Almost Leather Display Head Form

A few months ago I was looking for a head form for displaying hats for photos and possibly for blocking. I have the standard white foam head display but though it does the deed, it's rather boring and if I use flash it reflects too much. I was really thinking a wood form would be nice but that was a bit beyond my skill level.

When I was in seventh grade I tried to carve a boxer dog head out of wood and that was a total disaster. The only help the shop teacher gave me was telling me to glue three pieces of wood together to form a giant block. Beyond that my dad helped with the band saw to cut out the general shape, ears, muzzle. No one told me what to do beyond that so for years I had a block of wood that was distinguishable as a dog's head from the side but nothing recognizable from the front or back. I digress. But that is why I fear carving wood or heaven forbid, turning wood on a lathe.

So, after many fruitless hours online, getting distracted with youtube videos that had nothing to do with head forms, I took to the sewing machine with some cheap, crappy fabric that I did not mind wasting with experimentation. First I went with the doll's head idea. Nope. That was not it. Tried a few other shapes and decided that a simple shape would do. That worked but the first one was too small, the second one was so big that no hat would fit over it so I had to adjust the size until it was just right. Had a pink head working model and a pattern was born.

Now here we are a few months later and I decided I better get back to the head form. I had some faux leather vinyl laying about and decided that would work to make one and see how it turned out. It turned out great! I am so happy with how it turned out and it looks like a luxurious leather. Very happy with it. So I made another, just a wider seam and trimmed off half an inch on the strip running down the middle. If I make another I would trim off an inch from the center strip and leave the seam allowance the same. I think. Well, I like both versions for different reasons.

The strip is long enough that after sewing the sides to the strip there is about a 2" flap, which makes attaching the foam core board base much easier. I also stuffed a baggy of rice in the form before closing it up to give it some weight. That worked really well.

Expect to see a lot of these head form displays as they will be my new hat displays going forward. If I end up doing more I might consider some bbs for the weight instead of rice. The rice works well but if they get wet, not good. So, for blocking, probably a wool or a canvas would work. Have to investigate a few options first, since I don't want to make anything that will hold onto the moisture until it mildews. Very happy with my faux leather head forms though. They give me the happy feels.