Felt Hatmaking Techniques:
The majority of the hats you will see on this site, and, indeed, the majority of the hats that I create, are pulled felt hats. These are made from 100% wool felt, using shellac-based sizing to stiffen them. Wool and fur felt and shellac have been used to create felt hats since at least the 16th century. I occasionally use fur felt for my hats, but the materials are much more costly and I much prefer to use a renewable resource such as wool rather than fur products. (the sheep is involved; the rabbit is committed)
The
hats begin their lives as felt "bodies" or "blanks" which
are very generically hood-shaped.
I decide on the style, size, and colour
of hat I'd like to make, and select the appropriate felt blank and hat block
(frequently, with helpful feline assistance.)
Hat crown blocks are hat crown shaped molds made from smooth, soft wood such as balsa, poplar, or butternut, and are rather difficult and expensive to come by. Some of my main blocks are pictured below:
I've resorted to making several of the ones I currently use, have commisioned a few, and have lucked into a few more of them on eBay and in antique stores. In general, one hat block can produce one shape of hat in one size, and additional blocks are needed if multiple sizes of the same style are desired. I continually increase my collection of blocks, as time and budget allow.
I
loosen the wool or fur fibres with steam so that
I can stretch the blank over the hat block. I place the hat blank over the
mouth of my steamer until the fibres on the crown
stand straight up with a bead of water on each one, or I plunge the blank
into a tub of HOT tap water until the bubbles stop. I
have a high-tech way of keeping them submerged in the hot water these days;
I use a good, heavy rock, pictured at left. At this point the blank is quite
stretchy, and ready to be "pulled." If the water is too hot, it
can ruin a blank by shrinking the wool too much, and if too cool, the blank
won't be stretchy enough.
When I remove the hat from the hot water or steamer, I have about ten seconds to work until the fibres get too cool and dry to be stretchy. I force the wet blank quickly and firmly over the wooden hat block until it is perfectly smooth against the wood. This is the "pulling" part.
If
any sections aren't stretchy enough to conform to the block, the felt must
come back off the block and go back on the steamer to get re-loosened and
then re-stretched on the block until it lies smoothly with no bubbles or wrinkles.
Once I'm satisfied with the crown, I place a small, tight elastic band over
the felt blank and pin it in several places with rust-free metal push pins
to hold the felt tightly around the bottom edge of the hat. I wash my hands
between colors, as this is a really messy process, and the dyes used in the
blanks is often not totally colorfast, especially the red ones and black ones,
which just seem to bleed everywhere.
I
then move to the ironing board, where I use an industrial steam iron and a
press cloth to smooth out and shape the brim portion of the hat. This takes
some real elbow grease, even with the uber-iron.
When the brim portion is perfectly flat, I pin it to the brim block and leave
it to dry.
Next,
I machine stitch millinery wire to the very edge of the brim, making sure
to overlap the wire at least two inches at the center back.
Once
the edge is wired, the hat is now ready to be stiffened, or "sized".
I use a more eco-friendly sizing these days, which, though not as stiff as
the brand I learned with, is not going to give me cancer. (hooray!) Even with the new product, I wear a respirator with
organic vapor cartridges at all times while working with the stuff. I should
wear gloves, too. Must really get gloves.
If
it is both warm and dry outside, I go outdoors to size, otherwise,
I work in my shop and then leave them overnight around a heater to dry. The
sizing can be brushed or sprayed onto the hats. I prefer brushing, as spraying
seems to get bits of sizing everywhere (both messy and wasteful) and brushing
seems more controlled.
The
hats must be absolutely dry before sizing or white strike marks may
appear on the felt when the sizing dries. I don't know why this happens, but
I am aware of what causes it, and how to prevent it, so that knowledge is
enough for now. After the hats have been completely saturated with sizing,
I wipe them with a cotton cloth to smooth and "un-stick" the nap
of the wool or fur. I then shape the brim wire and leave them to dry - again
overnight.
In the morning, I check for any soft spots that the sizing missed, re-size and re-dry as necessary.
Once finally sized and dry, the sometimes arduous process of removing the hat from the block commences. The hat can easily self destruct at this stage, so this must be done carefully and slowly. Some blocks are easier to extract than others, based entirely on their shape. I've modified my processes several times to make this stage go more smoothly, and still have some modifications to make. Once the hat is safely off the block, I prepare a special, curve-able ribbon called milliner's grosgrain to be sewn around the edge, covering the wire. This must be pre-shrunk with hot water and then ironed flat, but not completely dry. Once the ribbon is folded, stretched and machine stitched smoothly around the edge, it really starts to look like a hat.
All that's left then is the trimming stage, which is the most time consuming part of the process, other than drying time. It's also the most fun part: curling and wiring ostrich feathers, making ribbon cockades, selecting and attaching large glass buttons or silk scarves. Many milliners glue on their trimming, but I'm not a fan of glue on hats, so all my trims are handstitched in place.
A final steaming, and the pulled felt hat is finished!
Copyright 2007, Truly
