How to make a swirly whirly, organically shaped, hat block

Those of you who have read my previous blog posts will be familiar with my method of making a pattern for a hat block using a cardbord former.

Its a very mathematical way to generate a pattern and to be honest some of the creative flow in sculpting can be lost.  You have to make your brain think in the kind of way you think when drafting a paper bodice pattern (or trouser pattern) from scratch using measurements. Its fun when you get in the swing of it, but very precise, with lots of straight lines, right angles and measuring.

It works brilliantly for simple geometric shapes – e.g. A straight sides and flat top crown.  And it also works well for more complex symmetrical geometric shapes, e.g. A cone, pyramid, all those kinds of shapes that would be time consuming to make perfectly symmetrical if you were sculpting them out of polystyrene.

However, I recently wanted to make a horn shaped block and realised that using this technique was going to be mentally taxing and time consuming. So, instead I decided to make a metal wire armature, bulk that out with paper and use it to generate a pattern.

I covered the paper sculpture in plaster so it was hard and set in position. The smoother the form is, the easier it is to get an accurate pattern off it – but it doesnt have to be mega smooth (that’s a waste of time). If I was doing this again I would use plaster bandage rather than casting plaster, as it would be easier to wrap around the paper.

Next I tightly wrapped the shape in clingfilm, and put a layer of tape on top of the cling film. You can use any non stretch tape – sellotape, gaffa tape, masking tape. This ‘skin’ is your pattern.

The next aim is to get the skin in pieces that will lay flat. They have to lay flat because otherwise they are still a 3D shape and you need flat pattern pieces to lay on flat material.

Think about the shapes of orange segments, where the different colours join together on a beachball, or the lines that a banana skin peels apart on. Divide up the skin on your form in a similar way. See below for a picture of the skin cut off my former – I divided the skin up into 4 segments, with the seamlines running lengthways.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You must put balance points on the skin before you cut it up. Balance points are little lines that run across the seam, and you use them to match up the pattern pieces in the correct places.  You must also number the seamlines / edges of your pattern pieces so that you know which pieces join together (do this before you cut the pieces apart!).

I’ve tried to keep my explanation as simple as possible, but I wouldnt be suprised if I’ve lost some people! My best advice is to just have a go on something simple. Start off by taking a pattern off a piece of fruit, a banana is a great place to start. Cut the pattern out of cereal box cardboard and tape it together to see the shape. Or, you could make it up in 5mm / 10mm plastazote and practise using contact adhesive.

The more you learn about patterning the more fun it becomes. So stick with it, it gets easier – I promise!

ONE MORE REALLY IMPORTANT NOTE: The two horns I made are not symmetrical. So don’t try to make up two symmetrical shapes until I worked out how to solve that problem!

Feather Dyeing Workshop at Milliner Warehouse (London Victoria)

A couple of weeks ago (in November 2011) I went to an evening class at Milliner Warehouse called ‘Feather Dying Techniques’. It ran from 6.30 – 9.30 pm, and was taught by milliner Ian Bennett.

It was brilliant! I’ve been studying millinery for a while now, and finding a good teacher is always a pleasure. Ian clearly has a lot of teaching experience, his explanations and demonstrations were clear and to the point. He was a really nice friendly guy, whilst at the time being full of knowledge from working as a milliner for over 20 years.

When Ian talked about feathers he spoke with real understanding about why they looked or behaved the way that they did. And for me, because he explained things that way, the information stuck in my head.

Topics covered in the class included how to mix dyes, how to prepare feathers for dyeing, names of different feather types and differences in their qualities.  Really interesting information for me to learn was how to correctly dry a feather, and why to dry the feather like that. Also, how to ombre dye a feather, and avoid getting a line where the dye fades from full colour to nothing.

If you would like to know about any up coming classes at Milliner Warehouse, email Ben at ben at millinerwarehouse.net (replace the at with @). Here is the web address of Milliner Warehouse so you can see the location of the shop. http://www.millinerwarehouse.co.uk/

There is a course section on the site, but its worth emailing Ben if you want to do a course as often they get booked up quickly and dont get loaded up onto the site. I found out about this course by emailing him and he emailed me a word document of upcoming courses.

You can see some of Ian Bennett’s work and read about his career on his website http://ianbennetthats.com/

Below are some pictures I took during the class.

The equipment set up ready for dyeing. We used Jaquard dyes, hot water, and some other trade secrets taught on the course

It took me a while to understand the difference between coque and heckle feathers. The ones pictured below are coque feathers, heckle feathers are similar but have some important differences. (I think heckle are prettier)

An ombre dyed feather – beautiful isn’t it? Imagine a spray of them, they’d look pretty awesome.

Ian demonstrating how to make a feather mount. What’s a feather mount I hear you cry? Well scroll down and find out…

This is the finished feather mount. Made by Ian. But where would I use a feather mount I hear you ask? Well, scroll down…

That is the exact question we asked Ian Bennett. You can use them in couture hat making, and I’m sure now you know what they look like, you will spot them in other milliner’s hats. But I was particularly interested in Ian’s explanation of how they can be used in showgirl headdresses. And then, as if my mind was being read, I walked past this years 2011 Fortunum and Mason Christmas window. And it is full of showgirl headdresses, with feather mounts. Which is the picture below. It’s a fantastic display by the way, well worth a look if you are near Piccadilly / Green Park.

So, all in all, a very enjoyable class that definitely filled the gap in my knowledge. I would recommend Ian’s class A++++++.

The First of my Mohicans

Earlier this year I made 4 mohican headdresses for Shooting Flowers (a styling company). The headdresses were commissioned for ‘Thriller’ the Michael Jackson musical – on at The Lyric, Shaftesbury Avenue.

The headdresses are snug leather hoods that fasten under the dancer’s chin. The mohican is made from horse tail hair, from a supplier based in London (Golders Green). Interestingly, he also supplied Ron Mueck with hair for him to use in his sculptures. I got the leather from Alma Leather in Whitechapel – a treasure trove of fabulous leather.

Below are some photos I took along the way of making them.

Beginnings of the hood. I started to work out the pattern for the leather hood by using calico. It took a couple of tweaks and seam adjustments to get the pattern to fit properly.

So, the photo below is the hood inside out. It you look at the corners they are cut off at an angle so that the seam doesn’t get in the way when the hood is turned through the right way. Each headdress is cut out in leather and in cotton drill. This is because the hoods have to last a year or more, and over time the leather will stretch and distort if it does not have some reinforcement.

The next photo shows the leather hood turned the right way out. The leather hood and the drill fabric lining are both left open at the middle of the centre back, so that the hood can be turned through the right way after being machined together. This opening in the centre back is also where the horse hair mohican is attached to the hood.

I ‘topstitched’ each hood all the way around its edge. This was to attach the leather outer to the drill lining, and stop it stretching. I like the look of topstitching on cut and stitch hats and headwear, and it helps control seams and avoid annoying lumps. All in all, I think it looks more professional. Use a long stitch length when top stitching. I learnt some of my cut and stitch pattern drafting and machining skills from Karen Shannon at Morley College on a 2 day weekend course. If Morley College are still running courses with her, I highly recommend them. It was an affordable price and she knew what she was talking about. Karen Shannon has worked as a machinist for Stephen Jones in the past, and is very mathmatical and precise about how to draw up the patterns – a good teacher.

Next I moved onto working out the mohican part of my headdresses. The amount of horse hair in the photo below cost me about £90. The longer the hair, the more expensive it is. Incidentally the man in Golders Green also sells human hair although I don’t think I could work with human hair, it’s making me get the creeps just thinking about holding it! He sells hair for wigs, dolls, brushes… Another choice instead of horse hair for making these mohicans could be yak hair or goat hair.

I used my favourite method of working out a pattern in this photo. Masking tape and cardboard. Cheap, quick to mock up and easy to alter. In this picture the mohican is too tall. This was especially true when I held it up to my head, things always seem so much bigger when you put them on your head.

As you will see over the next few pictures, I had to play around and alter things when working out how to construct the mohicans. First of all I cut out the mohican central support in thin plastic, leaving some tabs at the bottom to use when attaching the mohican into the headdress. This worked really well, the plastic was cheap and strong – I got it from a poundshop in Dalston.

I reinforced the plastic with strong thick wire. This was not successful. The wire had absolutely no movement in it, and the result was a mohican with no swish. Also you could see the wire through the hair and it was distracting from the overall look. And…. it added weight – a surprising amount of weight actually. So, I ditched the wire idea (and a fair few hours worth of work I might add!)

This picture shows the wire before I removed it. You can also see the blocked sinamay skull cap in the process of being made. The skull cap was made to give the mohican a substantial base, if it was not there the hair would flop from side to side.

Next, I decided that shredded crin would be good to add into the mohican mane. At this point I did not know how the hair was going to support itself and I thought crin could bulk out the hair and force it to stand up straight. But, again, it was an unnecessary addition and an extra spend on labour time and materials, and it took away the hair’s movement.

Experiments with shredded crin (partly inspired by Stephen Jones / Dior creations for SS 2011 collection)

The next picutre is a streamlined mohican, with the wire removed, crin removed, and ready to be covered in horse hair.

To cover the mohican with hair, I machined the hair onto a fabric backing. This worked well, and after a while I realised that the hair was easier to control and push under the sewing machine foot if I sprayed it a little with water. I sewed the hair on a little bundle at a time and used the longest stitch length possible.

Also used a hot dry iron to control the hair and shape it. I avoided using steam as it made the hair frizzy.

Felt stiffener worked amazingly well on the horse hair. It was brilliant. The hair was transformed into a poker straight, self-supporting material. And the hair still had a bit of movement as well, which was important for the effect with the dancers on stage. These headdresses were worn on stage for the rendition of ‘Dirty Diana’ – the dancers wearing them did some incredible back bends and dance moves!

And the finished headdress. The final assembly was done using mostly evostick and some stitches with strong thread and a leather needle. Please feel free to post comments or contact me for details of suppliers.

Liberty and Selfridges window displays – January 2011

Walking through London last week a couple of window displays grabbed my attention. The first was Liberty’s. The mannequins had lace masks, and the one pictured below is my favourite. Click on the images to enlarge them.

Then, as I was in the area, I had a look in Selfridges window. Kei Kagami is featured in one of the windows as part of ‘Bright Young Things’. She is a shoe designer who graduated from Saint Martins. What I really like about this display are the sculptural clothes stands.

Here’s a link to the rest of the Selfridges’ Bright Young Things, click on ‘See the Windows’ link to see some of the other displays.

http://www.selfridges.com/en/Features-Gifts/Categories/Bright-Young-Things/
http://www.selfridges.com/en/StaticPage/BYT-KeiKagami%20/

What is plastazote and how do I use it?

What is plastazote? I think plastazote is an amazing material. Plastazote is a similar material to what camping mats are made from. In fact when I worked as a prop maker at a theatre in Germany we could not find any plastazote suppliers and we ended up making various costume props out of cheap camping mats. One thing to remember though, it is also not at all breathable, if you are making something out if it remember that it can make the performer wearing it incredibly hot! Plastazote is used for all kinds of products – swimming floats, packaging, lining shoes and sports equipment. Put the word plastazote into google images and you can see all sorts of wierd and wonderful things.

If you are making something out of plastazote, and you can afford it, buy a sheet of proper plastazote and I recommend LD45. Using a quality material can make a real difference to your finished fabricated piece, and I personally notice a real difference when comparing LD45 plastazote to the cheapest camping mat you can buy from Halfords (and I’ve used them both for fabrication).

It is possible to vacuum form plastazote. It does not pick up the same detail or remember the shape as firmly as vacuum formed plastic, but you can get good effects. However, my main way of working with plastazote is to work out a pattern using the cardboard former method detailed in the post below this one. I then cut the pattern out of plastazote (usually a sheet of 15mm or 10mm if the shape is very organic and small) using a sharp scalpel. Plastazote blunts scalpel blades quickly, so change the blade if the plastazote starts to bobble or the cut looks raggedy – you want the smoothest cut possible. And use a pair of pliers to change the scalpel blade. If you’re self employed and you slice your fingers changing a scalpel blade, you might not be able to work, and if you can’t work how are you going to pay your rent?!

I use a Swan Morton brand scalpel, you can buy them from 4D model shop. I use the larger size scalpel for most jobs. Swan Morton make No.3 handles (which hold the smaller blades) and No.4 which hold the larger blades. Small blades come in packs that begin with the number 1 and large blades come in packs that begin with the number 2.

My preferred blades are 10A for the small handle and 26 for the large handle. This weblink has pictures of the blades and handles I have been talking about:

http://www.craftknives.co.uk/products/scalpel.html

You can buy it from 4D modelshop, here’s a link:
http://www.modelshop.co.uk/product/Scalpel_No4_%26_5_x_26_blades_TK10015

When you cut out the plastazote pattern pieces, keep your knife upright. Think about it in the same way as if you were constructing something out of wood. If you want a smooth surface where the two pieces join, you must cut the pattern piece at a right angle. If you don’t do this then there will be a pointy ridge where the pieces join. Cut out the piece in one slow, precise, smooth cut. Do not use lots of little cuts.

Stick the plastazote together with one glue and one glue only – contact adhesive. Be warned, this glue is evil. Make sure you have fresh air coming into the room, and if you are using a lot of it wear a respirator like the one below from Tirantis. If you feel lightheaded take a break and go outside and get some air.

http://www.tiranti.co.uk

But, however evil this glue is, it is also brilliant for sticking plastazote. Amazingly strong if you use it properly. In the past an assistant in a model shop told me contact adhesive would melt plastazote. That is rubbish, contact adhesive melts polystyrene, and styrofoam, but when gluing plastazote it is the best glue for the job and will never melt it. I use evostick contact adhesive, and I buy a multipack of small pots from Screwfix. If you are using loads get a litre can (it will work out much cheaper), but for making hats I recommend the small pots because once you open the glue it will not last forever and you also inhale less from a small pot. Once the glue ‘goes off’ in the jar (by that I mean becomes a sort of toffee, gungey consistency) chuck it away as it is useless. Here is a link to the evostick pots from Screwfix (their online service is great, it’s always been delivered the next day when I have used it)

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/38770/Sealants-Adhesives/Adhesives/Contact-Adhesives/Evo-Stik-Impact-Adhesive-250ml

Practice gluing plastazote with some scrap material before you try it out on your pattern pieces. Get a wooden spreading stick (available from 4D model shop) and spread out some glue onto the surface as if you are spreading honey or butter on toast. Keep it as thin as you can, but you want to cover the whole surface. It’s difficult to explain, and to be honest the only way you can get good at it, is to practice. Spread the glue on both surfaces that you want to join. This glue will only work if you spread it on both surfaces. Now, wait until the glue is completely dry. Yes, completely dry, so dry that you can touch it and it does not come off on your hand. Bring the 2 edges together. You only get one chance, you can not reposition the plastazote once the edges have touched. So decide which points to bring together, and push them together firmly and squeeze the seam together for at least 10 seconds.

This is why this glue is called a ‘contact adhesive’, because it glues by making contact with itself. If you have done the glueing properly, the plastazote will be glued together really firmly and no matter how hard you pull it you won’t be able to pull the pieces apart. The bond will strengthen over the next 24 hours whilst the glue dries completely.

If the seam is all gungey then you bought the pieces together too early. You can’t really save the piece at this point, I recommend chucking it away and starting again.

If the seam pops apart and the glue there is no gunge at all, then you waited too long before bringing the pieces together. You might still be able to save the piece – put a hot hair dryer on the glue for a few seconds and immediately press the seam together really hard. Also, room temperature affects evostick contact adhesive – it will ‘go off’ much more quickly in hot weather, and I find I have to use a hair dryer on all my pattern pieces in cold weather to wake the glue up or it doesn’t work properly.

Want to try out plastazote construction? If you live in London then you can buy a sheet from Pentonville Rubber on Pentonville Road. Nearest tube Angel or Kings Cross. White plastazote is easier to work with because you can see your pen marks on it more easily than on black. I recommend calling them to check the price, but a sheet should be around £25. I normally buy a sheet of 1m x 3m (I think) and of a thickness of either 10mm or 15mm.

http://www.pentonvillerubber.co.uk/

If you decide you like using plastazote, then you can save money by buying it in bulk from these suppliers (there are more suppliers, but both of these guys are good). If you are calling for a quote, ask for prices on sheet material, LD45. And don’t forget that the price might not include shipping or VAT:

http://www.polyformes.co.uk/

http://www.kewell-converters.co.uk/contact_us.htm

And in case you are interested, here is a factory that makes makes the product (but doesn’t not sell directly to the general public). The FAQ page is pretty interesting (if you’re a geek like me!):

http://www.zotefoams.com/

If you have any questions or plastazote comments please post them below so that everyone can read them. Hope that all makes sense, happy plastazoting! (With patience you can make some incredible things!)

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Sculptural, big, over the top hats made from plastazote patterns

In my last post I wrote about how to make a cardboard former for a sculptural hat.  This former can be used to generate a pattern, which is then cut out of fabric, buckram or plastazote.

So I thought this post would be a good chance to show you some examples of when I have used a cardboard former and the sculptural hat that it created.

First up is a sculptural flame hat made for entertainer, mime artist and juggler Jason Maverick.  This was the first time I used the cardboard former method, and it saved a lot of time and also saved me wasting plastazote (an expensive material).  I covered the cardboard in masking tape and then cut up the masking tape shell into strips.  These were my pattern pieces.

Next former to be posted is the one I used to create a huge promotional headdress.  Bottle PR asked me to make a wasp nest headdress to be photographed at Henley Regatta.  The hat was to promote the website http://www.waspwatch.co.uk/.  They wanted it to be as big and eye catching as possible, so plastazote was the ideal material to use as it is structural but light weight.

I’ve added the three designs, because it was really important to design this on paper first of all.  Through emailing pictures to Bottle PR we realised that the client wanted a very literal  wasp nest.   It also gave me a design that the client had approved so that I could reference it for proportion and height of the plastazote structure.

This was the approved design.  (but was to also have a fabric tie around the hairline, as shown in the other designs).

This former is a good example of how you only need to create a pattern for half of the shape if it is symmetrical.

The next former in this post is the one I have most recently made.  It was for a fish headdress that is currently being worn by the Dame in Aladdin at Watford Palace Theatre.  It is one of my favorite sculptures so far, especially after Cleo Pettitt (the designer) painted on some glittery accents.

Finished painted fish headdress.  Fish was painted by Emma Reid.

So, for the final former I’ve put in the one I used to make the guardsman’s hat for ‘The Firework Maker’s Daughter’ which is currently onstage at Birmingham Old Rep Theatre until the end of January 2011.

This was the first former I made for the Guardsman’s hat.  However, Jackie Trousdale the designer was concerned with the height of the hat as it could signify he was more important than the King.  But that is the great thing about making up hat stuctures in cardboard first of all.  I was able to easily adapt the former and create the new one pictured below:

So that’s it.  That is what I use cardboard formers for.  They work really for creating patterns for organic crazy shapes with lots of curves and angles.  One last note is that when our studios had an open weekend somebody commented that they were like the sculptures of Russian Constructivist Naum Gabo.  Which is funny, because Gabo’s head in the Tate is one of the first sculptures that I fell in love with.  I think it is beautiful and in case you don’t know it, here’s a picture.

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NOTE: I have learned since writing this post that these forms are called slice forms. And click here to see a breathtaking example of slice forms taken to a high level of finesse and beauty. Art works by Richard Sweeney, inspiring.

http://www.richardsweeney.co.uk/sliceforms.html

Making a cardboard former for a hat

This is the method I use to create patterns for my large plastazote headpieces. See the photo at the end for an idea of the finished shape. It’s a good way of mocking up a hat (if you re working to someone else’s designs) to check that you are on the right track of what they want.

2 pieces – one that runs from top of ear to top of ear (side seam – SS) and one that runs from forehead (centre front CF) to nape of neck (centre back CB).  These are the profile view and front on view.  Get the curve for where it is going to sit on head by getting a bit of wire and bending it over your head and then tracing that line on the cardboard.

Draw a line going up at a right angle from the crown of the head.  Spend a bit of time working out where exactly that point is, as this is the centre of the cardboard former (and it is important to get the exact centre of the hat right for balance, especially if it is going to be a big piece).  Work out the profile shape and the front view shape.  If the shape is symmetrical draw one side and use that as a template for the other side, making sure they mirror each other and they re even. As they are going to join together on the vertical line you have drawn from the centre of the crown, that line should be the same length on both the profile view and the side view.

Mark a half way point on the line that marks the centre of the cardboard former (the line that comes off the crown of the head at a right angle).  I’ll call this line the centre line from now on.  On the profile view cut a slit from tip to halfway point on the centre line, and on the front on view cut from where the head will sit to halfway point on the centre line.  Then the pieces can slot together (actually they might slot together more comfortably if the slots are cut a little bit beyond centre).  Cut the slit a few mm wide so that it will accommodate the thickness of the cardboard.

Next thing to do is work out the braces.  Don’t tape the bits of cardboard together yet (the profile and front on view pieces) as they need to have other things done to them.

Okay, so basically this cardboard former is an easy-ish one as it is symmetrical both front to back as well as side to side.  Therefore the braces are semi circles.

First of all, go back to the cardboard profile view and side on views that you have just made.  You need to draw lines of where the braces are going to either be taped to, or where you are going to cut more slits to slot them into.  On the cardboard former in the pictures I drew parallel lines that were 3cm apart.

It is really really important that the lines that mark where the braces sit are at a right angle to the centre line.

It is also important that the brace lines come off the centre line at the same position on the front on view and the profile view.

Now draw the lines for the shape of the cardboard braces.  Draw a straight line on a new piece of card, and then a right angle coming off it.  Also draw in a 45 degree line – again really important that this line is accurate, I use a ‘pattern master’ ruler that you can mark 45 degrees with.  This all sounds really confusing, but if you look at the photo it will make sense.

It depends which view you slot the brace into as to which bit you measure for the brace shape.  In this photographed cardboard former I’ve used front on view to cut slits into, and the profile view is not cut into, but that is the side the braces are taped to.

Don’t cut them out yet, you have to add a tab at the bottom of them.

So for this former, as it is symmetrical the brace is a semi circle.

I measure from the centre line to the outside of the profile view, along the respective brace’s positioning line, and that is the radius for my compass.  Then draw the semi circle.  Then, I need to add a tab on the bottom of the brace so that I have something to tape it onto the cardboard former with (if you don’t do this you can spend ages fiddling around to try and make it stand up straight).

Add 1cm onto the bottom of the brace shape.  Completely cut away 2 cm at the centre line part of the brace, it will just get in the way when you are slotting it in.  Then cut the whole thing out and score along the line that marks the end of the tab.  Cut the tab into 4 so that 2 of them can go one side of the brace and 2 the other – this will make is stable.

It’s easier to understand what I am talking about here if you look at the photo below.

Don’t worry about cutting slits along the 45 degree line, you can do this later when it is taped into position (you can do it now if you want, but I find it starts to fry my brain trying to think about which side to cut the slot).  For now just cut  a slot along the central line of the brace (the right angle line) going from the bottom of the brace to half way up (or just beyond half way is better).

On the side that you have chosen to slot the braces into, cut slots from the outside of the cardboard shape to just beyond half way on the line that marks the brace.  Now you can start slotting them in which is really fun.  Tape each one down as you go.  The slots should be wide to accommodate the cardboard.

Now for the diagonals. This is easy if it is symmetrical.  If it’s not then I would measure the braces to work out the diagonal view.  The diagonals are still eventually slotting into the same centre line of the whole cardboard former.  Therefore the braces are on the same point of the centre line as they are for the front on view and the profile view.

As long as everything has been marked accurately and the braces are marked at right angles, they should slot in easily.  Cut slots along the 45 degree lines on the braces you have already taped in.  Cut them from the outside of the brace shape to half way along.

Ta daa!  Please let me know if you find easier ways to do things or realize something interesting about making it which I haven’t picked up on.   You can buy polystyrene heads from Charlie’s shop fitters on Commercial Road, Aldgate East tube – about £4.50 for a female head and £6 ( I think) for a male head (male heads are closer to a realistic human head size).

Claire@clairestrickland.com