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[belfastboy]

Can you show me an example of what you mean by “mid pinches”? I’m still learning some terminology here. I strongly agree with the center dent, I went ahead and put one on it this morning before rushing out the door for some appointments.

I will snap a few pics this morning and post.

 

[belfastboy]

Can you show me an example of what you mean by “mid pinches”? I’m still learning some terminology here. I strongly agree with the center dent, I went ahead and put one on it this morning before rushing out the door for some appointments.

In these pics you see the top view of the crease, all versions of a centre dent and then the pinches on either side in the front of the crown. These are all medium to wide pinches as I don't really have any tight or narrow ones. If you google pics of an Indiana Jones style many of them have tight pinches where the space in front between the pinches is minimal. But the easy part is; start with a wide pinch and just narrow it until you reach the space that suits you. If too tight just a zap of steam and widen it out.

 

[ngodbehere]

In these pics you see the top view of the crease, all versions of a centre dent and then the pinches on either side in the front of the crown. These are all medium to wide pinches as I don't really have any tight or narrow ones. If you google pics of an Indiana Jones style many of them have tight pinches where the space in front between the pinches is minimal. But the easy part is; start with a wide pinch and just narrow it until you reach the space that suits you. If too tight just a zap of steam and widen it out.
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Okay that makes so much more sense. I appreciate you taking the time to educate me!

 

[belfastboy]

Okay that makes so much more sense. I appreciate you taking the time to educate me!

Have fun playing with it and discovering what works for you.

 

[Candice Wurster]

I have a quick question for all you hat makers here!
I am looking to make my own custom hat liners with my own custom logo printed on the silk, what would you suggest as far as going about getting this done? I have been having trouble finding someone who offers this sort of service.. would it make the most sense to just have someone print my logo on silk and then sew my own hat liners? would be appreciated if anyone knows any sort of advice on this situation!

 

[belfastboy]

I have a quick question for all you hat makers here!
I am looking to make my own custom hat liners with my own custom logo printed on the silk, what would you suggest as far as going about getting this done? I have been having trouble finding someone who offers this sort of service.. would it make the most sense to just have someone print my logo on silk and then sew my own hat liners? would be appreciated if anyone knows any sort of advice on this situation!

I investigated this. At first I wanted to either silk screen or have my logo embroidered on the material that I would then sew into liners. White for the crown with the logo and different colour or patterned for the sides. But that turned out to be more expensive than I wanted. So I discovered 'Sublimation" printing. It costs me about .50 cents for the transfer which I then heat transfer onto a satin poly cloth, it has to be poly not silk but I buy a poly with a slub that resembles a Shantung silk and offer silk for the side panel. Sublimation is dead easy, cheap, and you can achieve sharp, vibrant colours on. Not a great pic as it is out of focus a bit but gives you an idea.

to the material. If interested I can give you the name of the woman I use, she is great and inexpensive. Sewing the liners is a bit tricky but I deconstructed a few to use as patterns. And I can give you detailed instructions on how to do the Sublimation printing without having to buy the expensive heat press. You can benefit from all my trial/error/mistepps/corrections.

 

[belfastboy]

I have a quick question for all you hat makers here!
I am looking to make my own custom hat liners with my own custom logo printed on the silk, what would you suggest as far as going about getting this done? I have been having trouble finding someone who offers this sort of service.. would it make the most sense to just have someone print my logo on silk and then sew my own hat liners? would be appreciated if anyone knows any sort of advice on this situation!

If you are willing to buy in bulk contact Tim, @purebeaver on Instagram. He was offering a good deal on printed liners a while back

 

[RossRYoung]

Any suggestions (before a credit card dispute is filed) for a non responsive seller through an auction house? Made the mistake of shelling out a few hundred for a Stetson ‘100’ before actually doing research... Scott has less then mediocre reviews on multiple platforms : https://www.liveauctioneers.com/auctioneer/7168/capital-area-tresures-llc/

 

[belfastboy]

Any suggestions (before a credit card dispute is filed) for a non responsive seller through an auction house? Made the mistake of shelling out a few hundred for a Stetson ‘100’ before actually doing research... Scott has less then mediocre reviews on multiple platforms : https://www.liveauctioneers.com/auctioneer/7168/capital-area-tresures-llc/

My inclination would be to file right away. At least get the complaint registered and it might spur the shit to respond.

 

[scotrace]

Hi, I’m new to FedoraLounge. Would you please tell me how to tell if a hat has been hand blocked.

Can anyone give this new member a helping hand?

 

[belfastboy]

Can anyone give this new member a helping hand?

My first question would be to ask just exactly what are you asking? Most hats custom or mass produced still require human hands to place the felt cone over the block. I am going to make the assumption you are referring to hand creased.
I don't have a lot of commercial grade hats but for me I would look for;
in a hand creased hat there is more likelihood of slight imperfections, perhaps not totally symmetrical, softer lines and edges as compared to the sharper edges of a machine creased hat. Also, hand creased hats are generally of a better quality felt so they are more likely to be softer to the hand and thus more easily hand formed. Machine creased hats are generally a stiffer felt and you can imagine the stiff felt being pressed into the creased form with steam and pressure thus the crease is very firmly set. Now these are just rough indicators as I have hand creased beaver felt than was very stiff initially. I guess the big tell is that if you didn't pay much money for the hat, or if it is a big brand name like Stetson and is one of their entry level offerings you can be pretty sure it is machine creased. Mass produced commercial grade hats are machine made in many (most) of the manufacturing steps.

 

[Blare]

Hi, I’m new to FedoraLounge. Would you please tell me how to tell if a hat has been hand blocked.

Can anyone give this new member a helping hand?

I’ll take a short stab at it. On occasion some manufacturers have indicated “hand blocked” on the size tag or maybe on the sweatband imprint.

but also there can be some discrepancy in mind over terminology. A hat could be “hand blocked” but not “hand creased” or vice versa I assume when Hat manufacturers used the term hand blocked the were indicating the felt was manually pulled over the block by hand and not pressed by machines on a line. A block could be shaped anywhere from an open crown which was then hand creased to blocks that had certain pinch shapes on it already.

 

[Blare]

My first question would be to ask just exactly what are you asking? Most hats custom or mass produced still require human hands to place the felt cone over the block. I am going to make the assumption you are referring to hand creased.
I don't have a lot of commercial grade hats but for me I would look for;
in a hand creased hat there is more likelihood of slight imperfections, perhaps not totally symmetrical, softer lines and edges as compared to the sharper edges of a machine creased hat. Also, hand creased hats are generally of a better quality felt so they are more likely to be softer to the hand and thus more easily hand formed. Machine creased hats are generally a stiffer felt and you can imagine the stiff felt being pressed into the creased form with steam and pressure thus the crease is very firmly set. Now these are just rough indicators as I have hand creased beaver felt than was very stiff initially. I guess the big tell is that if you didn't pay much money for the hat, or if it is a big brand name like Stetson and is one of their entry level offerings you can be pretty sure it is machine creased. Mass produced commercial grade hats are machine made in many (most) of the manufacturing steps.

Ha.. I think we were essentially typing the same idea. I will defer to your vast experience here Robert

 

[belfastboy]

Ha.. I think we were essentially typing the same idea. I will defer to your vast experience here Robert

We are related they just adopted me out? Not an expert by any stretch but I thought I would at least put something out there....if nothing else something to disagree with and thus start a discussion.

 

[Air Wing Marine]

Does anyone have any experience in using the Jiffy ESTEAM handheld steamer for steaming straw hats? I have a Rowenta XLSTEAM + which performs miserably

 

[Juhani]

It’s been years since I wrote here anything, but I think no other community can help me now. I tried to find a thread about this, but with no luck, so here it comes... The question is about color temperatures: How can you tell if a color of felt is cold or warm? Does it matter to you anyway?

A few years ago, a salesperson told me in a clothing store that for some people, warm shades suit better than cold tones, while others benefit more of cold. Namely, if the skin undertone is pale, or, as it tend to be in my case, a bit reddish, warm tones contradict the basic skin tone thus resulting weird outlook, while cold tones make peace with the skin, and vice versa.

I’m afraid that the choice of my next felt color can be a major mistake. So, how do you decide what color suit you best?

Thanks!

- Juhani

 

[deadlyhandsome]

It’s been years since I wrote here anything, but I think no other community can help me now. I tried to find a thread about this, but with no luck, so here it comes... The question is about color temperatures: How can you tell if a color of felt is cold or warm? Does it matter to you anyway?

A few years ago, a salesperson told me in a clothing store that for some people, warm shades suit better than cold tones, while others benefit more of cold. Namely, if the skin undertone is pale, or, as it tend to be in my case, a bit reddish, warm tones contradict the basic skin tone thus resulting weird outlook, while cold tones make peace with the skin, and vice versa.

I’m afraid that the choice of my next felt color can be a major mistake. So, how do you decide what color suit you best?

Thanks!

- Juhani

I think Eric @Short Balding Guy is an expert on the warmth and coolness of hat colors (I’m not). Maybe he will provide some insights.

 

[belfastboy]

It’s been years since I wrote here anything, but I think no other community can help me now. I tried to find a thread about this, but with no luck, so here it comes... The question is about color temperatures: How can you tell if a color of felt is cold or warm? Does it matter to you anyway?

A few years ago, a salesperson told me in a clothing store that for some people, warm shades suit better than cold tones, while others benefit more of cold. Namely, if the skin undertone is pale, or, as it tend to be in my case, a bit reddish, warm tones contradict the basic skin tone thus resulting weird outlook, while cold tones make peace with the skin, and vice versa.

I’m afraid that the choice of my next felt color can be a major mistake. So, how do you decide what color suit you best?

Thanks!

- Juhani

I think we all have a natural understanding of what looks good on us, what we feel comfortable wearing and what we are just naturally attracted towards. I would look to what you have in your wardrobe already and what item in that wardrobe do you most often reach for. I think that will give you a pretty good idea of the area in which to look for a felt colour.

 

[belfastboy]

I think we all have a natural understanding of what looks good on us, what we feel comfortable wearing and what we are just naturally attracted towards. I would look to what you have in your wardrobe already and what item in that wardrobe do you most often reach for. I think that will give you a pretty good idea of the area in which to look for a felt colour.

My wife was a wardrobe consultant many many years ago. She would determine the clients "seasons" which was more colours/tones rather than straight warm and cold. I am a 'summer' and should stay away from a wide range of colours/shades/tones ......but some of them I am strongly attracted to so buy and wear the damn colours I shouldn't wear anyway.

 

[Juhani]

My wife was a wardrobe consultant many many years ago. She would determine the clients "seasons" which was more colours/tones rather than straight warm and cold. I am a 'summer' and should stay away from a wide range of colours/shades/tones ......but some of them I am strongly attracted to so buy and wear the damn colours I shouldn't wear anyway.

I am “summer” too, a grizzled one. I wear blues, sometimes combined with certain grays. I thought camel / beige felt would contrast nicely my jackets and shirts, but if the color is too warm, then my face might look ridiculously red.

Perhaps a cold tone hatband is the solution. If it’s cold and still fits with the felt, it just proves the felt is vivid.

- Juhani