Hat making?? Learning Millinery..

[belfastboy]

On Instagram just saw a posting from Wellema Hats announcing a price increase, his first in years, due to an increase in his Winchester felt prices. I think this is just the beginning.

 

[Darrell2688]

I think that we will see price increase in everything, it has already increased in food cost and we are all feeling it where we get gas. It might be a good ideal to buy a few fur felt hat bodies if you can. I may have to check into buying a couple myself, I am down to two right now and one is on the block right now, and I have another Camel color waiting for me.

 

[belfastboy]

I think that we will see price increase in everything, it has already increased in food cost and we are all feeling it where we get gas. It might be a good ideal to buy a few fur felt hat bodies if you can. I may have to check into buying a couple myself, I am down to two right now and one is on the block right now, and I have another Camel color waiting for me.

I have broke the bank and have about a 2 year supply of felts on hand, a mixture of rabbit and beaver.........so I can ride this one out. I think the bigger worry is the supply of raw beaver pelts. A big chunk of the worlds beaver comes from Ukraine, the swampy parts in the north near Belarus....and I am not sure if much trapping is going on there these days. The rabbit pelts are a product of the rabbit as food industry so it should be untouched. At least the Ukraine felt factory is in the west close to Poland so it should be OK.....for now.

 

[Darrell2688]

I have done a little work on my grey fur felt hat body, I have it on my block and I spent a bit of time ironing out the brim. I purchased a large piece of marble to iron my hats on, lucky for me my wife will be able to use it for mixing dough or cutting lettuce and tomatoes on and since she can use it too, the marble will stay in the kitchen on the counter. Here are a few photos of my work so far, another slow-moving hat project, because I will be hand sewing another brown leather sweatband, I need to start using a thimble since my fingers are healed up.

 

[Darrell2688]

I have an old dark chocolate colored fedora that I have been using as a test bed for things that I am thinking about doing, I have stripped this hat down, cleaned it using denatured alcohol, re-blocked it and ironed out the brim, curled the brim and yesterday I made corrections to the bow, then added a small piece of lite brown grosgrain to the knot of the bow, it kind of improves the look of my old beater. This is the same hat that is on my head in my photo. Here are a few photos of my beater. The first photo is what the hat bow looked like before I added the small lite brown strip of grosgrain, as you can see the edges of the brim are uneven from all that I have put this hat through, I can always smooth out the edges with a bit of sandpaper.

 

[Darrell2688]

I have been working on my grey hat, moving a little slow. The leather sweatband is taking a lot of time, but I am just about finished hand sewing the reed and reed tape to the leather, this will be my last time hand sewing a sweatband, I ordered a few sweatbands for my next hat projects. I managed to cut the brim down and do a little pouncing on the hat, it is slowly looking better, I like the color of this grey hat, I may have to do a couple more in this color, when they are back in stock. The next step will be sewing the sweatband into the hat, then shape the brim or should I sew a hat band on it, then shape the brim? Here are a few up to date photos, I am still pouncing the hat, just paused to snap a few photos.

 

[belfastboy]

I have been working on my grey hat, moving a little slow. The leather sweatband is taking a lot of time, but I am just about finished hand sewing the reed and reed tape to the leather, this will be my last time hand sewing a sweatband, I ordered a few sweatbands for my next hat projects. I managed to cut the brim down and do a little pouncing on the hat, it is slowly looking better, I like the color of this grey hat, I may have to do a couple more in this color, when they are back in stock. The next step will be sewing the sweatband into the hat, then shape the brim or should I sew a hat band on it, then shape the brim? Here are a few up to date photos, I am still pouncing the hat, just paused to snap a few photos.
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lookin' good. It seems according to Art's video that the hat has the sweat sewn in first then it goes on the flange to set the brim.

 

[Darrell2688]

lookin' good. It seems according to Art's video that the hat has the sweat sewn in first then it goes on the flange to set the brim.

Thanks BB I really appreciate the positive feedback, makes me feel better about what I am doing with hats. I was trying to remember what Art did next in his video, I shouldn't have trouble remembering Art's next step since I have watched that video so many times.

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

I have been working on my grey hat, moving a little slow. The leather sweatband is taking a lot of time, but I am just about finished hand sewing the reed and reed tape to the leather, this will be my last time hand sewing a sweatband, I ordered a few sweatbands for my next hat projects. I managed to cut the brim down and do a little pouncing on the hat, it is slowly looking better, I like the color of this grey hat, I may have to do a couple more in this color, when they are back in stock. The next step will be sewing the sweatband into the hat, then shape the brim or should I sew a hat band on it, then shape the brim? Here are a few up to date photos, I am still pouncing the hat, just paused to snap a few photos.
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Brim flanging is one of the last steps in making a hat. Meaning, the sweatband will be in before flanging and the hatband ribbon is typically on by this time as well (this is why flanges have a bow pocket carved into them).

Really the only other step that would come after flanging and this depends on your process is when binding the brim. I like to flange the brim, then bind the brim (closed loop method), then flange it a second time. At this point, everything else on the hat is completed by then. If I had my singer 107-1 working then I would bind prior to flanging and the flange would be the last step.

May I ask what the aluminum plates are that the hat is sitting on? Almost looks like the brim plates that I have but I do not see a center hole cut out.

Lookin' good, keep up the work.

 

[belfastboy]

Brim flanging is one of the last steps in making a hat. Meaning, the sweatband will be in before flanging and the hatband ribbon is typically on by this time as well (this is why flanges have a bow pocket carved into them).

Really the only other step that would come after flanging and this depends on your process is when binding the brim. I like to flange the brim, then bind the brim (closed loop method), then flange it a second time. At this point, everything else on the hat is completed by then. If I had my singer 107-1 working then I would bind prior to flanging and the flange would be the last step.

May I ask what the aluminum plates are that the hat is sitting on? Almost looks like the brim plates that I have but I do not see a center hole cut out.

Lookin' good, keep up the work.

I have found that sewing the brim binding is easier before the flanging especially if it is a brim with deeper cupping. The downside is the risk of water stains on the binding ribbon if it is a lighter colour. I flange then sew on the crown ribbon/bow and then give the brim a final touch up which is usually necessary. I most often disturb the brim when sewing in the liner. Getting the needle to pierce the felt without coming through to the outside is one of the most difficult steps for me and invariably ends up distorting the brim.

 

[belfastboy]

Just confirmed 5 attendees for my hat making class for August. This will be a bit different in that I am teaching 5 women who all work together as costumers for the TV & Film industry here in Vancouver. It will be more comprehensive than teaching guys how to make their own fedora as these women want to learn the craft. I have only ever taught a class of 3 so 5 will be more of a challenge BUT they all know how to sew and that is a huge leg up. Heck, they will likely be able to teach me some things about sewing.
One of the ladies works with Indonesian batik dyers and I will look at buying her unique fabrics for my liners. Hand dyed authentic batik direct from Indonesia.....I think that is pretty cool.

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

I have found that sewing the brim binding is easier before the flanging especially if it is a brim with deeper cupping. The downside is the risk of water stains on the binding ribbon if it is a lighter colour. I flange then sew on the crown ribbon/bow and then give the brim a final touch up which is usually necessary. I most often disturb the brim when sewing in the liner. Getting the needle to pierce the felt without coming through to the outside is one of the most difficult steps for me and invariably ends up distorting the brim.

I don't disagree that brim binding is easier before flanging, completely agree. I have found though that when doing a snap-brim I get a better snap if I flange first then bind and re-flange. At this point, it really is just a matter of one's preference and working process. Whatever gets to the desired final state is all goodness.

 

[Darrell2688]

Brim flanging is one of the last steps in making a hat. Meaning, the sweatband will be in before flanging and the hatband ribbon is typically on by this time as well (this is why flanges have a bow pocket carved into them).

Really the only other step that would come after flanging and this depends on your process is when binding the brim. I like to flange the brim, then bind the brim (closed loop method), then flange it a second time. At this point, everything else on the hat is completed by then. If I had my singer 107-1 working then I would bind prior to flanging and the flange would be the last step.

May I ask what the aluminum plates are that the hat is sitting on? Almost looks like the brim plates that I have but I do not see a center hole cut out.

Lookin' good, keep up the work.

Hi ChicagoWayVito, the aluminum disc that the hat is sitting on are about 24" diameter, 1/8" thick and the disc on the bottom does have a hole cut in it, I use the aluminum plates when I work on my hats, mainly to get the brim to flatten out, however now I have a marble slab to iron the brim on. I don't think that I will be sewing any brim bindings on to a brim anytime soon, hand sewing the leather sweatband along with sewing the sweatband into the hat, plus the liner and the hatband, I think that is enough hand sewing. I guess that I should use a thimble or leather gloves. What width of grosgrain ribbon do you use for brim binding?

 

[Darrell2688]

Just confirmed 5 attendees for my hat making class for August. This will be a bit different in that I am teaching 5 women who all work together as costumers for the TV & Film industry here in Vancouver. It will be more comprehensive than teaching guys how to make their own fedora as these women want to learn the craft. I have only ever taught a class of 3 so 5 will be more of a challenge BUT they all know how to sew and that is a huge leg up. Heck, they will likely be able to teach me some things about sewing.
One of the ladies works with Indonesian batik dyers and I will look at buying her unique fabrics for my liners. Hand dyed authentic batik direct from Indonesia.....I think that is pretty cool.

Sounds like you're in a win, win situation there, you might just pick up some sewing tips and the hand dyed batik fabrics for hat liners, you can't go wrong there.

 

[belfastboy]

I don't disagree that brim binding is easier before flanging, completely agree. I have found though that when doing a snap-brim I get a better snap if I flange first then bind and re-flange. At this point, it really is just a matter of one's preference and working process. Whatever gets to the desired final state is all goodness.

As my Mom would say...."Many ways to skin a cat". As a kid I could never figure out why she would be skinning a cat.

 

[belfastboy]

Tonight I complete the restoration of all my vintage flanges and blocks. I made the mistake of filling in some of the nicks/gouges in some of my flanges & blocks. The problem is once started it is very very hard for me to decide when enough is enough.......I kept finding ever smaller dings & fissures to fill. Finally they are all complete with 4 coats of sealer. It just took me 10 days to do it!

Hell they might be good for another 100 years now.

 

[ChicagoWayVito]

Hi ChicagoWayVito, the aluminum disc that the hat is sitting on are about 24" diameter, 1/8" thick and the disc on the bottom does have a hole cut in it, I use the aluminum plates when I work on my hats, mainly to get the brim to flatten out, however now I have a marble slab to iron the brim on. I don't think that I will be sewing any brim bindings on to a brim anytime soon, hand sewing the leather sweatband along with sewing the sweatband into the hat, plus the liner and the hatband, I think that is enough hand sewing. I guess that I should use a thimble or leather gloves. What width of grosgrain ribbon do you use for brim binding?

The smallest width of ribbon that you can get away with for brim binding (in my experience) is 3/8" however you will probably regret going that thin. 5/8" is pretty standard but you can go much wider than that but you have to tension it correctly. Hufvud out of Sweden does some really nice width brim bindings and they are all hand sewn. I won't go that far, I don't mind hand basting and then doing final sewing with a machine, just have to be sure that the ribbon lines up correctly on top and bottom otherwise you miss the ribbon entirely.


As for your aluminum plates, did you buy them or make them? Just asking as they are a similar size to the plates I purchased from my expensive brim press and iron. I now have a full set for both regular and long oval.

 

[belfastboy]

The smallest width of ribbon that you can get away with for brim binding (in my experience) is 3/8" however you will probably regret going that thin. 5/8" is pretty standard but you can go much wider than that but you have to tension it correctly. Hufvud out of Sweden does some really nice width brim bindings and they are all hand sewn. I won't go that far, I don't mind hand basting and then doing final sewing with a machine, just have to be sure that the ribbon lines up correctly on top and bottom otherwise you miss the ribbon entirely.


As for your aluminum plates, did you buy them or make them? Just asking as they are a similar size to the plates I purchased from my expensive brim press and iron. I now have a full set for both regular and long oval.

My 'sweet spot' for brim binding ribbon is 6 or 7 ligne. I have some 4 ligne from Art and it is vexing to work with. The 9 or 12 ligne is also more difficult to work with so I try really hard to steer my clients to the 6 or 7.

 

[Darrell2688]

The smallest width of ribbon that you can get away with for brim binding (in my experience) is 3/8" however you will probably regret going that thin. 5/8" is pretty standard but you can go much wider than that but you have to tension it correctly. Hufvud out of Sweden does some really nice width brim bindings and they are all hand sewn. I won't go that far, I don't mind hand basting and then doing final sewing with a machine, just have to be sure that the ribbon lines up correctly on top and bottom otherwise you miss the ribbon entirely.


As for your aluminum plates, did you buy them or make them? Just asking as they are a similar size to the plates I purchased from my expensive brim press and iron. I now have a full set for both regular and long oval.

I have watched a couple of Hornskov videos, I enjoyed watching his work, however I had to stop when he started cutting holes in a hat that he had just finished, then setting it on fire. Doesn't Hornskov use a sewing machine for all of his hat work? I will have to watch some more videos, hand sewing the brim binding is easier than sewing a leather sweatband, spacing the stitches and getting the right tension on the brim binding is a bit of work.
The aluminum disc that I have were given to my wife about 5 years ago by one of our neighbors that was throwing stuff away after an auction. We had them stored in our back shed for years and I decided to use them to work on hats. I wish that the disc was a little thicker. What is the thickness of the aluminum plates that you use?

 

[belfastboy]

I have watched a couple of Hornskov videos, I enjoyed watching his work, however I had to stop when he started cutting holes in a hat that he had just finished, then setting it on fire. Doesn't Hornskov use a sewing machine for all of his hat work? I will have to watch some more videos, hand sewing the brim binding is easier than sewing a leather sweatband, spacing the stitches and getting the right tension on the brim binding is a bit of work.
The aluminum disc that I have were given to my wife about 5 years ago by one of our neighbors that was throwing stuff away after an auction. We had them stored in our back shed for years and I decided to use them to work on hats. I wish that the disc was a little thicker. What is the thickness of the aluminum plates that you use?

I have watched a video of Hornskov using his sewing machine to sew the brim binding. Would not have the patience to sew them by hand. Hornskov has a separate machine of course to sew the leather sweats into the hat. I would say that if you want to be efficient enough to make a living as a hatter a sewing machine to sew the sweats in place is a must. I am content to sew them in by hand as I cannot justify the $5k expense.

I have an opportunity to buy some aluminum plates from a hatter here in my city for a good price. I have not measured the thickness but they are heavy and I would estimate 3/8" thick plate.