons |
Leather Helmets |
The Sigurd Viking helm kit
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