Riverbank Hopper Trucker Hat
by @dekasso
Late summer, one leap from the water.
A grasshopper perched on wheat-gold seed heads over a slate blue river, in a naturalistic painted style for hopper season.
A green grasshopper clings to a bent head of grass seed above a slow band of river. Sage green, wheat gold and slate blue sit on a warm khaki tan ground.
- Sage green grasshopper on wheat-gold seed heads
- Slate blue river band below
- Olive reeds framing the right side
- Warm khaki tan ground
- Cream glints on eye and water
The cap
One design, four caps. The front panel is what the paint or the dye sits on, so it changes the hat.
Trucker
The house cap — structured mid profile, foam-and-mesh back, snapback.
Specs
- Profile
- Mid profile
- Build
- 6-panel · Structured — buckram behind the front
- Crown
- 3½ in (8.9 cm)
- Visor
- Pre-curved, 2¾ in (7 cm)
- Closure
- Snapback
- Adjusts to
- 21½–24 in (54.5–61 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Natural cotton twill
- Sublimated on
- White polyester foam
Rope cap
Structured five-panel with a near-flat brim and a cord across it.
Specs
- Profile
- Mid-high profile
- Build
- 5-panel · Structured
- Crown
- 4 in (10.2 cm)
- Visor
- Near-flat, 2⅞ in (7.3 cm), contrast rope
- Closure
- Snapback
- Adjusts to
- 21½–23¾ in (54.5–60.5 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Stone cotton twill
- Sublimated on
- White polyester twill
Dad hat
Soft, low and unstructured — washed cotton with a strap back.
Specs
- Profile
- Low profile
- Build
- 6-panel · Unstructured — soft front
- Crown
- 3¼ in (8.3 cm)
- Visor
- Curved, 2¾ in (7 cm)
- Closure
- Strap back, brass buckle
- Adjusts to
- 21–23½ in (53.5–59.5 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Washed khaki cotton
- Sublimated on
- White polyester twill
Five-panel camp
Flat brim, low crown, packs flat in a vest pocket.
Specs
- Profile
- Low profile
- Build
- 5-panel · Unstructured
- Crown
- 3¼ in (8.3 cm)
- Visor
- Flat, 2½ in (6.4 cm)
- Closure
- Strap back, side-release clip
- Adjusts to
- 21½–23½ in (54.5–59.5 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Field olive nylon-cotton
- Sublimated on
- White polyester
Fit
| Cap | Profile | Crown height | Visor | Adjusts to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trucker | Mid profile | 3½ in (8.9 cm) | Pre-curved, 2¾ in (7 cm) | 21½–24 in (54.5–61 cm) |
| Rope cap | Mid-high profile | 4 in (10.2 cm) | Near-flat, 2⅞ in (7.3 cm), contrast rope | 21½–23¾ in (54.5–60.5 cm) |
| Dad hat | Low profile | 3¼ in (8.3 cm) | Curved, 2¾ in (7 cm) | 21–23½ in (53.5–59.5 cm) |
| Five-panel camp | Low profile | 3¼ in (8.3 cm) | Flat, 2½ in (6.4 cm) | 21½–23½ in (54.5–59.5 cm) |
One size per cap. Run a tape around your head just above the ears, keeping it level — anything inside the range above will close on it.
Two finishes
The same design, made two ways. Pick one in the panel; the cap and the quantity are yours to choose too.
Hand airbrushed
$85 for one hat, on a trucker
Painted to order — would ship in about 2 weeks
How it is made
- How it is made
- Sprayed by hand through this design's own stencils, one layer at a time, each left to dry before the next mask goes down.
- How it looks
- Soft gradients and hand-cut stencil edges. Every cap is a little different.
- What it sits on
- On a natural cotton twill front.
- Durability and care
- Water-based paint, heat set and sealed. It takes rain and a season on a boat; spot clean with cool water, never a washing machine.
Sublimation printed
$32 for one hat, on a trucker
Printed to order — would ship in 5–7 business days
How it is made
- How it is made
- The design is printed in dye onto transfer paper, then pressed with heat so the dye soaks into the polyester fibres.
- How it looks
- Full colour edge to edge, and identical every time.
- What it sits on
- On a white polyester foam front — sublimation only takes on white polyester.
- Durability and care
- The dye is in the fibre, not on it, so it will not crack or peel. Gentle wash, air dry.
The artwork
A grasshopper holds tight to an arching stem of seed heads, antennae forward, big back legs folded and ready. Below it, olive reeds lean over a strip of slate blue water. The whole scene sits in warm khaki tan, like dry grass at the end of August.
Wear it on the bank when the meadows have gone gold and the hoppers are clicking out of the grass. From across the river, people see the green insect and the pale seed heads first. Up close, they find the legs, the veins and the glint in its eye.
Deep brown linework does the heavy lifting here. Keep it thin and confident on the leg spines and wing veins, and the hopper reads as alive rather than flat.
What arrives
- The hat
- A care card
- On a hand airbrushed hat, a numbered tag naming the water it was painted from, when the design names one
Looking after it
Hand airbrushed
- Spot clean with cool water and a soft brush. Never a washing machine.
- Keep it out of a hot car for long stretches — heat-set paint is tough, but a dashboard in July is not a test worth running.
- Reshape the brim by hand while damp.
Sublimation printed
- Spot clean, or gently hand wash in cool water. No bleach.
- Air dry. Do not iron the print.
- Reshape the brim by hand while damp.
- The dye is in the fibre, so the print will not crack or peel.
Details
Airbrush palette
- Colours
- khaki tan, slate blue, olive green, wheat gold, sage green, deep brown, cream
Details
- Subject
- grasshopper
- Style
- naturalistic painted illustration
Make it yourself
The palette
- Khaki tan
- Slate blue
- Olive green
- Wheat gold
- Sage green
- Deep brown
- Cream
The layers
7 layers, in this order. Each mask comes off and the paint has to dry before the next one goes down.
- Ground
- Water
- Reeds
- Seed heads
- Hopper
- Shadow
- Highlight
The kit's stencil set is cut from these layers; with the cutter (12 hats and up) you cut your own from this design's layer files.
How to mix each colour
Khaki tan
4 parts white, 1 part yellow, a drop of brown; a drop of green for khaki
Slate blue
White with blue and a touch of black, about 4 : 1 : ½
Olive green
2 parts yellow, 1 part black, a drop of red to warm it
Wheat gold
3 parts yellow, 1 part brown, a touch of white so it stays opaque
Sage green
2 parts green, 1 part white, a drop of black to dull it
Deep brown
Equal parts red, yellow and blue, then a drop of black to deepen it; or burnt umber straight from the bottle
Cream
White with a drop of yellow and the smallest touch of brown
Setup
- Ventilation or a spray booth. Water-based paint still throws a fine mist, and you will be breathing it for hours.
- A half-mask respirator rated for paint mists. A dust mask is not one.
- A compressor with a moisture trap, set and tested on a card before you start: wet air spits water into the paint.
- Reducer and a cleaning pot within reach, so a clog is a ten-second fix instead of a ruined panel.
- Spray a test card for every colour before it touches the cap. Colour reads differently wet, dry and on twill.
Prep
- Lint-roll the front panel. Every fibre left on it prints as a speck in the paint.
- Mask the mesh, any seams you want clean and the whole visor, underside included, with low-tack tape and paper.
- Stretch the crown over the cap jig so the front panel is taut and curved the way it will be worn. Spraying a slack panel flat distorts the design when it is worn.
- Spray one light coat of transparent base so the colour sits on the fabric instead of soaking into it.
Layer by layer
1 · Ground — 0.5 mm · 25–30 PSI
khaki tan — a soft warm wash across the whole panel, slightly deeper at the edges
Mask None on the panel itself: the mesh and the visor are already masked from the prep.
Colour Khaki tan — 4 parts white, 1 part yellow, a drop of brown; a drop of green for khaki
- Needle
- 0.5 mm (a 0.35 mm works, it just takes longer)
- Pressure
- 25–30 PSI
- Distance
- 6–8 in from the panel
- Passes
- 3–4 light passes, building the colour
- Dry
- 10 minutes, or 60–90 seconds with a heat gun on low, before the next mask goes down
Tip Fade wet to dry and never lay one heavy coat: twill wicks paint sideways and the edge blooms.
2 · Water — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
slate blue — a low band of still river running along the bottom
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Slate blue — White with blue and a touch of black, about 4 : 1 : ½
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
3 · Reeds — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
olive green — tall grass blades rising from the water and curling up the right side
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Olive green — 2 parts yellow, 1 part black, a drop of red to warm it
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
4 · Seed heads — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
wheat gold — two arching heads of grass seed crossing under the insect
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Wheat gold — 3 parts yellow, 1 part brown, a touch of white so it stays opaque
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
5 · Hopper — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
sage green — the grasshopper's body, folded wings and long jumping legs
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Sage green — 2 parts green, 1 part white, a drop of black to dull it
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
6 · Shadow — 0.3 mm · 18–22 PSI
deep brown — leg spines, body segments, wing veins and the dark side of the reeds
Mask The hand-cut subject stencil, inner pieces first, then the outline piece.
Colour Deep brown — Equal parts red, yellow and blue, then a drop of black to deepen it; or burnt umber straight from the bottle
- Needle
- 0.3 mm
- Pressure
- 18–22 PSI
- Distance
- 3–4 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes per tone, light to dark
- Dry
- 10 minutes between tones
Tip Light tones first: a light colour over a dark one needs many coats, a dark one over a light one needs two.
7 · Highlight — 0.2–0.3 mm · 12–15 PSI
cream — glints on the eye, the back plate and the water's surface
Mask None: freehand, with a shield card held against any hard edge.
Colour Cream — White with a drop of yellow and the smallest touch of brown
- Needle
- 0.2–0.3 mm
- Pressure
- 12–15 PSI
- Distance
- 1–2 in from the panel
- Passes
- Freehand, in short controlled strokes
- Dry
- 10 minutes, then check it before you cure
Tip Low pressure, close in and moving: stop the stroke before you release the trigger.
Step by step
Mask the full panel edge and lay a light khaki tan wash, deeper at the edges. Start around 20 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 15 cm away; treat all settings here as a starting point.
Cut a strip mask for the water band along the bottom. Spray slate blue at 18 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, about 10 cm, keeping the top edge soft.
Mask the reed blades with a long-curve stencil. Spray olive green at 18 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 8 cm, darker at the base and fading toward the tips.
Place the seed-head stencil so both stems arch across the middle. Spray wheat gold at 16 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 6 cm, building the kernels in short passes.
Mask the grasshopper silhouette. Fill sage green at 16 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 6 cm, leaving the belly a touch lighter than the back.
Freehand or detail-stencil the deep brown: leg spines, body segments, wing veins and reed shadows. Try 12 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 2–3 cm.
Add cream glints on the eye, the back plate and a few ripples on the water. Try 10 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 2 cm, in single dots and short strokes.
Let the paint cure for 24 hours at room temperature, then heat-set if your paint calls for it. Seal with two light coats of a flexible fabric topcoat.
Cure
- Heat set at 300°F / 150°C. Water-based textile paint is not wash-fast until it is heat set.
- Cap press: 3–5 minutes with a teflon sheet over the design.
- Or heat gun: 2–3 minutes per panel, keeping it moving 2–3 in off the fabric so it does not scorch.
- If you have neither, air cure for 72 hours before the cap touches water.
Seal
- Two light coats of matte fabric sealer, UV-resistant, from 8–10 in, 15 minutes apart.
- Leave it 24 hours before the cap is worn.
- Never a gloss sealer on cotton twill: it shines, cracks along the creases and looks like a sticker.
Clean-up
- Flush the brush with water, then airbrush cleaner, until it sprays clear.
- Strip the needle and wipe it toward the tip, never away from it.
- Never soak the brush body overnight.
Common mistakes
- Heavy sage on the hopper floods the stencil edge. Build it in thin coats and let each flash off.
- Thick brown lines make the legs look clumsy. Drop pressure and move closer for fine work.
- Too much cream turns highlights into spots. Use a few small glints and stop early.
- Sealing before the paint cures can cloud the colours. Wait the full day before topcoating.
Tips
- Test each colour on a scrap of the same fabric first; khaki tan shifts how green and gold read.
- Spray the hopper's legs last in the brown pass so the spines sit crisp on top of the sage.
- Keep the water band low and quiet; it sets the scene without pulling eyes from the insect.
- Work the seed heads in short taps rather than long passes so each kernel keeps its shape.
Every kit size
Trucker · kit for 1 hat
$224
Bought separately $249 · you save $25
Includes Starter airbrush set · Cap jig · and 7 more
Every item in this kit · 9 items
Blanks
- Trucker blank, natural cotton twill front$9
Stencils
- Pre-cut mylar stencil set for this design — 7 layers$18
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 2 oz — one per colour in this design$42
- Transparent base and reducer, 4 oz$7
- Low-tack masking film and ¼ in tape$8
- Matte fabric sealer, 4 oz$12
Equipment
- Starter airbrush set — 0.3 mm dual-action gravity brush, mini compressor, braided hose$129
- Cap jig — holds the crown taut while you spray$24
Guide
- Printed step-by-step guide for this designIncluded
Trucker · kit for 12 hats
$1,073
$89.42 a hat
Bought separately $1,220 · you save $147
Includes Dual-action gravity-feed airbrush · Quiet compressor with tank and moisture trap · Cap jig and two spare crown forms · Tabletop spray booth with exhaust fan · and 11 more
Every item in this kit · 15 items
Blanks
- Trucker blank, natural cotton twill front$78
Stencils
- Desktop stencil cutter, 12 in — the "stencil printer": cuts mylar from this design's layer files$299
- Stencil mylar, 7 mil, 12 × 12 in$22
- This design's layer files, every layer (SVG)Included
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 4 oz — one per colour in this design$98
- Transparent base and reducer, 16 oz$16
- Low-tack masking film$18
- Matte fabric sealer, 16 oz$28
Equipment
- Dual-action gravity-feed airbrush, 0.3 mm$135
- Quiet compressor with tank and moisture trap$179
- Cap jig and two spare crown forms$64
- Tabletop spray booth with exhaust fan$149
- Cleaning pot, brushes and a half-mask respirator$99
- Heat gun for curing$35
Guide
- Printed step-by-step guide for this designIncluded
Trucker · kit for 12 × 12 hats
$3,124
$21.69 a hat
Bought separately $3,676 · you save $552
Includes Two dual-action gravity-feed airbrushes · Production airbrush · Twin-piston compressor with tank and two regulators · Production spray booth · and 13 more
Every item in this kit · 17 items
Blanks
- Trucker blank, natural cotton twill front$756
Stencils
- Stencil cutter-plotter, 24 in — the production "stencil printer"$649
- Stencil mylar, 7 mil, 12 × 12 in$85
- This design's layer files, every layer (SVG)Included
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 32 oz — one per colour in this design$336
- Transparent base and reducer$49
- Low-tack masking film$54
- Matte fabric sealer$89
Equipment
- Two dual-action gravity-feed airbrushes, 0.3 mm$270
- Production airbrush, 0.5 mm, for base fades$95
- Twin-piston compressor with tank and two regulators$329
- Production spray booth, two fans$289
- Three cap jigs$192
- Cleaning station, respirator and spare cartridges$139
- Cap heat press for curing$279
- Drying rack, 24 caps$65
Guide
- Printed step-by-step guide for this designIncluded
The creator
Remixes
No remixes yet — make your own version.
Where this came from
trucker hat · made
0 — nothing entered the score yet, at the Derby's published weights, since . Views are not counted.
- grasshopper
- hopper
- hopper season
- trucker hat
- fly fishing
- seed heads
- river
- reeds
- summer meadow
- sage green
- khaki tan
- terrestrial