DIY: Needle Felted Masterpiece Hats

Hello, my most amazing artists! (this is how I greet my students every class to which I've taught them to reply "Hello, my most amazing art teacher!"...makes an art teacherin' type feel good. Y'all should try it, it's fab-u-lous!). I'm here today to share with y'all some masterpiece head-toppers I recently created. I've been plotting and planning my ensembles for ole NAEA 2016 and while I would just love to have the time to whip new 'fits, I'm just gonna have to go with some ole favorites. For that reason, I made hats to go with my wacky wardrobe! This one is for my Mondrian coat and dress.

Of course this bad boy with go along with my Warhol-inspired Campbell's soup can dress. 

And this one for my Lichtenstein pop art dress! I was inspired by my Target sweater for this one. In other news, I thought I was gonna POP a blood vessel while the 4th graders were painting their 3' long pencil and crayon sculptures today. I might have gotten impaled by a giant No. 2 pencil more than once...it wasn't pretty. 

Here's my lil mini-collection all complete. I've been dying to make more hats since making my donut hat last year. I know these lil guys aren't technically hats as they don't do much head-coverin'. They're more like headgear.

{shivers} Okay, not THAT kind of headgear, praise the Lord! That'd be what 12 year-old me wore whilst opening my birthday prezzies ('twas my birthday yesterday! I turned 41 which I was totes okay with until one of my students told me his grandma was the same age.) In other news, WHAT KIND OF PARENTS MAKE THEIR KID WEAR HEADGEAR ON THEIR BIRTHDAY?! AND get them an office chair?! Y'all better believe I was all about that office chair, I have one just like it in my art room. I mean, look at me all batting my baby bro Kris away from my seat. It's DELUXE, son! Back the funk off!

Oh how times haven't changed. I'm still wearing headgear. Thankfully this one doesn't make me look as sad and tweenie. Or maybe it do, I dunno!

So I created these hats with these hat-starter thingies I found on Amazon for like a buck each. They pretty much look like what I shoved inside my bra as a teen (okay, still do) with clips on the back. 

I busted out the Mondrian hat first. I began by using regular ole craft store felt cut to a larger size than my hat. 

 And commenced needle felting like crazy. 

Look, ma, I made an egg hat! Squares and rectangles were added in primary colors.

 And outlines in black. This hat came together super fast. 

From there, I hot glued the needle felted design to the hat/bra padding thingie. 

The can was done totes differently. I needle felted it as a flat label. Then I turned the needle felted label right sides together, stitched then flipped it right side out. I added a can lid to the top (as well as the peeled back lid) and stuffed it from the bottom before attaching it to the hat. 

Laziness prevented me from adding a plate under the can of soup. 

Here you can see how the top looks. I thought a flat can would be boring so I opted for the peeled back lid look.

 CAN you dig my SOUP-er hat? How 'bout my puns? 

 This one is my fave, can't wait to wear it out!

This hat is the biggest one and prolly my least fave because of it. I tried to make the letters smaller but they just didn't have the impact when I did. This hat really only looks good from the side tho I am thinking of trying a big ole beehive and putting it at the base. That should work, right?

Yarn really came in handy with this hat. I used it to outline the letters and the blue shape.

I've had so much fun making these (and spent so much less time than I do when I make clothing!) that I'm sure to make more. I've already got a sketchbook full of ideas...I just need me a spring break to bust 'em out. Till next time!