If you’re here, chances are you’ve purchased my Mae Mascot Head Pattern from Etsy! Read on for steps on how to construct your mascot head.
What you’ll need
- Mascot head pattern (Etsy)
- 2 large pieces of foam board
- Cardboard
- Hot glue
- Navy fleece fabric
- Buckram
- Felt (yellow, blue)
- Hardhat
- Upholstery foam
- Velcro
This tutorial does not cover making the Witch Dagger hat. For the process on how I made that, check out my Mae build!
For a video of the process, check out my build video!
Step 1: Print out the pattern.
The pattern is available for print in tabloid (11×17) paper. If you do not have tabloid-sized paper, you can have it printed off at any office print shop like Fedex.
Step 2: Cut out the pattern.
To cut out the pattern, first tape the paper pieces together, lining up all the lines. Then, cut the pattern out.
Step 3: Trace pattern onto foam board.
Trace the head shape onto foam board. You’ll do this twice: Once for the front and once for the back.
For the back, cut the pattern’s ears off at the dotted line. Then trace the oval onto a second piece of foam board.
Then, cut the eyes out of the pattern and set them aside for later. Use the holes to trace the eye shape onto the front piece of foam board.
Step 4: Cut the foam board.
Cut both of the foam board pieces following the marks you traced. You should end up with
1) front piece with cat ears and eye holes
2) back oval piece
Step 5: Cover both pieces in fabric.
To cover the foam, cut out pieces of fleece fabric roughly 2″ wider than your foam pieces. Then, use hot glue to glue down the edges on the backside, making sure to pull the fabric so it’s taut and doesn’t have any folds or wrinkles.
Step 6: Make the eyes.
To make the eyes, take your pieces of buckram and trace out the eye shape using the pattern pieces you had set aside from step 3. You’ll also want to trace out the pupil shape. If you want the pupil to be to the side, follow the pattern with the solid line. If you want the pupils to face center/forward, follow the dotted line. Do not cut the buckram yet.
After tracing the eyes and pupils, paint over the eyes in the correct colors. Paint a little past the edges of the eyes to ensure there’s no gap between the paint and the eye holes. If the buckram is hard to see through after painting, use a pushpin to push holes back in through the paint.
After painting, cut the buckram 1-2 inches wider than the marks. The extra width will allow you to glue the pieces to the inside of the front foam piece.
Step 7: Glue the eyes.
To the back of the front face piece, hot glue the eyes in place, careful to line it up with the eye holes.
Step 8: Make the face details.
Cut out the pattern pieces for the whiskers and forehead wrinkles. Trace the whisker and nose pieces onto yellow felt and the forehead wrinkles onto blue felt. Cut out the pieces and the hot glue to the face.
Step 9. Cut cardboard for sides.
This step requires having the hard hat handy. This cardboard will be the piece that joins the front and back foam pieces together. It will go along the back pieces oval to make a rounded shape.
First, measure the hard hat from front to back to find out the depth the mascot head needs to be. Add 2-3 more inches to that measurement for ease.
Then, cut one long strip of cardboard as wide as this new measurement (hard hat + 2-3″). The length will go along the back oval piece but leave an opening at the bottom for where your head will go.
Step 10: Cover cardboard in fleece.
The same way you covered the foam board in step 5, cover the cardboard in the same fleece with hot glue.
Step 11: Glue the front, back, and side pieces together.
Starting with the back and side pieces, carefully hot glue the cardboard to the back piece, making sure to follow the curve of the oval and leaving no gaps.
Then, carefully glue the front piece to the cardboard, again leaving no gaps.
Step 12: Add foam to hard hat.
In order for the hard hat and the mascot head to attach to one another, you’ll need to make some minor modifications to the hard hat.
Hot glue one piece of upholstery foam to the top of the hard hat. This is so that the height of the hard hat is now able to reach the inside of the top of the mascot head. This is also to provide cushioning. It’ll look almost like a mohawk.
Try on the hard hat with the foam and put the mascot head on top. Adjust the height of the upholstery foam as necessary to make it sit where you would like.
Step 13: Add velcro to hard hat and mascot head interior.
Once you’re happy with the foam size, hot glue industrial velcro to the foam. Then, glue the matching velcro pieces to the interior of the top of the mascot head (the cardboard piece). To make sure it’s really set, hot glue the edges of all the velcro pieces down so they’re secure.
You’re done!
To wear, put on the hard hat then put the mascot head over it. The velcro on the hard hat should stick to the interior of the mascot head, keeping it in place. The buckram’s small holes will allow you to see out of the eye holes.
Ashweez Cosplay 
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