a whim...on becoming a pirate!!!

[Bernadette]

my mother recently won a felting machine in a competition. ive asked her to make me a cap/hat like that worn by captians et al of yesteryear!!! you know the ones in black with the three peaks...
so all you forum blokes, scratch yer heads and ask your wives if they know where i can obtain a 'pattern' of such a hat please! its just a little whim of mine.
bernadette:)

[Paul Pless]

cool! your still gonna need a cannon and a cutlass...

[John Turpin]

Parrots are expensive. Weigh that factor into your plans.

[Thorne]

Make a BIG round-brimmed hat.

Fold the three sides up with all sides an equal size, and either attach 'em to the crown (a la Jack Sparrow) or to each other. You may need to add wire stiffener on the edge, or iron the felt to avoid the curvey/swoopy effect on each side.

Just like boats, the pointy end goes in front...

Yarr!

http://www.captjackspiratehats.com/images/hats/skallywagg-01.jpg
http://www.captjackspiratehats.com/

If you don't make the brim super-extra-wide, the hat doesn't look quite right, but still works. Here I am at the Vallejo Pirate Fest, the hat is a standard 17th C felt model by Tom Norburry from the UK, gone soft after several decades of wear (much in the rain). Sides just folded up and stitched to the crown. Yes, that is tooth-black on me chompers, really adds to the 'period dentition' effect methinks...

http://www.luckhardt.com/thornefancy.jpg http://www.easleys.com/ProductImages/bennyemakeup/TOOTH%20COLOR.JPG

[Mrleft8]

I believe that it's called a "Tri-corn" hat. (Or "Tricorn'at") And indeed it is nothing more than a brimmed hat with attitude.

[John Turpin]

That hat design was actually quite practical. It gave the maximum amount of protection from rain and sun, yet still allowed an unobstructed view of the rigging above.

[Thorne]

John -

Well, as someone with a serious hat problem, I'll beg to differ.

;0 )

The tricorn has some advantages over the wide-brimmed felt hat it is made from, but a lot of disadvantages also.

Both for sun and rain protection, the tricorn lets too much of both impact your person and face. It is, however, better in winds and easier to doff/handle as you can grab it by one of the points.

Hats were beginning to get away from "functional" and moving towards "decorative" === the Napoleonic bicorn being an extreme example!

http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/navy1841-350.JPG

http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/hatstore/tricornhats.html

After that you just get things that sit on top of the head but which offer no other protection == just decoration. The pillbox hat (a military design) comes to mind...

http://00000000libbyrose.bigcartel.com/account/6959/39829/300.jpg

[Bernadette]

thanks for the information everyone. thorne, ive since found the inet site in the states (that you mention)that makes the tricorn but i think i can source something to suit my needs here in australia.
by the way thorne, you look very 'ansome!!!!...bad dentition and all!!!!
bernadette

[Thorne]

'ansome! My dear, you need glasses far worse than I do.

Here's a closer view of meself and some friends I've managed to introduce to the tooth-black bottle...scary stuff, I know.

The Bad Teeth Boys

http://www.luckhardt.com/badteethboys.jpg
http://www.luckhardt.com/bridgesbad.jpg
http://www.luckhardt.com/mateobad.jpg
http://www.luckhardt.com/jaimebad.jpg
http://www.luckhardt.com/mcarturbad.jpg
http://www.luckhardt.com/thornebad.jpg

[boatbear]

Yep, potential danger there ... Keep 'em happy, I say.
Charlie

[Bernadette]

nah!!! ..........as a nurse of many years experience, ive seen far worse and nastier looking 'things' (read for example, infections on big toes!!!) to scare and frighten!!!!!!ha!

[Thorne]

So, I'm prettier than a pustulant pedal extremity? Hmmmmm.....don't think I've ever been compared to anything like that before.

;0 )

In me salad days I bet I was better lookin' than the average non-infected toe, d'y'think?

[boatbear]

"In me salad days I bet I was better lookin' than the average non-infected toe, d'y'think?"

Ah well now Thorne, whilst not saying I don't believe you, you'd better back up that statement with a picture from the salad days.
Charlie

[Bernadette]

"salad days"....is that a bit like marie antoinette who wore salad (and at other times, various 'trinkets') in her hair!!!!!?!!!!!!!? she was very captivating (apparently) in her youth too!!

[Thorne]

I'll have to dig deep in the archives and see what can be found...hmmmm.

Let's see what wikipedia has to say about the phrase -

"Salad days" is an idiomatic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom) expression, referring to a youthful time, accompanied by the inexperience, enthusiasm, idealism, innocence, or indiscretion that one associates with a young person. More modern use, especially in the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States), refers to a person's heyday when somebody was at the peak of his/her abilities—not necessarily in that person's youth.
The phrase was coined in Shakespeare (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare)'s Antony and Cleopatra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_and_Cleopatra) in 1606 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1606). In the speech at the end of Act One in which Cleopatra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra_VII_of_Egypt) is regretting her youthful dalliances with Julius Caesar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar) she says:
"...My salad days, / When I was green in judgment, cold in blood..."

[elf]

I suspect you'll need to make a mold for the hat you're after. Google wool felting, since the hats were actually wool felt, and find out stuff about thickness of felt, dying before or after felting (try black walnut hulls, I'll get you a bunch which your good wife can take back out there when she comes to camp), and molding. Once you have the correct shape for the cap, you can trim the excess felt to the desired shape, but the felt has to be thick for the brim to not collapse.

[rbgarr]

Bernadette... wife?

[Thorne]

She's referring to MY wife, who has stayed with Elf when attending dance camps back East.

I have TOO MANY HATS ALREADY (just ask Mary), but Bernadette apparently needs to expand her collection, hence the thread on pyratical headgear.

;0 )

[rbgarr]

Right. I didn't think you were the one needing a hat. It looks like the metal one is on there pretty permanent anyway. ;)

[Thorne]

I can quit anytime I want...just don't want to right now, OK?

But since you insist on seeing some of the Thorne Memorial Hat Collection...

http://www.luckhardt.com/TMSail.jpg

http://www.luckhardt.com/oldcr.jpg

http://www.luckhardt.com/hrnblr9F.JPG


http://www.luckhardt.com/awards.jpg

http://www.luckhardt.com/thorne-aylish.jpg

so there...

[Thorne]

http://www.luckhardt.com/ls-sail1.jpg

http://www.luckhardt.com/VPF-07/images/P6170068.jpg

http://www.luckhardt.com/butte1.jpg

Anybody got the number for Hat-Enders(tm)??

;0 )

[rbgarr]

Bernadette,

You can close this thread anytime now.

It's trending into TMI territory with Thorne. Next he'll be showing us his underwear and sock drawer.

(probably shouldn't have written that....)

;)

P.S. It's occurring to me that he's kind of a West Coast version of Joe CSPITH. Some people just can't see a camera without getting in front of it. :D

[boatbear]

Thorne, thanks for the info on Salad Days - I've always wondered 'bout that.

More importantly, you deserve congratulations and appreciation for 'coming out' about the hat thing. However, I think there may be a long road ahead of you, given the length of time you have been in the grip of this insidious vice, and your statements above - "I can quit anytime I want...just don't want to right now, OK?", followed later by "Anybody got the number for Hat-Enders(tm)??". Clearly, having the courage to admit there is a problem is the first step on the road to recovery. Our hearts go out to you. With nasty addictions such as this it is sometimes best to avoid the company of those who would lead you astray. Peer group pressure is a hard thing to fight. Perhaps there are others in your local area willing to start a support group. Maybe others on this forum will come out …
Charlie

[Bernadette]

heck no!!! dont stop!!! i want to see the undies and socks!!!!!but i wont be showing you mine!!!!

[Thorne]

Sorry, that drawer is also full of hat and other costume accessories, so you'll have to be content with headgear.

Besides, any more and this thread will fly off to the Bilge. Or be mercifully put to sleep by Scott. Or both.

So, baaaaaaacccccck to the topic - make a big felt 'sombrero' with a low crown, and you will have the making of a great Pyrate Hat.

[Bernadette]

a local shop is getting in a 'blank' for me from their warehouse from which i will shape up accordingly and adorn to my liking. it will work out just fine and at a very minimal cost too. so im happy!
thorne i think all your hats are great and it is good to see the pictures. i really do think its neat to see someone so enthused about a particular "hobby" (if i may call it that).
on the weekend i attended a bbq gathering of the local MX5 (sports rcar) chapter...i have one. there were a whole lot of very nice people there along with many many cars. however, it made me realise that it just really isnt my scene. i was literally like a "fish out of water"! put me in amongst a group of yachties (real ones that is) and i feel right at home.
so bravo to you and your hats mr thorne!!!
bernadette

[Thorne]

Excellent! With the felt blanks, be sure to put in an interior sweatband of leather or cotton fabric -- that is what makes the difference (in my book at least) between a hat blank and a hat.

Once you have the interior sweatband, then go on with the rest of the hat-building. You may need to wet the felt and stretch it to size before drying the hat and fitting the sweatband.