A question on leatherworking

[CaptChunkyChew]

Hi guys, just a prologue post to a build that will be coming soon, I was just wondering if anyone knew how to make nice hemisphere from leather, for the crown of a hat.
I want to attempt the Jack Sparrow style tricorn, and i was thinking about using water to mold the crown around a bowl, but from a a circular piece of leather, it seems like it would be all creased and wrinkled, and i want the sides to be almost perfectly spherical. anyone got any tips?

 

[Risu]

You wet it and stretch it over the bowl. You just keep pulling until all the wrinkles come out.

 

[CaptChunkyChew]

Thanks, it's my first time ever working with leather, and I want to have a cool, wearable object at the end of it, rather than a one off costume piece. I will definitely try to pull it as taught around the bowl as I can, I hear leather has a lot of give when soaked, so i will probably make it smaller than I need it to be to get it really taught. A couple more things though, one, once molded will it be rigid or still crushable? and also, any tips on distressing it to look similar to the movies? forgive me if they are noob-ish question, but as I say, my forte is wood, plastic and metal.

 

[Risu]

If you use cold water, it will be firm but still slightly pliable. If you use warm/slightly hot water, it'll be harder.

 

[PartyPyrate]

Once you have created the crown by wetting and stretching it over form and it is dry you can wet the brim again and flatten it out. Leather stretching is fairly forgiving. See the attached as an example. Its only shoulder armor but it is the same concept.