Hat making?? Learning Millinery..

[Trulinor]

That's really disappointing. I'm sorry to hear it. I ordered once from a manufacturer in Poland years ago, but they were just wool felts.

I'm almost afraid to suggest a supplier you likely already know about, but for wholesale quantities I get nice quality men's fur felt blanks from Jay Gerish in New Jersey. ( https://jaygerish.com/ ) They don't manufacture the bodies themselves, but have wholesale prices and they have shipped to me in Canada (Ontario) before, and once they special ordered blanks from the manufacturer (Tonak- I think), just for me.

I'm sure you already know them, but I figured I'd throw it out there just in case.

And Hi everyone- I've lurked here forever, but this was my first post!

 

[belfastboy]

That's really disappointing. I'm sorry to hear it. I ordered once from a manufacturer in Poland years ago, but they were just wool felts.

I'm almost afraid to suggest a supplier you likely already know about, but for wholesale quantities I get nice quality men's fur felt blanks from Jay Gerish in New Jersey. ( https://jaygerish.com/ ) They don't manufacture the bodies themselves, but have wholesale prices and they have shipped to me in Canada (Ontario) before, and once they special ordered blanks from the manufacturer (Tonak- I think), just for me.

I'm sure you already know them, but I figured I'd throw it out there just in case.

I talked to a fellow at Gerish (Tonak) a while back and he advised he does not sell direct to the trade and directed me to Manhatco. I spoke to Manhatco but they keep changing their offering....colour selection, weights, sizes etc. So I passed them by. The biggest issue is getting a reliable source for beaver felts. I use The Millinery Warehouse for his rabbit felt out of Ukraine but that could be problematic soon. He does have beaver and he is upping his selection but his supply is spotty. He has been out of stock for 4-5 months and none in sight til June/July.....if then. I have tried felts from Germany, Kopka but found them too soft and hard to work with. My plan C is to travel to Tennessee, visit the Winchester factory and BEG them to add me to the list of customers. But they are having supply issues right now so I am going to wait before I play that card.

 

[Trulinor]

I talked to a fellow at Gerish (Tonak) a while back and he advised he does not sell direct to the trade and directed me to Manhatco. I spoke to Manhatco but they keep changing their offering....colour selection, weights, sizes etc. So I passed them by. The biggest issue is getting a reliable source for beaver felts. I use The Millinery Warehouse for his rabbit felt out of Ukraine but that could be problematic soon. He does have beaver and he is upping his selection but his supply is spotty. He has been out of stock for 4-5 months and none in sight til June/July.....if then. I have tried felts from Germany, Kopka but found them too soft and hard to work with. My plan C is to travel to Tennessee, visit the Winchester factory and BEG them to add me to the list of customers. But they are having supply issues right now so I am going to wait before I play that card.

I hope you can get to Tennessee soon and get what you need

 

[belfastboy]

I hope you can get to Tennessee soon and get what you need

I am going to wait as Winchester have supply issues of their own so if I went now I anticipate a NO. I heard they have supply chain issues on their shellac stiffeners.

 

[belfastboy]

And Hi everyone- I've lurked here forever, but this was my first post!

Welcome!

 

[belfastboy]

And Hi everyone- I've lurked here forever, but this was my first post!

Good to have more Canadian representation.

 

[belfastboy]

Well, I have been formally turned down by FEPSA. They advised as they cannot fulfill all the orders from existing customers they are not taking on new ones at this time. I heard from a supplier yesterday to brace for both supply & price shocks from the global felt market. A goodly amount of fur felts originate in Ukraine (rabbit & beaver) and so that source is surely in doubt. Because of this plus the increased demand means some fairly steep increases will be coming.
I guess it was naive of me to think the felt business would be immune to price pressure and supply chain issues. However I have placed orders for at least an 18 month supply.

 

[belfastboy]

I am in my masochist phase having been turned down by FEPSA I decided to phone Winchester and plead my case. Sad to report I am on downward roll. The lady was very pleasant, very apologetic but alas turned me down. I thought that as the reseller I was buying my Winchester felts from is now stocking other felt makers and no longer supporting Winchester I could slip in the door. I then asked about a wait list and she said that the existing wait list is over 150 hatters long and as they have added just 4 new customers in the last 4 - 5 years it will likely be a loooong wait. She went on to say that they cannot keep up with the present demand from existing customers, have no plans to expand capacity, so no love for me.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I am in my masochist phase having been turned down by FEPSA I decided to phone Winchester and plead my case. Sad to report I am on downward roll. The lady was very pleasant, very apologetic but alas turned me down. I thought that as the reseller I was buying my Winchester felts from is now stocking other felt makers and no longer supporting Winchester I could slip in the door. I then asked about a wait list and she said that the existing wait list is over 150 hatters long and as they have added just 4 new customers in the last 4 - 5 years it will likely be a loooong wait. She went on to say that they cannot keep up with the present demand from existing customers, have no plans to expand capacity, so no love for me.

That’s a bummer. Do they frown on and existing account ordering hat bodies for other shops?

 

[belfastboy]

That’s a bummer. Do they frown on and existing account ordering hat bodies for other shops?

I know when a previous source was a reseller he asked me to keep it under my hat. So I imagine they do frown upon it. Winchester advised they could not direct me to any stocking resellers. The good news is that Mr P is bringing in Tonak rabbit/beaver blends this month. I spoke to Drew at Mill Whse and he is still counting on his beaver felt shipment from Ukraine but who the hell knows about how that situation will unfold.

 

[Darrell2688]

Well, I have been a little busy reworking my rounding jack. I put a new base on it so it would be big enough to use on a long oval hat block, the utility blade is adjustable or can be totally retracted, I am not a fan of accidental cuts. I attached a piece of sheet brass to the bottom to protect the blade tip and my fingers when I use it. The utility blade is inside a metal case, so it doesn't cut into the wood housing and the blade is easy to replace without taking the housing apart. 

 

[Darrell2688]

I know when a previous source was a reseller he asked me to keep it under my hat. So I imagine they do frown upon it. Winchester advised they could not direct me to any stocking resellers. The good news is that Mr P is bringing in Tonak rabbit/beaver blends this month. I spoke to Drew at Mill Whse and he is still counting on his beaver felt shipment from Ukraine but who the hell knows about how that situation will unfold.

That is great news, I hope that the Mill Whse get their beaver felts from Ukraine. Things are starting to open up again, so maybe we can all get back to normal, whatever that was. BB I hope that you get all the felts that you need, all of your work is top quality, all you need is the fur felts.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Well, I have been a little busy reworking my rounding jack. I put a new base on it so it would be big enough to use on a long oval hat block, the utility blade is adjustable or can be totally retracted, I am not a fan of accidental cuts. I attached a piece of sheet brass to the bottom to protect the blade tip and my fingers when I use it. The utility blade is inside a metal case, so it doesn't cut into the wood housing and the blade is easy to replace without taking the housing apart.  View attachment 412667 View attachment 412669 View attachment 412670 View attachment 412673 View attachment 412674 View attachment 412675

Very nice! Truly looks professional.

 

[Darrell2688]

Thanks Brent.

Now to get back to work on another hat. I am thinking about posting my hats on Ebay for sale, maybe after I get finished with the hat that I am working on right now. Should I post photos of the progress of this project, or just the finished hat?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Thanks Brent. Now to get back to work on another hat. I am thinking about posting my hats on Ebay for sale, maybe after I get finished with the hat that I am working on right now. Should I post photos of this project?

I’m always going to say post photos of any hat projects! Looking forward to seeing it.

 

[Darrell2688]

Well, I am going to start out with a 100% rabbit fur felt that is a camel color and I am going to try a little hair dye applied with a brush and massaged in by hand, I will be using a Auburn Brown hair dye and I won't be applying it evenly, I am going for a mottled look again, this time I am going to try my hand at applying a brim binding and a 1" wide hatband, maybe a dark brown. I will be hand sewing another sweatband and since I only have the one hat block, it will be another 7-3/8" or a 59.2 cm, 6" open crown, wide brim with a pencil curl. Just a little bit more challenging than the other hat that I just finished. Another job that will take a bit of time to finish, and I will post photos either as I work on it or after it is finished, I will try to post as I go.

I am making high open crowns and wide brims because I plan to sell my hats and this style would give the person that buys the hat a chance to bash it the way they want it to look, making it one-of-a-kind hat. A wide brim even with a pencil curl can be curled up even more in the front to give the hat a western style look.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Darrell2688]

This is the 100% rabbit fur felt Camel that I will be working on. I worked it onto the block last week and then let it dry, thinking about what I was going to do with this hat. I had already decided on the crown height, brim width, pencil curl and the brim binding. I also made a crown block stand before I made the changes to my rounding jack. There is still a lot to do, but I thought that I would post a few photos tonight of the fur felt 160g.

As you can see, I have a lot of work to do on this hat, as it is right now the open crown is 6" and the brim is 3-1/2" wide. I will be spending a bit of time on this hat, there will be a lot of hand sewing, starting with making a new leather sweatband, that is when I get ready to do the sweatband. I also purchased two pieces of 3/4" thick plywood, 24" x24" square to do my hat work on. The fun part will be getting the wrinkles out of the brim, something that I always look forward to, but I will work on that when I do the dye work, I hope to find a easy way to get the wrinkles out.

 

[Darrell2688]

I used some hair dye on my hat hoping for a mottled look and here is the result so far, it looks just a little darker brown in color. I may try a little red hair dye on the hat to see if I can get the effect that I want.

The hat does have a little mottling now, however I would like a little bit of a uneven rust color in spots. The open crown is 6" and the brim is about 3-1/4" wide. I was able to steam iron out the wrinkles. Does anyone have any suggestions or thoughts about the color of the hat before I apply some red to the mix?

 

[Darrell2688]

Well, I will be using more hair dye tomorrow, going with a medium Auburn color, I won't be applying the color evenly. I am thinking about saturating the felt in some places and skipping other areas, trying to make it as uneven as I can. I won't be posting any photos until it is totally dry.

 

[Darrell2688]

Well, I purchased some Revlon Hair dye or maybe Hare dye since the fur felt is 100% rabbit, this time I went with a dark auburn color. I followed the instructions, except I added a equal amount of water, mixed everything up, then applied the dye using a paint brush, then I followed the instructions for the amount of time to leave the dye coated hat to soak and that was my mistake, wait time was only 30 minutes. I rinsed the dye out of the hat and put the hat back on the block to dry. The color either didn't take or it just slightly darkened the hat, so much that I can't even see a difference. I guess that I will try another dry in 2 weeks time.

This is the result of the second dye work. I did manage to get the wrinkles out, I am using a different method of blocking my hat felts after ironing the brim out nice and flat. I have been using a blocking spring and blocking cord when I put the hat body on the block, and I am thinking that maybe I need to buy a Tolliker, maybe using steam in combo with a Tolliker, setting the brim break maybe just a bit easier to do. Anyone have any suggestions about making a brim break?