How to Make a Pirate Hat in Leather

You can make a leather pirate hat at home with a printed pattern, a few hand tools and a free video tutorial. The Tony See Patterns pirate hat is a real size PDF, so you print it, trace the pieces, cut, stitch and rivet your own tricorn.

Why a pirate hat is a good project

A hat is a project you can try on as you go, which makes mistakes easy to spot early. Leather also suits the shape: a hat made from it only looks better as it wears in. If you have finished a wallet or a pouch, this is a satisfying next step.

What is in the download

Every piece is drawn at real size, so there is no scaling or guesswork. The file comes in three paper editions, A4, US Letter and US Legal, with the stitching holes pre-marked. The free step by step video tutorial covers the full build from first cut to final stitch, so it works whatever your skill level. It is an instant PDF download, so you can print and start the same day.

Two pirate hats to choose from

There are two pirate hat patterns in the shop. One is the classic pirate tricorn. The other is the Captain Crow version with an octopus top, which has its own pattern and its own video tutorial.

Print it at the right scale

Open the PDF in Adobe Reader and print at actual size. Never use fit to page or shrink to fit, because that resizes the pattern and the pieces will not line up. If the pattern spreads across several sheets, print them all, line up the marks and tape the sheets together before you cut anything.

Hardware and tools

The tricorn listing names up to 44 double cap rivets, 9 mm in antique brass, sold as 100 sets. Both listings name these tools:

• Positioning needles for stitching.

• Blunt tip stitching needles.

• Fiebing's Edge Kote, for painting the edges.

The tricorn listing also names a rivet setter. Watch the tutorial before you buy hardware, so you know how many rivets your own build needs.

Selling what you make

The licence covers personal crafting, including the sale of up to 10 finished items per year. The pattern files themselves cannot be shared or resold. The full terms are in the licence section of each product page.

Ready to start? Try the free patterns and tools first, or browse all patterns.