Making hats for Fine Bear Ted!

Sometimes as a crafter you get to do some very different stuff.  One of Marillion's fans is a little bear called Fine Bear Ted! and he always goes to the PZ convention and other gigs.  Earlier this year in the countdown to the convention he decided he was going to wear a different hat each day in the 50 days run up to the convention starting and he put out an appeal on Facebook for people to make him hats as he didn't actually own 50.

The first hat I made for him was a very festive green and red Elf hat - I found out his head measurements and selected one of my many bears who shared his measurements to be my model.  This is Alec named after Alec Stewart the cricketer (most of my bears are named after cricketers!!) modelling the hat which I made from felt and hand stitched

 And a close up of the hat

And Fine Bear Ted wearing the hat -

Later on during the challenge Fine Bear Ted! put out an appeal for someone to make him a jester's hat and I agreed to do it but then after a while it dawned on me that perhaps he wanted a hat like Marillion's jester that use to appear on the artwork for their earlier albums rather than just an ordinary jester's hat.  I was right - yes please he would love a Marillion jester's hat - when I downloaded some photographs of the jester I wondered if I had overstretched myself in volunteering to make this!!

But armed with greaseproof paper I tentatively made a pattern and then did a mock up in scrap fabric, it sort of worked so then I got on with cutting out my felt.  I made the hat in two stages - I made the base of the hat with it's spines - basing the pattern on some children's dinosaur hats that I had found and then I made the ear pieces separately and attached them.  I don't think I made too bad a job of it in the end - here is Alec being my model again -

And here is Fine Bear Ted! looking really lovely in this hat -

 

Sadly he hasn't got to wear the hat at a Marillion gig yet - the plan was for me to hand deliver the hat to him at the PZ convention but sadly we didn't make it due to getting the 'flu so I had to post it.  Hopefully it won't be too long before Fine Bear Ted! can wear it to a gig!!