How to Reverse Engineer & ReAnimate Your Cap

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"There is no Knowledge that is not Power"

Recently the powers-that-be in the country I live in have banned the wearing of anything that has even the slightest resemblance to camouflage. Most people have decried this move as a breach of the People's civil liberties by a corrupt government that is at war with its people. In actual fact, hunters were wearing camouflage long before there were organized armies. I on the other hand, view this as a unique opportunity to use creativity to find a way around this predicament and come up with a way to convert any camouflage cap (or any cap for that matter) by overlaying it with another material. The concept(s) employed in this instructable can be used to transform any type of cap into the desired material .In order to make this instructable feasible to most people through out all space and time, hand sewing is employed and no sewing machine is required for this instructable. Only a knowledge of the Back-stitch is required and you can checkout this great instructable that chronicles how to do a backstitch.

https://www.instructables.com/id/sewing-how-to-bac...

Step 1: Disassemble the Cap

This instructable uses minimal tools and all the sewing is done by hand. The donor should be a perfect fit for your head as the resultant cap will closely mirror this cap as far as dimensions are concerned. In order to get a feel of how the cap is generally put together you'll need to use a razor blade to cut out the stitching holding the cap together. Care has to be taken not to cut the cloth of the cap but just to cut the stitching only. When all the pieces of the cap are "Disconnected" from each other, it is time to overlay each piece with the cloth of your choice. I chose to use satin cloth as it has a lustrous luxurious look to it. No piece or part of the donor cap is discarded as all the pieces are used in the new cap and these parts form the interior of the cap and function as the interfacing would. a piece of white chalk is used to trace the shape of each piece onto the satin cloth and this acts as a guide to enable the right sized piece to be cut. Note that the white chalk is applied on the "wrong side" of the fabric. When tracing out the pieces it is wise to add a seam allowance as it will come in handy when making adjustments to the cap. Sewing pins are used to pin together the pieces that are going to be attached to each other. Then the back-stitch is used to join together all the pieces.

Step 2: Working on the Brim

The brim mainly comprises of a hard plastic insert overlayed with fabric. To make it easier to overlay the fabric onto the plastic, clothes pegs are used to hold the fabric in situ while sewing and joining the fabric underneath the brim and the fabric on top of it. The fabric has to taunt and not loose, this is where the clothes pegs come in handy as they help keep the fabric stretched to the max whilst sewing without any loss in tension. For the brim, sewing is done on the outside - whereas for the rest of the cap the sewing is done from the inside. A running stitch is used for the edge of the brim. A zig-zag stitch could do as well.

Step 3: Working on the Sides and the Top

For the top and the side panels, you'll need to put the pieces together using the sewing pins and when you're satisfied with the alignment of the pieces, hand sewing the pieces together using the back-stitch is the next step. The larger rectangular "midsection" piece is attached to the circular top part. Then the lower smaller rectangular piece is added. There is an inner facing piece that is not visible on the outside of the cap but it is the piece that is in direct contact with the skin when wearing the cap. This is the next piece that is added by means of the back-stitch. Of course all this may vary depending on the style and cut of the donor cap that is being utilized for this Instructable.

Step 4: Putting All the Pieces Together

At this juncture, the next step is to join the brim to the main part of the hat. first step is to align the pieces together and hold them in place using the sewing pins. Then the back-stitch is used to sew and connect the pieces together. Optionally the back-stitch can be applied twice in order to strengthen the joint you can call it double backstitching if you may. The adjustable straps that are used vary the size of the cap are then added at this stage.

Step 5: Exeunt Omnes

At this stage the cap is almost finished. To finish it off you might want to press every seam open and add the top stitching, this will give the cap a more professional look. Then the next step is to cut off the excess fabric and the main part of the cap will be done. To give the cap a more polished look, steam ironing it thoroughly is recommended. At this point all that is left is to find a nice outfit to wear with your reinveted cap and show off your DIY prowess to the world.

Congratulations - You've made it!