Hat making?? Learning Millinery..

[Martvjp]

About a year ago they advertised as well. Perhaps the pay is crap or the apprentice learned enough to set out on his own. Montana is a wonderful place, have spent a great deal of time travelling the state but only Spring, Summer and Autumn....because Montana winters are not all that much fun for me. I am a west coast kind of guy.

Yes Montana looks very beautiful. It’s on my wish list !

 

[Darrell2688]

I just purchased two 3D band blocks, one for a hat that I will be making in about a week, the customer used a flex curve and sent me photos along with the measurement of his head. I will be using one of the band blocks when I make the hat, the other will be sent to the customer, he has a few hats that he plans to use the band block on to shape the hats to his head shape. The idea of the flex curve is a idea that Robert of Wolfbrae Hatters suggested that I use for customers that have a problem finding a hat that fits properly. After the customer used the flex curve and traced it out on paper he could see why he had trouble getting a hat to fit him properly. The band block increases the cost of a hat, but the hat will fit perfectly.
You can find Busted Hats on Ebay, Etsy and Google search.

 

[Darrell2688]

Hello Fedora Fans,

I purchased the 3D band blocks from Allan at WalshDesign3D, I will be using one of the band blocks soon, my customer has ordered a new hat in FEPSA Beaver in natural color, which is a light gray color. Allan worked very hard on my order & he made what I needed, he made the blocks in one day and shipped them out the next day. He works with scans of the pattern made using the Flex Curve. Allan's work is outstanding and he works very hard to produce the tools that you need to make a great hat. Here is the band block that Allan made and the traced image that I sent to him to work with, looks like a perfect match. I decided to ask Allan to make the band blocks for a couple of reasons, I don't have the setup to make wooden band blocks, the plastic 3D versions have smooth surfaces and will slide inside the leather sweatband very easy, I don't have to spend time cutting, sanding and applying Varathane to the wood, plus while I am waiting on the 3D plastic band blocks, I can make the hat that I need the band block for and other hats that have been ordered.

Thank you Robert for suggesting Allan at WalshDesign3D Etsy.

Have a Great Friday and an Even Better Weekend,
Darrell

 

[Mark_O]

Hello Fedora Fans,

I purchased the 3D band blocks from Allan at WalshDesign3D, I will be using one of the band blocks soon, my customer has ordered a new hat in FEPSA Beaver in natural color, which is a light gray color. Allan worked very hard on my order & he made what I needed, he made the blocks in one day and shipped them out the next day. He works with scans of the pattern made using the Flex Curve. Allan's work is outstanding and he works very hard to produce the tools that you need to make a great hat. Here is the band block that Allan made and the traced image that I sent to him to work with, looks like a perfect match. I decided to ask Allan to make the band blocks for a couple of reasons, I don't have the setup to make wooden band blocks, the plastic 3D versions have smooth surfaces and will slide inside the leather sweatband very easy, I don't have to spend time cutting, sanding and applying Varathane to the wood, plus while I am waiting on the 3D plastic band blocks, I can make the hat that I need the band block for and other hats that have been ordered.

Thank you Robert for suggesting Allan at WalshDesign3D Etsy.

Have a Great Friday and an Even Better Weekend,
Darrell

Very interesting! How much did the band block cost you?

 

[Darrell2688]

I purchased 2 band blocks, I have 1 band block that I will be using to form my customers next hat around, the other band block I shipped off to my customer to use on his other hats to form the hats so they will fit better. I think that I paid around $39.00 each plus tax and shipping plus postage to ship the second band block to my customer was about $8.00.

I could have purchased a 2x8x8 untreated pine board, cut and sanded a block then applied a coat of Varathane, however I would have to buy a better sander and shop vac to take care of the dust, that would have been more expensive, and I have allergies to dust, mold, pollen.

I figure that the purchase of the band blocks is an investment that will make the customer happy and a repeat customer. My customer is a hat collector, his next fedora will be a Bogart style fedora, the hat looks like it has a single crown crease, almost like a Indy Style fedora. I will have to study the Bogart fedora style a little more, so far I think that the front crease is about 4.7" tall and the sides are about 5" tall with the back about 4 1/4" tall with a 2 5/8" wide brim, I could be wrong, so I will be researching the subject a lot more.

 

[belfastboy]

Very interesting! How much did the band block cost you?

I have found that a band block is not necessary unless you have an odd shaped head. I supply them for the odd commission of an Extra Long Oval or a true Round Oval. If you are Long or Regular oval the hat is blocked to match your head shape and will not deform. I have found most clients are not willing to pay the extra $40 to $50 for one and I think they are right. I make them here in my shop and supply them no charge to those with 'out of the norm' head shapes. .

 

[Darrell2688]

I have found that a band block is not necessary unless you have an odd shaped head. I supply them for the odd commission of an Extra Long Oval or a true Round Oval. If you are Long or Regular oval the hat is blocked to match your head shape and will not deform. I have found most clients are not willing to pay the extra $40 to $50 for one and I think they are right. I make them here in my shop and supply them no charge to those with 'out of the norm' head shapes. .

I agree Robert, this was the second time that I encountered someone that could use a band block to form the hat so it would fit their head. The first time that I used a band block to shape the hat to fit the customers head, the customer sent me his personal band block to use, he made his own band block and he makes a band block for each of his hats.

During a conversation with my customer, he told me about his problem of finding a hat that fit him comfortably, he used foam inserts in hats that were 1 size to big for him and hats that were in his size were tight, I suggested using a hat stretcher and he told me that he had 3 stretchers that he has tried.

That is when I suggested using the Flex Curve method that you told me about, After he used the flex curve and traced out the inside area of the flex curve, he could see why he had trouble finding a hat in his size that was comfortable to wear.

Thank you for telling me about using a Flex Curve, the idea of using a Flex Curve has proven to be a good investment and a great idea.

 

[Martvjp]

Hello everyone,

I have a few questions about customizing the liner and sweatband with my logo.

For the sweatband:

• I’ve seen machines like the WT-90, but they’re too large and complex for my current needs.
• I’m considering using a custom leather stamp with an electric iron, which would allow me to apply gold foil or similar effects. I found one on Etsy for around $90-100. Has anyone used this method before? Also, should the gold leaf be 24k, or is a gold-colored foil sufficient?

For the liner:

• The only method I’ve come across so far is screen printing transfers, but I’m uncertain about the quality of the results. Is anyone using this technique?
• If not, what methods do you recommend?

I noticed that some suppliers offer both liners and sweatbands with logos already applied, but they require large orders. Since I’m just starting out and only making these for myself and friends, I can’t commit to buying in bulk.

Thanks in advance for your usual support!

 

[belfastboy]

Hello everyone,

I have a few questions about customizing the liner and sweatband with my logo.

For the sweatband:

• I’ve seen machines like the WT-90, but they’re too large and complex for my current needs.
• I’m considering using a custom leather stamp with an electric iron, which would allow me to apply gold foil or similar effects. I found one on Etsy for around $90-100. Has anyone used this method before? Also, should the gold leaf be 24k, or is a gold-colored foil sufficient?

For the liner:

• The only method I’ve come across so far is screen printing transfers, but I’m uncertain about the quality of the results. Is anyone using this technique?
• If not, what methods do you recommend?

I noticed that some suppliers offer both liners and sweatbands with logos already applied, but they require large orders. Since I’m just starting out and only making these for myself and friends, I can’t commit to buying in bulk.

Thanks in advance for your usual support!

I use sublimation printing for my liners/logo. It works very well.
Instead of buying an expensive heat press I picked up a vintage Sunbeam dry iron on Ebay for $20. You can't use a steam iron as the steam vent holes show up on the transfer. Sublimation prints sharp and bright colours but only on man made fibre like Polyester. You can now use a DTF type transfer....(Ninja Transfer) and use it on natural fibres, cotton, silk, etc. I have purchased some but have not got around to trying them. More expensive than sublimation transfers.

Sublimation is inexpensive as i pay about .35 per transfer and another ..25 for the cloth. I also use embroidery for my beaver felts but that costs me $10 per liner top. Making my own liners allows me to customize each one and I use vintage silk that I import from Japan.

 

[Martvjp]

I use sublimation printing for my liners/logo. It works very well.
Instead of buying an expensive heat press I picked up a vintage Sunbeam dry iron on Ebay for $20. You can't use a steam iron as the steam vent holes show up on the transfer. Sublimation prints sharp and bright colours but only on man made fibre like Polyester. You can now use a DTF type transfer....(Ninja Transfer) and use it on natural fibres, cotton, silk, etc. I have purchased some but have not got around to trying them. More expensive than sublimation transfers.

Sublimation is inexpensive as i pay about .35 per transfer and another ..25 for the cloth. I also use embroidery for my beaver felts but that costs me $10 per liner top. Making my own liners allows me to customize each one and I use vintage silk that I import from Japan.

Thanks a lot ! I might try DTF type transfer cause the material I use is silk as well.
How do you do the embroidery? You have a machine for it ? Vintage silk from Japan is very cool !

And what do you use for the sweatband to put your logo ? if you do so of course.

 

[belfastboy]

Thanks a lot ! I might try DTF type transfer cause the material I use is silk as well.
How do you do the embroidery? You have a machine for it ? Vintage silk from Japan is very cool !

And what do you use for the sweatband to put your logo ? if you do so of course.

I job out the embroidery. It costs me about $10 each on orders of 50. I could cut it down to about $7 if I order a hundred or more. I have a lazer cut brass stamp ($100) and an arbor press that use to stamp my 'wolf paw' logo on the sweats. I don't like gold leaf. I have my logo on the liner tops and that is enough. I offer to stamp customer's initials on the sweat if desired. Stamps are cheap and an arbor press is about $80. I have a thread here in the Lounge, "Wolfbrae Custom Hatters"

 

[Martvjp]

I job out the embroidery. It costs me about $10 each on orders of 50. I could cut it down to about $7 if I order a hundred or more. I have a lazer cut brass stamp ($100) and an arbor press that use to stamp my 'wolf paw' logo on the sweats. I don't like gold leaf. I have my logo on the liner tops and that is enough. I offer to stamp customer's initials on the sweat if desired. Stamps are cheap and an arbor press is about $80. I have a thread here in the Lounge, "Wolfbrae Custom Hatters" View attachment 634510 View attachment 634511

Very clear thank you. What’s your laser cut brass stamp please ?

 

[belfastboy]

Very clear thank you. What’s your laser cut brass stamp please ?

Check him out on Instagram: newwest_laser_works
I will snap a picture of mine when I get into the shop later.

 

[belfastboy]

Very clear thank you. What’s your laser cut brass stamp please ?

Here is a picture of the brass stamp. It is 1" high. A basic 1 ton arbor press works well.

 

[Martvjp]

I

Here is a picture of the brass stamp. It is 1" high. A basic 1 ton arbor press works well.

Thank you very much, I will check it out

 

[Martvjp]

Hello everyone,
From what I understood it’s quite complicated to find beaver felt these days. Especially when you’re not a professional and order only few quantities… but I saw that millinery warehouse has some. And not too expensive compared to Fepsa.
What are your thoughts about it ? Any advices ?
Thanks !

 

[Darrell2688]

The Milinery Warehouse has some really nice fur felt hat bodies, I checked to see what was available in 100% beaver 160G and you have a choice of dark brown or olive, you have a bigger selection of colors in the 50-50 mix of rabbit and beaver in Western Weight, I guess it all depends on what you are looking for, or what you want to make.

 

[Martvjp]

The Milinery Warehouse has some really nice fur felt hat bodies, I checked to see what was available in 100% beaver 160G and you have a choice of dark brown or olive, you have a bigger selection of colors in the 50-50 mix of rabbit and beaver in Western Weight, I guess it all depends on what you are looking for, or what you want to make.

OK it's good to know, for now I got some rabbit felts from Fepsa but will think about Milinery Warehouse for the beaver. Thank you !

 

[belfastboy]

Hello everyone,
From what I understood it’s quite complicated to find beaver felt these days. Especially when you’re not a professional and order only few quantities… but I saw that millinery warehouse has some. And not too expensive compared to Fepsa.
What are your thoughts about it ? Any advices ?
Thanks !

I like the Millinery Whse felts. There are only two suppliers available these days for beaver felts for the small hat maker. Mill Whse and PureBeaver (for FEPSA). I stock both and both have their niche depending on what type hat you are making....choose what type hat you are making, then chose the felt that fits that the best.

 

[Martvjp]

I found this german website, they have a good choice of ribbons, including some with cotton and rayon. I don't know if you guys ever order with them? The only problem is that is difficult to navigate on the website as there is no english. I sent an email to have more information about the prices and if they have a catalogue in PDF... https://www.hutzubehoer-bender.de