How to take a shape from inside a hat?

Question

I have a rather old felt bowler hat, which I want to take a casting from inside of to use for other projects. I want to be able to take the shape without damaging the hat. Any suggestions? I don't need the brim shape, just the dome itself.

Answer 1

you would have to line the inside of the hat carefully with plastic (e.g. shrink wrap and tape. Then you could either duct tape the whole inside so thick that you can remove it and it will keep its shape, or you could press clay or even plasticine into the hat, if you did a really excellent job in protecting the inside of the hat from damage you  could even use plaster bandages. Or you could paint warm wax on it.

Depends what you want to do later with the shape what to go for.