Making a Hat Frame

I've been contemplating making a new hat for my new silver and black steampunk suit (I need to think of a name for it...) so last night I sat down with some cardboard, buckram and other supplies to start working on building a hat frame.

I realize now that pictures would have been helpful...

Step one was to use my seam gauge and a marker to draw a circle that was about 11 inches in circumference onto some cardboard. Which I cut out and tried on to make sure I liked the size. Happy with it, the next step was to cut out the center, giving myself the pattern for a brim and a crown. Step three was to cut a strip of buckram about two inches wide for the side band, then to trace and cut out the brim and crown.

Then came the fun part - sewing together these pieces. I tried glue at first but it didn't want to hold so I just started stitching. The brim was clipped so it would attach to the side band better and I ran into some issues with the crown (it ended up being too big for the side band which I didn't realize until too late) but I think it went together well enough. I reinforced the brim with some heavy interfacing, but only in part because I plan to flip the back of the hat up. I also cut a circle of the same interfacing to reinforce the crown but it hasn't been stitched together yet.

Then I tried the hat on. I'm not entirely happy with the size of the brim, I think its a little large. My current plan is to do some research and then if necessary trim down the brim and re-stitch the interfacing and buckram together before starting the covering and decorating stage.