Hungry Like the Wolf.....Hat.

I know I haven't posted for ages, and I have to keep the fan happy, but this project took me months to do (worth it...) which is why I haven't really made anything else in the meantime.

But I got the idea for this wolf hat from an episode of Workaholics where Blake wears a "Bear Coat". Keeping in mind faux fur is pretty expensive, I decided a hat would suffice. Cause wolves > bears. Plus, in the warm Australian climate, a coat isn't necessary. (BUT YES, a wolf hat is!)

It is definitely practical because when you wear it, you can freak out dogs, who are really stupid and think it's real. Also, I reckon it could scare little kids too, which is always fun... making kids cry. LOL. 

I also researched a lot about Fursuits, or "furries" to get tips on working with fur, and a lot of what I read can't be unread... Google furries if you don't know what they are. 

Annnnnyways, materials you need:

White fur
Grey fur

Teddy bear eyes
Black Leather
Brown Felt
Vampire costume teeth

Paint
Foam
Scissors
Glue
Pen

Nose

Bandaids

So, you start off with a block of upholstery foam (about $5 from Century Foam). This is what you will carve the schnooout and part of the skull from. Can you believe this block will soon be the coolest thing in your wardrobe? 

Draw your vision to make sure you get the profile right. Keep in mind, you can make any animal you want if you don't like wolves, but come on WTF, wolves are so badass. (Don't need to draw on the ears, cause those will come later).

Now transfer it on to your piece of foam. 

 Grab a pair of scissors and just start hacking away at the foam, carving it to get the shape. Warning: you WILL get really sore fingers, but it will look like maybe you got into some kind of fight, so you will look tough.

 Form the snout like a dogs, keeping in mind you will be adding fur, so make it a little smaller than you would like. 

 Keep on carrrrvin'. 

 Make some holes where you will later place your eyeballs, and you will have your basic head/skull shape.

You will end up chopping the back of the head of behind the eyeballs to make the "face". 

FUCK YEAH finished carving..... 

But it wasn't without injury.. I definitely got these wounds by punchin' someone though... with my knuckles... which it the ideal place to land a punch with......

Now to start creating the beast aka: your new coolest accessory...  

Glue two pieces of felt to the inside of the mouth.

 

I actually used costume vampire teeth and painted them to create the wolf's teeth and they worked out to be a pretty good size. I just had to cut them apart, then I glued two pieces of black leather on the mouth to form gums. Ever noticed how dogs have those weird black gums? Gingivitis! 

Now you can start gluing on the fur, which is the fun part. I totally estimated this part, then trimmed the fur around the moosh to give it texture. 

Then, with the top of the snout, you really have the trim the fur to get definition down the nose etc. Aaaaand also, stick on a nose... 

 Eyeball time.
Just get large teddy bear eyes and glue thin strips of leather around them to form eyelids. I've shown how to make eyelids before, so you should know this, cause I'm assuming you've read every blog post I've ever done... 

Now we make the hat part, which will be filled with your head, which will create the shape of the wolf's head! Just measure it to fit, I have an extremely large head. (To fit all dem brains in.)

Just think of like a beanie, but with flaps. 

Here is a look at the finished "face" that I am going to sew on to the hat. I glued on the grey fur and glued in his eyes into the sockets I had previously carved. Notice I have trimmed some white fur for "eyebrows" to make the fur a little more textured. He hasn't got and ears yet which makes him look a little weird.

Carve two little ears of the upholstery foam and use a piece of leather for the inside bit, and some grey fur for the outside bit. Fold over and glue.

We're almost finished! 

Sew the "face" onto the hat which you have just sewed and turned the right way out.

Neaten it by finishing off the underside of the mouth.

And now you have a rad wolf hat!!!!! 

Cue wolf hat montage. 

Wolfie selfies.....

You will get so many wolf whistles strolling the streets wearing this. It's also suitable for parties, Thursdays, weddings, first dates (You'll definitely get a second!), and job interviews. 

I even found a hat for Manny of his favourite animal, a Panda, halfway through making mine, which was handy, cause I could sus out a bit of the pattern for the actual "hat" part. Mine's cooler though... 

I know people say this all the time, but it really does look way better in real life, pics don't really do it justice. I'm super happy with it, and it's probably one of my favorite creations to date.

It worked out kiiiiinda exxy to make and took a really long time, so I don't think I will be making another one, so I guess you could say it's a priceless one-of-a-kind item............

xoxo Tricky