ClarkeHopkinsClarke is on Zenith’s front page & the Australian Design Review for winning the Best Corporate Top Hats Design at Zenith Showroom Opening on 11 March 2010. To express our commitment to the environment, our top hats were actually upcycled from the invitation posters of the opening party. Each hat was made with only two A3 sheets with zero excess scrap created in the process. They were also constructed using a pleating technique (similar to that commonly used by Issey Miyake) so that they were expandable to fit different sized heads! This origami construction technique has been around for many years and we are proud to have used it to create some eco-fashion.
To celebrate our win, we would like to share with you the instructions for these origami top hats! You can make one too with your own office trash paper!
To make each hat unique, we have decorated them with origami cranes, lilies, roses, paper planes and even ninja stars!
The original invitation poster split into two A3 sheets.
The instructions:
Step 1. You will need two pieces of scrap A3 papers. The hats are one-size-fits-all, but if you require an extra-large hat, an additional half a sheet of A4 is needed. Tools required are: knife for scoring, ruler, double-sided sticky tape, thick sticky tape and glue.
Step 2. On one A3 sheet, score the blue lines as shown in the above diagram. The 60mm wedge will be the brim of the hat while the 100mm wedge will be the crown.
Step 3. Score the red lines as shown in the above diagram. These will form the guidelines for pleating.
Step 4. Pleat along the score lines like the diagram above.
Step 5. This is the most difficult step. Carefully fold down the 60mm wedge, and in the process, pleat the score lines in that wedge in an opposite direction to how you pleated them in step 4. Follow the diagram above.
Step 6. Make sure step 5 was performed so that the Brim (the 60mm wedge) was fold down 90 degrees to the Side Band (the 137mm centre wedge).
Step 7. Similar to Step 5 & 6, fold the Crown (the 100mm wedge) upwards 90 degrees to the Side Band.
Step 8. Repeat Step 2-7 on another A3 sheet then join these two sheets together using double-sided sticky tapes.
Step 9. Follow the diagram above, curl the entire piece into the shape of a hat. Connect the ends with double-sided sticky tapes.
Step 10. Stabilise the inside of the crown with a piece of thick sticky tape, then reinforce the outside with a bit of glue in the centre hole.
Step 11. Decorate it with other origami pieces... and it is done!
Step 4. Pleat along the score lines like the diagram above.
Step 5. This is the most difficult step. Carefully fold down the 60mm wedge, and in the process, pleat the score lines in that wedge in an opposite direction to how you pleated them in step 4. Follow the diagram above.
Step 6. Make sure step 5 was performed so that the Brim (the 60mm wedge) was fold down 90 degrees to the Side Band (the 137mm centre wedge).
Step 7. Similar to Step 5 & 6, fold the Crown (the 100mm wedge) upwards 90 degrees to the Side Band.
Step 8. Repeat Step 2-7 on another A3 sheet then join these two sheets together using double-sided sticky tapes.
Step 9. Follow the diagram above, curl the entire piece into the shape of a hat. Connect the ends with double-sided sticky tapes.
Step 10. Stabilise the inside of the crown with a piece of thick sticky tape, then reinforce the outside with a bit of glue in the centre hole.
Step 11. Decorate it with other origami pieces... and it is done!
