I am making a cake this weekend for a Kentucky Derby themed bridal shower, been looking at all sorts of great hat cakes here on CC!!!! I want to do a cake with a large brim that kinda fold up and down...like this...http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1291488
(diane706 I love this cake!!!!)
I know the brim needs to be gumpaste to hold its shape, but how do I make the brim do that, and then get it around the cake? I plan to have like a fondant ribbon so to speak around the cake with a large single white rose. Do I roll out the gumpaste ahead of time and just cut an 8in circle out of the middle and let it dry??? any ideas or suggestions can help

My guess would be to roll out the gumpaste the size you need and cut a circle in the middle, like a donut. If you have a hat the same size you want to make it I would cover the brim with either plastic wrap or wax paper (I made a baseball cap and cover it with plastic wrap and it worked). Or if you don't have a hat, i would place the cutout where it wont be untouched and place rolled tissue/napkin underneath. Once it's dried then you can remove the paper. Hope this helps

I have used my flower formers (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30D6BC-475A-BAC0-52D7BCD556CBFD28&killnav=1) to help hold the 'rolled' edges of a hat brim. HTH.