Mardi Gras Hats

Crowds of people in costumes are a huge part of Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras hats are a huge part of that costuming. The Mardi Gras hats and clothing are a big part of what is fun about the festival. Making yourself into something else is a big part of the fun of Mardi Gras.

The Mardi Gras hats, beads and the bright gaily colored costumes that are worn are a traditional part of Mardi Gras. The process of making your own is quite simply accomplished, although there are those which can be purchased if you'd rather to go that route. Making a Mardi Gras hat that is like the older jester hats is easy to do.

If you follow a few simple steps you can make your own Mardi Gras hats and not have to spend the money that it takes to buy them. The bright colored fabrics that it takes to accomplish them can be found at nearly any store that sells fabric or novelty materials. You can purchase felt or other woolen materials and the hat making will be much easier in that the seaming won't fray using this type of materials.

Whether you are actually going to Mardi Gras or simply holding a Mardi Gras costume party at your house, you can make your own jester hat fairly simply if you follow these directions.

The things you're going to need are:

• Green, Purple and gold materials, (felt makes it very easy to accomplish)
• Pair of scissors
• Glue or embroidery floss
• Bells for the end of the hat
• Measuring tape
• Newspaper

The Simple Directions to make your Jester hat for Mardi Gras are:

Using newspaper or another type paper, make a line that is about 3-4 inches long then draw two lines up from it that intersect to make a triangle., then flip it to trace onto the felt or other materials. Make the base be about 3-4 inches long.

Cut out the felt and then continue cutting out triangles of various types and colors of fabric until you have enough triangles that it will go around your head. You will need to measure your head to find out exactly how many triangles of purple, green, or gold that you're going to need.

Make a band of fabric about two or three inches wide from felt. The circumference of your head will tell you how long that band has to be Cut out the band and then lay the triangles on the top of it with the points of the triangles pointing toward the top. Stitch those into place or else hot glue them onto the band. At the tip of each one of the triangles on your Mardi Gras hat you can either stitch a bell into place or hot glue it so that there is a slight jingling as you move and play.

Stitch the band together at the ends so that it fits onto your head snugly. Make sure that you're right by measuring the band against your head. You may also use the embroidery floss to make your hat a bit more special by making small designs on it with gold or other gilt or metallic floss. The jester hat is one of the traditional Mardi Gras hats that you're going to see and want to emulate. Making your own is much less costly and in fact a lot more fun.