Deerhunter.....It looks like you might want to listen and learn something here.Well I'm here to help you out.Here's the way I've made em for myself and others even getting their measurement over the phone.Made a ton of these for others,myself,and to sell at get togethers.It's 1 style that suits most people.A Davy Crockett type hat.
Take a string and go around your head into the crotch of your ear while doing it.Not tight but comfortably like you want the feel for it.Like a cap you might wear.That's your size.Cut 2 card board strips of equal length and 4" wide that length total to trace pattern onto hide.Trace pattern onto hide.Cut 2 strips of fur from flesh side lengthwise 4" wide like Pat said.Cut them equal in length to add up to your string length,but 1/2" longer to allow for seam sewing.Cut out those 2 strips from the spine length as far up behind the face of hide as possible.Hide must be at last 8" wide up there.Fur will lay properly then while wearing it.ALL sewing is done on the inside or flesh side.Sew ends of bands together.Fit it on your head to see if it fits right.Now you'll have the bottom of hide left for the top.An egg shaped top or oval more or less is cut from there.Do not make it perfectly round as your head shape is not that.Get yourself more card board and a rubber measuring tape.Measure oval with that tape to exact same circumference as your sewn 2 strips.Trace pattern out onto hide.Now sew oval to 2 strips or band you have from front of cap both ways leaving a 1.5" wide space on back at seam to sew tail in between the seam if so desired.You can sew face of coon onto front of cap if you desire also.You can line the cap with a flannel material if so desired also.If you can sew all this together by hand in under 4 hours let me know.....I'll hire ya.I use glovers' needle and half thickness artificial sinew.
PS...It takes a good sized coon to make these.At least a 2 year old coon.Yearling coon can barely make it and most times not.You can cheapen your expenses by tanning your own hides also.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,62713.0.htmlI don't have a pic of actual coon hide cap available as I've sold them all but here's the same design or mountain man style out of buffalo with an added feature.....Ear flaps.I call them mounty style.I also put a leather viser on it with some beadwork too.
