Laser-cut a Drum Major's Hat for Tremendress Tuesday (or Just for Fun)

Here's a quick way to jazz up your drum major/field leader's outfit. I needed it to complete my costume for Tremendress Tuesday at Instructables. Ain't no-one going to out trememdress the field commander.

Step 1: Make the Vector File (or Steal This One)

I very quickly whipped up this vector file, using a free feather vector I found online and using the 'merge' tool under the 'pathfinder' window to combine it with the shape of the hat/band. I also used the Pier 9 Workshop logo. The size of the artboard in this AI file is set up for the Epilog printers at pier 9. If you want to use it on these machines, make sure to change it to outline (vs fill, as it's shown here) with a width of .001 for cutting.

You can also remove the P9 logo and replace with your own, of course.

Step 2: Laser Cut That Bizniss!

I used cardboard. This piece was used before for..some square, unexciting non-hat purpose, but for me, still good. Ya. Still good. Make sure the orientation of the cardboard is such that the creases run perpindicular to the hat band- you'll need this to get a good curve around your head.

Step 3: Crease the Band and Tape to Size

gently make creases along the flutes of the cardboard to make a nice curve to the hat band. You can also run it along a table edge to get the curve.

Try it on, mark where the best fit is, and tape to size. I used blue tape because it was available, but if you want to spend more time you can make notches.