Hat making?? Learning Millinery..

[Hatneophyte]

See below my conformateur, it is worth mentioning that 70% of our clients are women for now (we are relatively new in the business)

Show a picture of your conformateur. Those shapes still look weird to me. A majority of heads (men) are regular oval and all those look to be very long oval.

Do you think my conformateur has an issue ? I took two man's shape this morning see below :

 

[belfastboy]

Do you think my conformateur has an issue ? I took two man's shape this morning see below :

90% of mens head shape are either regular or long oval or at least leaning in one direction. If you are not cutting a band block to match the client's actual head and giving it away with each hat it doesn't really matter. You just need to know enough so you know which block to use...Regular or Long oval. I can't tell from your picture of those two white sheets of paper as the image is to small and blurred but those cutouts of head shapes you posted are just weird.

 

[belfastboy]

A hat maker on Instagram posted negative comments on the practice of flaming or burning felts as a final stage in the hat making process. The interesting aspect is that so many other hatters chimed in with comments agreeing with the original poster. There was a common thread of saying it was done mostly to collect Instagram likes for the video rather than actually making for a better hat. I thought "finally, someone willing to declare the emperor has no clothes!!"

 

[T Jones]

A hat maker on Instagram posted negative comments on the practice of flaming or burning felts as a final stage in the hat making process. The interesting aspect is that so many other hatters chimed in with comments agreeing with the original poster. There was a common thread of saying it was done mostly to collect Instagram likes for the video rather than actually making for a better hat. I thought "finally, someone willing to declare the emperor has no clothes!!"

For the bigger part I would agree. But there are those times when it may become practical to do so. I did that to this Western. After I fired the felt I sanded it and ended up with a nice smooth finish.

 

[belfastboy]

For the bigger part I would agree. But there are those times when it may become practical to do so. I did that to this Western. After I fired the felt I sanded it and ended up with a nice smooth finish.

The aspect that concerns me is the tendency of the felt to shrink and the crown to taper. As well, the felt hardens very quickly if flamed too long. After pouncing a felt for such a long time to soften it the last thing I want to do is harden......at all. So many hatters flame the hat as a matter of course.

 

[T Jones]

The aspect that concerns me is the tendency of the felt to shrink and the crown to taper. As well, the felt hardens very quickly if flamed too long. After pouncing a felt for such a long time to soften it the last thing I want to do is harden......at all. So many hatters flame the hat as a matter of course.

Honestly, I had none of those issues whatsoever, and I only flamed it just long enough to cinge the rough surface hairs. In fact, I was expecting a lot more activation of the stiffener than I got. But, this was a heavy Western weight felt and firing this particular felt made my pouncing much easier and I ended up with a nice smooth finish that feels more like a semi-pliable dress Western than a stiff working Western. On the other hand, when it comes to the much thinner dress weight felts, I wouldn't do it.

 

[belfastboy]

Honestly, I had none of those issues whatsoever, and I only flamed it just long enough to cinge the rough surface hairs. In fact, I was expecting a lot more activation of the stiffener than I got. But, this was a heavy Western weight felt and firing this particular felt made my pouncing much easier and I ended up with a nice smooth finish that feels more like a semi-pliable dress Western than a stiff working Western. On the other hand, when it comes to the much thinner dress weight felts, I wouldn't do it.

reading the Instagram posts from the hatters the only common thread is...."results may vary!"

 

[T Jones]

reading the Instagram posts from the hatters the only common thread is...."results may vary!"

That's that's true enough. Results may vary, depending on the felt one may be working with. Which is why I only fire felts on an 'as needed' basis and never as a 'matter of course'.

 

[Hatneophyte]

Hello everyone,

Some client have requested us to add their names on the sweat band, I wanted to know which one of you have done so and with what instrument exactly (I wanted to be in gold but the problem is I have the heat machine and the gold ribbon paper but cannot find all the letters )

Thanks guys

 

[Darrell2688]

I posted another black fedora on ebay for sale, it is my first time trying my hand at shaping the crown into a diamond shape, I think that I may have to work at it some more. Let me know what you think, please. Here is a couple of photos and the Ebay link.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=305023215883&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2562&_ssn=dwb4926

 

[belfastboy]

Hello everyone,

Some client have requested us to add their names on the sweat band, I wanted to know which one of you have done so and with what instrument exactly (I wanted to be in gold but the problem is I have the heat machine and the gold ribbon paper but cannot find all the letters )

Thanks guys

I offer the client's initials in the sweat. But just use leather punch letters not gold foil.

 

[T Jones]

Here's a 'Frankenhat' that I'm working on a little bit at a time. I have other hats I'm working on and I'll finish this one when I get caught up, (sooner or later, that is).
So, what is a 'Frankenhat'? It's my term for a conversion that's been made into a hat from materials of other hats. The donor hat on this one is an Akubra that was given to me by a generous Lounger. The ribbons and other materials are from a wool Stetson Whippet that'll be going on this hat to create a 'Frankenwhippet' conversion. So far the hat's been blocked down from a 7 1/2 to a 7 1/4 on my RA block. The open crown is 5 3/4 and the brim width is 2 1/2 inches. I also did a little pouncing on it to make the finish smoother. Nothing's been sewn to the hat yet. I just have the ribbons placed on it to check for proper measurement. The binding will be sewn on with the brim flanged up. I'll be re-using everything that came with the wool Stetson on this Akubra. I'll have more on this hat later when I have the time to jump in and do a little more to it.

 

[RBH]

Here's a 'Frankenhat' that I'm working on a little bit at a time. I have other hats I'm working on and I'll finish this one when I get caught up, (sooner or later, that is).
So, what is a 'Frankenhat'? It's my term for a conversion that's been made into a hat from materials of other hats. The donor hat on this one is an Akubra that was given to me by a generous Lounger. The ribbons and other materials are from a wool Stetson Whippet that'll be going on this hat to create a 'Frankenwhippet' conversion. So far the hat's been blocked down from a 7 1/2 to a 7 1/4 on my RA block. The open crown is 5 3/4 and the brim width is 2 1/2 inches. I also did a little pouncing on it to make the finish smoother. Nothing's been sewn to the hat yet. I just have the ribbons placed on it to check for proper measurement. The binding will be sewn on with the brim flanged up. I'll be re-using everything that came with the wool Stetson on this Akubra. I'll have more on this hat later when I have the time to jump in and do a little more to it.

Amazing work Terry!!!!
I like it!
Looking forward to see the finished hat!!!

 

[T Jones]

Amazing work Terry!!!!
I like it!
Looking forward to see the finished hat!!!

Thank you Rusty! Much appreciated! It's an 'in between' project that I'll be working on a little bit at a time until I get caught up on projects I'm doing for others.

 

[T Jones]

A little more on this Frankenhat that I'm experimenting with. The donor hat is an Akubra and the ribbon and bow work, and the sweat band and other material came off of a wool Stetson Whippet. As I previously stated above, the open crown is 5 3/4 tall. The brim is 2 1/2 inches wide and was flanged on a #510 brim flange. I went with a Center Dent. As creased, the vertical sided crown is 5 inches with 4 3/4 inches at the pinch and a rake sloping to 4 3/8 to the back. You'll notice that the wind cord placement is on the bow itself, an idea I got from a picture that a Lounger posted. There's also a hole in the crown that I'll patch up. Anyway, here's some pictures. The hat still needs work.

 

[T Jones]

Got the hole patched up in my Frankenhat. Can't even tell it was ever there...

Before:

After:

 

[RBH]

Terry that is work that the artisans of old would be proud of!!
Great work !
I love it!!!

 

[T Jones]

Terry that is work that the artisans of old would be proud of!!
Great work !
I love it!!!

Thank you, Rusty!

 

[LorenWho]

Why a chain stitch as opposed to a lockstitch?

Was wondering if someone could help me understand why I’ve only seen reeded sweatbands sewn in using a chain stitch.

Anyone here using a machine use a lockstitch?

Thanks!

-Loren

 

[belfastboy]

Got the hole patched up in my Frankenhat. Can't even tell it was ever there...

Before:

After:

Did you punch the hole all the way through and then plug it? I have had success using that as long as i have a donor felt I can cut the plug from. Great job.