Spikey Mickey

Finished this hat for a client in Philadelphia.
Wanted a hat covered with spikes; no name just spikes.
Client chose the original felt surface rather than covering with leather
(Extra time to shape and apply leather would have made it impossible to finish before deadline anyway.) I lined it with felt to keep the bases of the spikes from getting caught in longer hair.
So I went with 23 of the 1 1/8 inch spikes.

Mickey's expression is ironic with the spikes.

No name just spikes!

I lined it in red felt.

"Mr. Burning Man", a la "Mad Max" Ears

Front with Flash

Front without Flash

Back with Flash

Back without Flash

the ears before.

I recently finished a hat for a client, Ron, who will be wearing it at "Burning Man" later this month.
He wanted a "Mad Max" feel so he asked for the leather to be distressed. It was a challenge for me to treat the leather roughly enough to cause the distressing, but I sucked it up and made it so. He also preferred not to have a Mickey medallion on the front but rather to have his personalization there in stead. In fact he didn't want any of the medallion shape to show through the leather. I had to use a set of baby blue infant ears as the base to get that smooth shape for the hat. Which meant that the ears needed to be painted first so that they would be the classic black. As an added feature for the windy playa he asked or a set of leather laces to replace the elastic, attached them through grommet holes under each ear.

I really think they cam out great!