Leather Top Hat: Stage 2

So now that I have the pieces cut out I can move on to the next stage of my leather top hat. Assembly!





I started marking holes for stitching with my handy dandy, uh, hole marker,
or stitch marker, or whatever.





Started punching holes. I've been counting the holes because I have to match them up.
All told there's about 600 holes to punch. I've done about 300 so far.





Stitched up the crown. The crown and top have to be sewn together
inside out and then flipped back right side out.



Checking the fit. I did this at pretty much every stage so
I wouldn't get way into it and then realize it didn't fit.



This is my make-shift compass so I could cut a circle for the top.






I cut the top out of the oval that I would be cutting out of the brim so there was less waste





Pulled the brim down over the crown to test the fit. It didn't fit the first time
so I cut the hole a little bigger until it fit. I'd rather have to widen the hole
three times and it fit then widen it once and it's too big.





All of the holes marked and ready to be punched.





Another test fit. I might end up trimming a lot of the width off the brim
but I'd rather have it too big and trim it down then have it be too small.



Everything seems to be going well so far. My to do list is now:
-Punch remaining holes in brim and both crown halves
-Stitch top to crown
-Flip right side out
-Stitch brim to crown
-Glue brim halves together
-Wet form the brim to the correct shape
-Stain and seal

I think that's it. There will probably be numerous tweaks as I go along so who knows whether or not that list will remain accurate.