I eagerly await the reveal of the Nutria. Have been on the fence about ordering one and now this news makes the decision for me...sometimes procrastination is a valid way to make a decision!!! On another note my Mink/Beaver blend is on the block after your Nutria I think.
I had read that Akubra was sourcing rabbit felt from China and that was the cause of so much push back.
I was talking about processed / cut fur to make felt. Last time I read they were sourcing from Europe. The Chinese are a problem they are buying up rabbit pelts / cut fur for other purposes.
If a hatmaker weeps in the hat shop and there is no one there to hear him...This is not the way this is supposed to have ended:
Rick, my hatter, blocked the hat body and when it dried it was badly discolored. There was a problem with the dye. Rick continued to be impressed with the quality of the felt, but the dye issue was a fatal flaw.
I sent photos and an explanation to the Etsy store, Hat Maker’s Emporium, and without my asking he gave me a complete refund, including shipping. His customer service was great. He apologized for the problem and assured me he has not had this issue with his felts before.
My nutria dream is dead, but it’s just a hat and life moves on. To help with the moving on I commissioned another hat from Rick; this time I went with a tried and true Winchester beaver.
The nutria was only exposed to distilled water and steam:
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I'm determined not to let this beautiful felt go to the scrap heap Tuk. First, I'll try to re-dye it for Brent. If that fails, then beater/hiking/working hat it is. This nutria body doesn't have the thinness of a vintage felt, but it certainly has the tight felting and soft hand of one.
I had pretty good success re-dying a white felt hat. Used the dye meant for natural fibres and it turned out great....except I removed it from the solution when it reached the desired shade of grey and did not find out until I cut the brim down that the dye had not penetrated all the way through the brim. I ended up with a Oreo cookie effect.....grey on top and bottom of brim but still white in the middle. Solution was to bind the brim. The natural dye required soaking in an almost boiling water and although it was only immersed for a few short minutes the hat was felted to an even denser state. It was Western weight to start and when finished I think I now have a bullet proof fedora. But a worthy experiment and I ended up with a great hat.
Great solution with the binding. I'll try to match the existing color so, hopefully, I won't have that problem.
I forget the name of the solution but I first rinsed the felt in it to rid it of any oils or residue that might prevent the dye from even absorption. There is a fabric shop in town that specializes in fabric dyeing and a pretty young woman with great patience walked me through the process. It worked fairly well but there was still some mottling but it was grey over white. The mottling was not noticeable on the finished product as it appears as just shadow.
Oh man, that is too bad. Glad to see they refunded your money. I will be interested to see their 100% Beaver bodies.This is not the way this is supposed to have ended:
Rick, my hatter, blocked the hat body and when it dried it was badly discolored. There was a problem with the dye. Rick continued to be impressed with the quality of the felt, but the dye issue was a fatal flaw.
I sent photos and an explanation to the Etsy store, Hat Maker’s Emporium, and without my asking he gave me a complete refund, including shipping. His customer service was great. He apologized for the problem and assured me he has not had this issue with his felts before.
My nutria dream is dead, but it’s just a hat and life moves on. To help with the moving on I commissioned another hat from Rick; this time I went with a tried and true Winchester beaver.
The nutria was only exposed to distilled water and steam:
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Always nice to have the help of a pretty young woman. I'm in favor of it.
In my younger days I would be embarrassed at being taken under the wing of a pretty 20 something lady due to incompetence.....but in my dotage I take what I can get.Always nice to have the help of a pretty young woman. I'm in favor of it.
Totally sucks!!This is not the way this is supposed to have ended:
Rick, my hatter, blocked the hat body and when it dried it was badly discolored. There was a problem with the dye. Rick continued to be impressed with the quality of the felt, but the dye issue was a fatal flaw.
I sent photos and an explanation to the Etsy store, Hat Maker’s Emporium, and without my asking he gave me a complete refund, including shipping. His customer service was great. He apologized for the problem and assured me he has not had this issue with his felts before.
My nutria dream is dead, but it’s just a hat and life moves on. To help with the moving on I commissioned another hat from Rick; this time I went with a tried and true Winchester beaver.
The nutria was only exposed to distilled water and steam:
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I'm with you.
