DIY Mad Hatter Costume Johnny Depp

Check out this creative tutorial by one of my favorite sites Threadbanger.com.  If you are looking to make your own Mad Hatter Costume look no further.  They created a hat from scratch and re-engineered an old jacket and pants to come up with this fantastic Mad Hatter outfit.  Perfect for any Alice in Wonderland birthday party! Alice in Wonderland Party Supplies

Alice in Wonderland Party : Mad Hatter Costume Supplies

• Poster board
• Foam Core
• Fabric to cover hat,  like upholstery fabric
• Fabric for rim of hat, like cotton
• Thick wire rim
• Lace fabric for layering over hat (inexpensive lace curtain)
• Tulip Spray Fabric Paint
• 2 long vintage hat pins
• Long Ostrich feathers

Equipment Needed:

• Scissors
• Sewing Machine
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue
• Utility knife
• Permanent marker or black marker
• Measuring tape to measure your head

Mad Hatter Outfit:

• Old Jacket
• Old Pants
• Leftover lace for cuffs
• Leftover fabric from Hat
• Tulip Spray Fabric Paint in various colors
• 1/2″ painters tape
• Yarn
• Spools of thread in various colors
• Old Belt
• Silk or Polyester Satin fabric for scarf

Alice in Wonderland Party : Mad Hatter Costume Directions

This is basically a step by step transcript of the tutorial by Threadbanger.com

The Mad Hatter Hat

Step 1. Cut out long rectangle piece of paper 10″ in height and width the circumference of your head.  Make a tall cylinder shape by taping the ends together as shown.  Take a piece of posterboard and draw a large circle with a 6″ radius.  Cut out using a sharp utility knife.

The radius of a circle is the distance from its center to its outside edge.

Step 2. Glue the cylinder to the center of the foam circle.  Take a piece of thick material, like upholstery fabric, and hot glue all around the top of the foam edge.  This is the top of the hat.  When you have glued the fabric all around the top of the hat, make sure there is enough fabric to cover the raw edge of your starting point.  Fold the seam in and glue the fabric in place.

For the bottom of the hat, make sure to stretch the fabric tight and fold inside of the cylinder.  Glue in place.

Step 3. Cut a circle out of fabric the same size of the top of the hat (6″ radius).  Glue to the top of the hat.  Cut off any excess for a nice clean edge.  At this point you can add a layer of old lace fabric to the hat (sides and top) in the same manner using hot glue to secure.  This gives the hat extra depth and I believe makes it look vintage.  Love it!

Step 4. Use another piece of material and trace around the bottom of the cylinder in chalk or pencil.  Cut out a small hole inside the drawing.  Cut slits up to the circle outline.

Take a piece of stiff wire that has a radius about 3″ longer than the chalk circle radius.  Tape the wire ends together.

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Step 5. Place the wire over the circle outline and use that wire as a guide to cut out the fabric.   Allow about 2-3 inches of seam from the edge of the wire.  This will be the brim of the hat.

Place the fabric piece on top of the bottom of the cylinder, and glue in place all around the cylinder and pushing the slits down against the edge.

Lay the hat over the wire circle on a flat surface making sure the wire is centered.  Fold the fabric in tightly and pin in place.  The tighter you pull the curvier the brim will look.

Step 6. Sew all around the brim of the hat and cut off any excess when done.

Make a size card out of left over foam board by writing “10/6″ in big bold letters with a marker and use stamping ink to make the tag look antiquated.  You may also try to burn the edges a bit.

Step 7. Spray paint the hat in various colors using Tulip Spray Fabric Paint – dark green, black and metallic gold.  Let dry completely.

Make a wide scarf for the hat out of salmon colored fabric or just find a scarf in a thrift store or discount store.  Tie around the scarf.

Add in the size card, ostrich feathers and mock vintage hat pins.

The Mad Hatter Jacket

Step 1. Lace Lapel. Get an old jacket and dye it the color you want if it is not the right color.  Pin on lace fabric on the lapel, making sure that the fabric is flat against the lapel when the lapel is open.  Sew in place all around the edge and cut off excess for a nice clean edge.

Step 2. Color. Use fabric spray paint like Tulip Spray Fabric Paint to spray on purple color in random spots.

Step 3. Lace Sleeves. Add lace to the bottom of the sleeves by sewing to the bottom sleeve.  Add a decorative gold trim to the bottom edge by gluing in place all around the sleeve hem.

The Mad Hatter Pants

Step 1. Color. Color an old pair of pants if it is not in the right color already.  Let dry.

Step 2.  Tape. Tape pin stripes using painter’s tape vertically along the entire pants.

Step 3.  Color. Use Tulip Spray Fabric Paint in contrasting color to spray over the taped stripes.  Strip off the tape, and then let dry completely.

The Mad Hatter Scarf

Step 1. Black Spots. Cut out a piece of silky fabric and use Tulip Spray Fabric Paint to spray on patches of black color all over.

Step 2.  Colored Background. Use the colored fabric spray to add in various colors to the background. Let the colors blend in together and overlap a bit.  Let dry.

The Mad Hatter Gloves

Step 1.  Outline. Use chalk to outline the shape of your hand on double layered fabric.  In the tutorial, they actually used the finished edge of a pants which I thought is pretty clever.  This way you don’t have to finish off the seam and saves you a step.

Step 2.  Cut out. Cut out the gloves leaving about 1 inch seam allowance.

Step 3.  Sew. Sew the gloves with the fabric having the right sides together.  Turn inside out.

Leave thumb and wrist edges unfinished.

The Mad Hatter Spool Belt

Step 1.  Colored Spools. Gather Colored Spools of thread, about 16.

Step 2. Prep Spools. Peel off the labels from the end of the spools.

Step 3.  Thread. Thread a long piece of yarn through the first spool and place that in the center.

Step 4. Continue Threading. Thread through the second spool from both sides and out the opposite ends. Continue with all spools.

Step 5.  Old Belt.  Take an old leather belt and cut in half.

Step 6.  Punch 4 holes into the leather in a square format.

Step 7. Fasten.  Use a large needle to thread the ends of both sides of the row of spools to the leather and sew in an “X” format.

The belt is now done!

Congratulations on making your own Johnny Depp Mad Hatter Costume!  For the actual video go to the Threadbanger.com website.  Thank You Threadbanger!

{Photo Credits and Tutorial: Threadbanger.com}

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