The Hat Makers Emporium Nutria hat bodies from Etsy

[deadlyhandsome]

I recently came across The Hat Makers Emporium on Etsy (all one word on Etsy). They don’t have much, but they do have 100% nutria fur felt hat bodies as well as rabbit and nutria/rabbit blend. The seller verified that the 100X Nutria is a 100% nutria fur felt. The 100X colors are Verde (mine), Midnight Brown, and Midnight Blue. Currently, they are $108 for 100X. The shop shipped my hat quickly and even with a delay in customs I had it delivered from Australia in 12 days. The shop was willing to go through the inventory to find me the largest body they had (the reason I went with Verde). The crown is between 5 1/2 and 5 3/4 inches and the brim is just over four inches. The dimensions are larger than the seller led me to believe (a good thing).

Even in its unfinished condition the felt is impressive. It is dense and firm without being hard or stiff. The closest thing I have to compare it to is a 7X Clear Beaver. The felt might be different once finished, but this is a great start. The color (Verde) is pretty close to what the photos on Etsy depict, and the actual color is richer, more saturated, and a great shade of dark forest green; much more green than Winchester’s dark moss color. The hand on this unpounced/unfinished body is great. I’m very excited to see how this turns out.

I’m tempted to get the other colors right now just in case they aren’t available later. I don’t know what the source is, but I’m glad to have found them.

From Etsy:

Verde

Midnight Brown

Midnight Blue

My hat body:

This will be sent off to Rick @humanshoes at The Phoenix Hat Company to be finished. I have great expectations.


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[suitedcboy]

Nice looking hat body. I guess the Jed Clampett style is not to your liking.
I can't wait to hear about it once finished. I am curious as to how it compares to 100% beaver hats made today.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Nice looking hat body. I guess the Jed Clampett style is not to your liking.
I can't wait to hear about it once finished. I am curious as to how it compares to 100% beaver hats made today.

I’m guessing it won’t make the finest fedora as the felt is thick, dense, and firm. At this point, it feels much like my favorite kind of western felt that is firm but not stiff or hard. I believe Rick’s queue is about four months so I’ll have a heavy, dark, felt hat just in time for the dog days of summer.

 

[belfastboy]

Nice looking hat body. I guess the Jed Clampett style is not to your liking.
I can't wait to hear about it once finished. I am curious as to how it compares to 100% beaver hats made today.

I was thinking more hobbit like and nobody looks good in that not even hobbits.

 

[jlee562]

I kinda like that pale blue 50x...might be a good excuse to try a DIY hat.

Did you ask about the original source of these? New? Deadstock?

 

[The Jackal]

I'll be watching to see how this turns out.


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[Tukwila]

Interesting find. Do they have nutria in Australia, then?

The farms here get over run with them, but apparently no market for the fur anymore.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I kinda like that pale blue 50x...might be a good excuse to try a DIY hat.

Did you ask about the original source of these? New? Deadstock?

I didn’t ask. I’m curious too.
I bet your DIY hat would be awesome! I have the desire, but not the skill or patience to be a hatter.


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[deadlyhandsome]

Interesting find. Do they have nutria in Australia, then?

The farms here get over run with them, but apparently no market for the fur anymore.

My state’s Fish and Wildlife Dept. has asked us to stop killing them. Apparently, lots of protected river otters as well as beavers are mistakenly killed after being wrongly identified as nutria.

I’d like to know the source, but I’m not sure the seller would be willing to say as my inquiry might sound like an attempt to eliminate the middleman.


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[Edward]

Australia seems to have preserved a sizeable market for felt hats in the same way as parts of the US for Western hats; of course, Australians seem always to be very aware of the need for Sun protection, which I'm sure is a big factor. The body in your photos with that very wide brim reminds me of some of the Akubra outback hats, the Tablelands in particular.

Rabbit is a very popular filler-meat in petfood (especially for cats), which is the primary market for the rest of the rabbits farmed for their fur to be sold to the Australian hat industry. (This is a major reason why I like rabbit fur in my hats - I prefer, if we're gonig to take an animal from nature, we waste as little of it as possible.) I don't know much about Nutria - maybe they are similarly farmed down there?

I look forward to seeing your finished hat. It would also be interesting to her more if you find out about any other hatters using these supplies. I've seen a lot of sales of parts for leather items (wallets and belts, mainly) on etsy before, but this is a first for hats ime.

 

[Tukwila]

Nutria was imported here from South America is what I was told by an old time farmer in the Willamette Valley when I lived in Salem. Apparently, a bunch of people jumped at the marketing hype on how to make big bucks raising these little guys for fur coats, etc, as a great alternative to beaver and mink.

When it didn't pan out, the nutria farmers just turned the little rats loose. They still do a lot of damage to farm crops here and I don't believe Oregon Fish & Wildlife Dept. has said anything about stopping their slaughter by farmers and their armed friends. They are not native to Oregon and that is the usual, main argument for their eradication. I used to shoot competitively with a guy who would go nutria hunting on his days off from work.

 

[Edward]

Nutria was imported here from South America is what I was told by an old time farmer in the Willamette Valley when I lived in Salem. Apparently, a bunch of people jumped at the marketing hype on how to make big bucks raising these little guys for fur coats, etc, as a great alternative to beaver and mink.

When it didn't pan out, the nutria farmers just turned the little rats loose. They still do a lot of damage to farm crops here and I don't believe Oregon Fish & Wildlife Dept. has said anything about stopping their slaughter by farmers and their armed friends. They are not native to Oregon and that is the usual, main argument for their eradication. I used to shoot competitively with a guy who would go nutria hunting on his days off from work.

Legitimate culling is another good source for that sort of thing - better, if the animals ared being culled anyhow, the fur is also used productively.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I have three more nutria and nutria blend hat bodies in my Etsy cart. I decided to see what Rick has to say about the Verde (I mailed it to him today) before I move forward. I know I should be cautious, but I really liked the feel of the Verde.


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[belfastboy]

I have three more nutria and nutria blend hat bodies in my Etsy cart. I decided to see what Rick has to say about the Verde (I mailed it to him today) before I move forward. I know I should be cautious, but I really liked the feel of the Verde.

I have a finished Dark Moss hat ready to be picked up so don't need another but am interested in the Midnight Blue and may take the plunge. If you get a Blue nutria let me know your thoughts on the colour.
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[deadlyhandsome]

Will do. I have the 100X midnight blue and the 50X in Steele and caramel in my cart. I went with Verde fist because it was the biggest of the bodies, but after receiving it I’m sure the others will be plenty large for what I want.


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[Tukwila]

I'm interested, but would certainly rather have a lighter weight felt

 

[mayserwegener]

"Australia seems to have preserved a sizeable market for felt hats in the same way as parts of the US for Western hats; of course, Australians seem always to be very aware of the need for Sun protection, which I'm sure is a big factor. The body in your photos with that very wide brim reminds me of some of the Akubra outback hats, the Tablelands in particular.

Rabbit is a very popular filler-meat in petfood (especially for cats), which is the primary market for the rest of the rabbits farmed for their fur to be sold to the Australian hat industry. (This is a major reason why I like rabbit fur in my hats - I prefer, if we're gonig to take an animal from nature, we waste as little of it as possible.) I don't know much about Nutria - maybe they are similarly farmed down there? "

Australia supplied Wild Rabbit fur / skins for Felt Hat production but the population has been so reduced that Akubra has to source all Rabbit fur from European sources.

 

[Cornshucker77]

I recently came across The Hat Makers Emporium on Etsy (all one word on Etsy). They don’t have much, but they do have 100% nutria fur felt hat bodies as well as rabbit and nutria/rabbit blend. The seller verified that the 100X Nutria is a 100% nutria fur felt. The 100X colors are Verde (mine), Midnight Brown, and Midnight Blue. Currently, they are $108 for 100X. The shop shipped my hat quickly and even with a delay in customs I had it delivered from Australia in 12 days. The shop was willing to go through the inventory to find me the largest body they had (the reason I went with Verde). The crown is between 5 1/2 and 5 3/4 inches and the brim is just over four inches. The dimensions are larger than the seller led me to believe (a good thing).

Even in its unfinished condition the felt is impressive. It is dense and firm without being hard or stiff. The closest thing I have to compare it to is a 7X Clear Beaver. The felt might be different once finished, but this is a great start. The color (Verde) is pretty close to what the photos on Etsy depict, and the actual color is richer, more saturated, and a great shade of dark forest green; much more green than Winchester’s dark moss color. The hand on this unpounced/unfinished body is great. I’m very excited to see how this turns out.

I’m tempted to get the other colors right now just in case they aren’t available later. I don’t know what the source is, but I’m glad to have found them.

From Etsy:

Verde

Midnight Brown

Midnight Blue

My hat body:

This will be sent off to Rick @humanshoes at The Phoenix Hat Company to be finished. I have great expectations.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks for sharing Brent. Look forward to seeing the final hat.

 

[Tukwila]

At the Miami Zoo, in the Amazon section, saw this sign for a South American giant river otter. In Spanish they call it nutria gigante, but this is different than the short, fat nutria imported from Brazil that we see in Oregon.

This giant runs 9 pounds and is long and slender, much like the otters we see in the Great Pacific Northwest.

No pics of the elusive, priceless nutria gigante. He was hiding out, but i got the Spanish side of the sign.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

The nutria felts on Etsy are about gone. I contacted the seller (The Hatmakers Emporium). This was the response:
“The plan is to have a new run of 50x bodies done up in a 6" crown and 5" brim in a heavier weight. I am just waiting for the technician to tick off on them to get the ball rolling. I anticipate a restock landing in September as there is a 12 week manufacturing turn around.”

I asked about the 100X (100% nutria) and This was his response:

“Unfortunately the new mill I am using is unable to make a 100x in nutria so to fill that gap I am looking at bringing in a 100x beaver body in western weight.”

My dark green 100X should be done in the next few weeks and I’m really excited to see how it turns out.