Sourcing Hat Bodies Wool, Straw, Blends?

[deadlyhandsome]

Does anyone have any experience with the 160g dress weight 100% beaver felt from the Millinery Warehouse? I wonder how they compare.

 

[sebastianss]

Good afternoon I’m in search of a place to acquire beaver or nutria long hair bodies commonly referred to as grizzly any help is greatly appreciated

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Good afternoon I’m in search of a place to acquire beaver or nutria long hair bodies commonly referred to as grizzly any help is greatly appreciated

I don’t know of anyone offering melusine hat bodies. Tonak did offer them and Agnoulita sold them, but it’s seen a while since I’ve see one. You might see if Mr. P has any available.

 

[sebastianss]

Does anyone have any experience with the 160g dress weight 100% beaver felt from the Millinery Warehouse? I wonder how they compare.

Made this hat with their 230g beaver it was very nice to work with not very stiff

 

[deadlyhandsome]

View attachment 576359
Made this hat with their 230g beaver it was very nice to work with not very stiff

I have a 230g beaver hat, but not a but not a 160g dress weight. I have one of the 160g bodies with a hatter but not a finished hat.

 

[sebastianss]

I have a 230g beaver hat, but not a but not a 160g dress weight. I have one of the 160g bodies with a hatter but not a finished hat.

Have you compared it to a sunrise nutria 160g dress weight?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Yes, but I haven’t held both as unfinished hat bodies at the same time. I’m generally not a fan on the Millinery Warehouse felts, but I do have one that I like a lot. One in…10? isn’t a great success rate.

The success rate with Sunshine’s nutria is about 80%, so much better. They can be finicky to work with. The Millinery Warehouse felts weren’t any trouble to work with, but the felt just wasn’t as impressive as I wanted it to be…all except one hat made by Northwest.


Edit: there was one bottle green western rabbit felt from Millinery Warehouse that but up quite the fight when my friend was blocking it for me.

 

[belfastboy]

View attachment 576359
Made this hat with their 230g beaver it was very nice to work with not very stiff

I use both their rabbit and the beaver in 160gr dress weight. Really like them. The dye penetration/quality control is good. They are a little on the stiff side but then they are 160gr. They can be pounced down quite a bit, thinned out and produces a softer hand on a hat or leave them thick. Either way works well.

The 100% 160gr beaver is now $200 so up there in price and not much cheaper than the superior 95gr FEPSA if you are seeking a softer more vintage feel to the felt.

 

[belfastboy]

I don’t know of anyone offering melusine hat bodies. Tonak did offer them and Agnoulita sold them, but it’s seen a while since I’ve see one. You might see if Mr. P has any available.

Good afternoon I’m in search of a place to acquire beaver or nutria long hair bodies commonly referred to as grizzly any help is greatly appreciated

I have never come across a supplier selling beaver felts in a long hair finish. My suppliers did sell velour and melusine but only in rabbit felts. Millinery Whse is phasing out their velours I think. Agnoulita used to sell rabbitvelours but I don't buy from him any longer. It is possible to create a long haired finish from a standard beaver felt by how you pounce it. But it takes a while to master it.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I have never come across a supplier selling beaver felts in a long hair finish. My suppliers did sell velour and melusine but only in rabbit felts. Millinery Whse is phasing out their velours I think. Agnoulita used to sell rabbitvelours but I don't buy from him any longer. It is possible to create a long haired finish from a standard beaver felt by how you pounce it. But it takes a while to master it.

Your right, the Tonak long hair felt is rabbit or a rabbit and hare blend. I also haven’t seen a source of beaver long hair felts. Then again, the Stetson Grizzly and the Resistol Panda probably had very little beaver content.

 

[TCG]

Good afternoon I’m in search of a place to acquire beaver or nutria long hair bodies commonly referred to as grizzly any help is greatly appreciated

Sunrisehatsupplies.com

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Sunrisehatsupplies.com

They don’t sell the Grizzly (melusine) finished felt he’s looking for.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Pure Beaver Hat Supply just increased the price of their 120g bread weight rabbit fur felt from $92 to $125. That’s a pretty big jump. Oddly, it didn’t coincide with the arrival of felt and they only have one color available; the same as the last several weeks.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Good afternoon I’m in search of a place to acquire beaver or nutria long hair bodies commonly referred to as grizzly any help is greatly appreciated

I came across this. Like Biltmore and others, the “beaver” here is the type of finish and not the type of fur used (it’s rabbit and hare).

https://www.hatsupply.com/long-hair-beaver-capelines/

 

[belfastboy]

Pure Beaver Hat Supply just increased the price of their 120g bread weight rabbit fur felt from $92 to $125. That’s a pretty big jump. Oddly, it didn’t coincide with the arrival of felt and they only have one color available; the same as the last several weeks.

Not that long ago I was paying $70...damn. Agnoulita has increased his price for the Tonak rabbit by quite a bit in the last year. The FEPSA rabbit felts are OK but if I buy in quantity I can get the 115gr Ukraine beaver for $155.

 

[fuzzyowl]

I just received a western weight melusine samples from Millinery Warehouse. The brim felt is very thick but feel is comparable to vintage grizzly hats!

I'm hoping they will continue improving this product and offer it regularly.

Blocked to size 7, produced 5 inch brim!

 

[JWcustomhats]

update on material search

Ok, so I've sourced felt and sweatbands. Talked to Greg at Winchester Hats this morning; great fella to talk to, and sounds like he'll be really easy to work with. His prices are outrageous, way less than I was expecting them to be, especially for 100% beaver. I'll probably practice a bit with the rabbit before I get to that, though. Just got off the phone now with a guy at JW Hats (pretty sure it wasn't JW himself), and was quoted $5 apiece for sweatbands without any markings or anything on them, which is what I want to start out with. Shoot, I forgot to ask about ribbon. Back to the phone again...

Hey fellas! Just want to chime in and let you know we are always happy to help if you need a few odds and ends. We use goat skin for our sweatbands and like going with grosgrain for the ribbon. We often have surplus on various stock and supplies if your in a pinch. Send us an email if you do have questions.