My First Fosshape Project
- Fosshape is a felt like product that is sold by the meter, just like fabric. It's available in two weights #300 and #600, 300 is about 4mm thick so it's thinner than 600 which is about 6.5mm.
- Like felt, Fosshape is a nonwoven but unlike felt it hardens when you apply heat from a steamer or heat gun. I found the steamer worked best for me as it was easier to control.
- You can sew Fosshape pieces together and then heat the finished shape to harden it...but it does shrink a bit. It's also easy to cut with scissors
- You can paint or dye Fosshape, I've not done either yet but will soon - so visit this blog again next week.
- This stuff seems to be pretty versatile with few limitations but I've never worked with this type of product before...so, what do I know!
While I have played a bit with Fosshape, I haven't attempted to really make anything from it until now. I had a McCall's pattern 7335 for some hats and decided to make a small top hat, one that will attach to a head band and perch on top of my head, not a real style top hat.
I cut the 3 pattern pieces out and pinned them to Fosshape 600
I then sewed the pieces together as instructed in the pattern instructions, except the seam of the brim and the seam going up from the brim. I overlapped these seams (having drawn the seam allowance on to indicate where the overlap should be) because I was concerned about the bulkiness. You can see the lines that I drew on, in the image below.
Once the pieces were sewn together (I used a long machine basting stitch), I steamed the whole hat and shaped the brim to turn up on one side. I plan on picking up some oven gloves that allow dexterity as I did find the steam got a bit hot. The Fosshape was never too hot to handle but my fingers got exposed to the hot steam. So be very careful.
The process took surprising little time, maybe about an hour! The hat is not finished as I'm trying to decide what I want the final colour to be. I think I may spray paint it black and use some interesting ribbons and feathers to decorate it.
This product is good for many things, including masks and body armor. Check out my later blog post on Fosshape Armor.
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