LJG Design.com ~ creative graphics and printables for your web site, business or personal needs.

Open a new image 500 x 500 pixels, transparent back ground. Add a new layer naming it "Rim" then click your shapes tool and set it to elipse...antialias checked...size 1. Set your foreground and background colour to white. Draw a large circle in the middle of your image.
Using your selection tool on rectangle, feather=0 and antialias checked, draw a rectangle around your circle then click the circle to select it. With the circle still selected, change the feathering on your selection tool to 2. Click..selections....modify and contract. I did 75 but you may not need that much depending on the size of your circle. You want it to look like this when contracted.
Do not deselect, but while you have it selected add a new layer called center and flood fill it with white. Deselect it and add a new empty layer between the center and the rim. Using your selection tool set at rectangle, feather back to 0... select the outer rim and flood fill it using the colour you want your hat to be...I used #FBEFD7. Set your background colour to a few shades darker than your foreground colour.... I used #CAB186
Once you flood filled, select your spray can set to the following
Spray around the outer edge of the circle as I have done, using the background colour.
I then added a texture effect to make the hat look more like fabric or straw. Following settings.
Do the same steps to the middle layer...Flood fill, spray shade then apply texture.
On the blank layer you added in between the rim and middle you can start adding your tubes to decorate. Just be sure you add each image to it's own seperate layer. Add a new layer above all your decorations but below the middle. Add a bow if you would like one. Once you have it all decorated and items added, it should look similar to the following.
If you like what you have, then merge visible and you have your hat :)