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Alright, I've wanted to try to make an instructable for a while now, so part of the reason I even had the hat thread here was to force myself to want to make a worklog, so here goes.
I will be stopping after each "Step" to post how I did it and whatnot, and hopefully, this will be detailed enough for anyone to follow. I would appreciate any CC, proofreading, or otherwise on the writing in these instructions, and would like it to be polished when I put it on instructables, so I don't have to worry about it again, so, if you take the time to read this, and see something that needs clarifying, or see that I missed something that instructables requires, please tell me. Pictures will be linked for the sake of being able to load the page... I took generous amounts of pictures. Information in {brackets} is information I plan to tag the images with.How To Make a Top Hat out of Duct Tape
Introduction
This instrustable will outline the methods I use in creating duct tape hats. In it, I will be making a top hat using a pot as a hat form. I will be doing so in a method that seems most easily reproducible to me, hopefully allowing you, the reader, to be able to repeat the process at home with minimal complications.
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/3038/photo0024zt.jpg
{Take something like this}
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/2024/photo0090n.jpg
{And turn it in to this!}
Materials
For this project, you will need:
Approx. 1 roll duct tape
A head/table/lamp/etc to put the finished hat on
A pot to use to shape your hat
You may want:
Multiple colors of tape
Scissors
A legit hat form
Waffles(although I don't see how they would be useful)
A mirror or something else you can see yourself in
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/3038/photo0024zt.jpg
{pot}{tape}{more flavors of tape}
Selecting your pot... er... "Professional Grade Hat Form(of doom)"
Now, the fun begins, make sure you parents/girlfriend/wife/whoever owns the dishes doesn't see you.
This is a fairly straightforward process, you go find a selection of pots, bucket, ice cream pails, or anything cylindrical with a bottom on it, and start putting them on your head.
You find one that feels or looks good, and then go with it. I chose one that's rather large, but you may have a different idea of what looks nice.
After you have selected your po... uh... "Hat Form", you can clean the other dishes that you had on your head, or put them back because you're leaving in a few days, and you won't have to eat out of them, or just leave them on the couch and claim the gremlins are responsible, whatever you choose, it goes beyond the scope of this instructable, and I suggest to either improvise, or look it up if you've never been mischievous before.
Starting your Hat
I begin my hats by shaping the top, this will give you an idea of what the final hat will look like, and may allow you ditch the pot if you get annoyed with it.
The top of the hat can be rather difficult to construct, and if done poorly, they will be the first part to fail, or just plain look bad.
First, you should flip the pot over, This is why the having a bottom on it mattered so much, it will give you a flat surface to build your hat on, that also allows for a nice change in shape to the tube part of your hat, allowing you to not need to cut it into a circle and then figure out how to attach it... which isn't fun.
You will begin by pulling out a strip of tape that is 3-4 inches longer than the diameter of your pot, and laying it, sticky side up, across the center.
Next, put a piece of similar length on top of that, still sticky side up, perpendicular to it, and across the center, forming a + symbol.
Continue pulling pieces of tape of that length, and bisect all of your spaces, always laying down the lengths in groups that are perpendicular, until the entire top of the form is covered with sticky side up tape.
At this point, the people that don't think it has to be only tape can put a circle of paper, or a coffee filter, or a sheet of metal, or whatever on top of the tape, so you don't have to touch the sticky with your hands...
Now that the top is covered in sticky, go to the side of the pot, and try to get the duct tape to better follow the curve. It doesn't matter if it's perfect, just so long as what should be touching is.
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9922/photo0025yz.jpg
{pretty asterisk}
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/3231/photo0026i.jpg
{almost there}
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/223/photo0026b.jpg
{covered}
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/4611/photo0027s.jpg
{after adjusting}
Finishing the top
Now that your pot has a thoroughly sticky bottom, you are ready to finish building the top of the hat. This part is all about looks, so make sure it looks good.
Grab your tape, In this case, I am using White tape, because I plan to have a white top hat to go with my lack of anything it goes with.
Decide which way is front, maybe you had some troubles already with your hat, and part of it looks bad, it happens, make this the back.
Now that you know what is front, and what is back, lay a piece of your finishing tape sticky side down through the center, across this line. BE CAREFUL!
Once your tape touches, it's nearly impossible to get it back, and it's very easy to ruin your progress once you get to this stage.
Now you have a guide line to go off of.
Start laying more tape, you will put an edge of the tape at the center point of this line, so that it is parallel, and so that you don't have to worry as much about screwing up.
On the ends of the tape, shape them to form to the curve of your pot with as few creases as you can, however, it's only the part that is on top of your previous tape that you see, so that's what you need to make sure looks good, with your excess going into what will be covered next.
Continue laying tape with a 50% overlap until you get to an edge of the hat, then go back to the center and repeat going the other direction
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/2962/photo0028m.jpg
{halfway there}
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8444/photo0029w.jpg
{finished, notice how the edges have been formed, and it looks almost like fondant on a cake}
Going from Top to End Piece (Part 1)
Now that you have the top done, carefully peel it off of your pot. You may wish to cut the excess tape off, as I did.
Now, grab your interior tape again, it's about to get weird, the pictures should help.
Put your pot on it's side, now tape to the pot, against the bottom edge. Use 1-3 inches of tape, leaving it on the roll, and with the roll above the pot.
Bring the tape toward you, and put it on your work surface, causing the tape to fold over, and the sticky side to be out.
Lift up your pot, and begin rotating the top away from you, unrolling the tape as you go, until you have completed a circle of tape around the pot.
Now that you have a circle, overlap the end of the tape by a few inches, cut or rip, and flatten the layers of tape.
Next, grab the top of your hat, and carefully stick it to the tape you just put down, forcing it to finally take the shape of the pot.
Once you have the top on, put your hand on it, and slowly rotate the tape, while holding the pot still in such a way to pull your starting tab back until it is not taped to the pot.
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/6528/photo0030e.jpg
{The top}
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/598/photo0031o.jpg
{I decided to cut around the bottom of it, so i had a clean line to confuse myself with}
http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/5858/photo0034m.jpg
{tape to the pot, near the bottom}
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/5669/photo0038g.jpg
{actually from later, but pull the tape around the pot by doing this}
http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/5075/photo0035l.jpg
{fold over, and wrap around until it looks like this}
{see the tab of backward tape}
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/4066/photo0037x.jpg
{put the top on, and rotate the tab away}
Going from Top to End Piece (Part 2)
If you didn't cut the top down beforehand, make sure that any sticky parts don't touch the pot, either by folding them over, cutting, or other means.
Now that you've wrapped it once, and have to top on, carefully begin to push it off of your pot, stop when the halfway point of your new tape is at or near the bottom of the pot.
You NEED to do this if you don't want to put a hole in your hat or your pot to be able to get it off!
Now, get your tape, for a more vibrant color, you may want to use your finishing tape, but I used interior tape.
Line up the tape, sticky side out, with the standard 50% overlap, and wrap it fully around the hat.
If you don't already have it, grab your finishing tape now.
For a better finish, find a point on your hat that is a few inches to either side of the back, and wrap around the hat starting toward the back, running it along so that it is opposite of your first layer of tape.
Run your overlap until it lines up with your line across the top, and cut or rip. This "seam" will continue along the length of your hat.
Now, pull the end piece completely off of your pot. This will be difficult because of the lack of places for air to get in. You could shove a toothpick alongside to form an inlet, or poke holes, or just do a bit at a time and wait.
You should have half a width of tape, sticky side out, along the bottom.
Cut or rip this tape every couple of inches so that you can fold the sticky side up onto the bottom half of your finish.
You have completed the end piece of your hat now. There should be no more sticky on this particular part. Set it to the side, and we will begin on the next piece.
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/4066/photo0037x.jpg
{Slide this up}
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/5669/photo0038g.jpg
{begin a second wrap of tape, you should probably use your outside color}
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/3396/photo0039j.jpg
{second wrap completed}
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/2046/photo0040em.jpg
{begin wrapping with finishing tape, line up along the edge}
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6577/photo0042m.jpg
{cut and fold your second layer up, getting rid of the sticky}
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/7840/photo0041ce.jpg
{Finish it up, and be done with this part for now}
Tube it Up
Now that you have made an end piece, it's off to the fun part, making a tube to put it on.
This piece can be as big or as small as you want it, it's all the same thing, and it's extremely easy.
To begin, tape to your form about 2 inches, exactly as you did when working with the top.
Once you have done this, fold over, and create a tight loop around the form, with the sticky side of tape out.
If you need to, push this off until you have space for another wrap of tape.
Wrap your next piece of interior tape, with your standard 50% overlap.
Now, put your finishing tape, lining it up with your first wrap.
Repeat the last two steps until you have your desired height, for me, this was about 6 inches, or 3 widths of tape (The tube is 2½ widths).
For your last wrap, simply skip adding more interior tape, and put your next finish layer on.
The ends of the tube should be thinner than the rest of it.
Remove the tube from the form, and admire your work. Admire it REALLY well, things are about to get complicated.
<note, use these pictures for previous step>
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/6060/photo0043g.jpg
{tape your tab}
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/6718/photo0044l.jpg
{fold it over}
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/4365/photo0045g.jpg
{bring it around and cut}
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/7213/photo0046n.jpg
{line up the overlaps}
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/3568/photo0047x.jpg
{rotate the tab away}
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4260/photo0048mk.jpg
{shimmy for another wrap}
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/8311/photo0049k.jpg
{carefully put in your next wrap}
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/6861/photo0051n.jpg
{put in your finish, the first wrap will probably look bad if your pot wasn't big enough}
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/2628/photo0053k.jpg
{repeat for desired height, and finish}
<Writing in progress>
