Take me to the Steps

Winter is finally here in Massachusetts. While digging in the ‘Hats’ plastic tub today, I happened upon a flappy hat from last year. SantaMaker recently brought me some cheap headphones, and a few amplified speakers too (but those are for another project). Tonight turned out to be the time to merge the two into a HeadphoneHat. I’ve been thinking of the Rock Star Headphones project in Fashioning Technology as an inspiration for a way to take music on the go.

First thing was to gather all the stuff: Headphones, a flappy hat, a nice sharp pair of shears, a seam ripper, some thread and a needle were all this project called for.

You can view my photos of making the first HeadphoneHat on Flickr.

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Project Steps

Gather the supplies:

A flappy hat

Headphones with speakers that are smaller than the flaps (not earbuds)

Scissors or shears

Seam ripper

Thread to match the hat

Needle

Open up the seam on the back side of the flap

I used a seam ripper, but you could carefully cut with scissors or a utility knife.

You don’t want the bottom to be open, as the speakers will fall out.

You don’t want the front edge of the flap to have the hole, as it will look ugly with the wire showing forward.

Usually, flappy hats have the flaps slightly to the rear of the hat.

Test to see if you can fit the speaker into the hole you just made in the seam.

If not, open the seam up a bit.

Pop the speaker in and position it.

Make sure the speaker is facing the inside of the hat.

Reinforce the seam at both ends of the opening you made.

Test to see if you can get the headphones out.

If your opening is too narrow, rip out one of your reinforcements and make the hole a little wider.

Leaving the hole a little small is good so the speakers don’t fall out.

Try out your hat.

You may need to position the speakers so they sit over your ears consistently.

You could add some sticky backed hook and loop to the back of the speakers.

You may be able to use just the hook side and have it stick to the fabric of the flap.

Use your hat.

Show it to your friends.

Try it with your phone.

Ask your friends what features you might add.

Make another.

Give it away or sell it.