Hat making?? Learning Millinery..

Hurricane Jack · Dec 21, 2021

belfastboy said:
The smart ass in me answers the tolerance depends on my patience quotient for that day. Each time I start to trim a brim I hold my breath and say a prayer. I have a red dot on my rounding jack and focus on keeping the pressure constant/even throughout the cut. If the felt is very soft I will recruit my wife to lend a third & fourth hand to hold the felt flat and stable.

The brim has to be dry and the wrinkles/puckers smoothed out. I start at 3 0'clock and I walk around the table rather than turning the hat. Still, once in a while as I pass 6 O'clock if I don't get the pressure even the jack will wander out and I will miss the origin cut and be wide by about a 1/16". It is a minor thing to repair, I have a curved piece of wood and an Xacto knife to join the cuts.
It is tougher if I am refurbing a not with a bound brim and I block up or down on a different shaped block. Especially going from a Reg Oval to a Long Oval it is a bitch to get the brim even all the way around especially getting the front/back same as side to side. There i will settle for a 1/16 variance and declare it close enough or my unintentional dimensional brim.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I figured there was no standard, but rather up to the individual hatter. The block, angle of the blade, any wave in the brim will all effect the finish cut you get.

We used to have to work within 1/8" & cut with a hand torch because pricing didn't permit cutting more precise with a saw.

TWKundrat · Dec 21, 2021

Got the sweatband in last night. I won't show any close ups because my stitching is about as straight as Elton John. I was getting the hang of it towards the end though and I know it'll do it's job for this hat. Thankfully I'm getting very close to finishing the hat since it's almost Christmas. I set the hatband to see how it'll look. Just need to attach it and the liner and do a little shaping and it'll be ready to go.

belfastboy · Dec 21, 2021

TWKundrat said:
Got the sweatband in last night. I won't show any close ups because my stitching is about as straight as Elton John. I was getting the hang of it towards the end though and I know it'll do it's job for this hat. Thankfully I'm getting very close to finishing the hat since it's almost Christmas. I set the hatband to see how it'll look. Just need to attach it and the liner and do a little shaping and it'll be ready to go. View attachment 389326 View attachment 389327

Looking good! I am certain she will be pleased.

TWKundrat · Dec 21, 2021

belfastboy said:
Looking good! I am certain she will be pleased.

Thank you!

Darrell2688 · Dec 21, 2021

Looks good, I think you did a great job. Is the hat going to be an open crown or will you be doing any creasing or bashing work?

TWKundrat · Dec 21, 2021

Darrell2688 said:
Looks good, I think you did a great job. Is the hat going to be an open crown or will you be doing any creasing or bashing work?

Thanks. It's going to be a teardrop crown. I'm hoping to get it finished tonight or tomorrow so stay tuned for the finished product.

Darrell2688 · Dec 21, 2021

Teardrop crown sounds interesting, I will have to see your finished hat.

TWKundrat · Dec 22, 2021

Well here she is. Pretty happy with how it turned out. Please excuse my mess in the background.

Darrell2688 · Dec 22, 2021

That is a job well done, Looks Great!! The only thing left to do is wear it.

deadlyhandsome · Dec 22, 2021

TWKundrat said:
Well here she is. Pretty happy with how it turned out. Please excuse my mess in the background.
View attachment 389576 View attachment 389577 View attachment 389578 View attachment 389579 View attachment 389580

It looks great, but the best part is that you made it yourself! Very impressive!

TWKundrat · Dec 22, 2021

Thanks gents. I can't wait to give it to my fiancee on Christmas. I just hope it fits her well!

MisplacedHillbilly · Dec 24, 2021

Found this today, hopefully nobody else has posted it if so I apologize. I guess this would be the most appropriate thread.

Darrell2688 · Dec 24, 2021

Well, I am still working on my hat. Wednesday, I ironed some more on the wrinkles that were in the brim, and following some advice from BB, I placed my hat on the block and set the hat up so the brim was being pressed, I put about 50 pounds of weight on the board and left it for about 24 hours, wrinkles are gone. Today I made a crown blocking spring 60cm's, so the next time I work on a new hat I won't have to add a blocking tie.

I am waiting on a new sweatband; it should be here on December 27th. Since I am waiting on the sweatband I am working on other little projects, I also started working on making a Tollicker. Should prove to be interesting.

Darrell2688 · Dec 24, 2021

Yesterday I started working on a leather hat band, so far it looks ok, I still have some work to do to it. I did the embossing work and then I applied antiquing gel to the leather, today I applied Buckskin Dye, I still have to burnish the edges and apply edge coating on the leather.

Darrell2688 · Dec 24, 2021

Hello Everyone,

I Wish Everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Darrell
P.S. Yes, I am still working on my hat, not that I am slow, I am learning from mistakes. LOL

belfastboy · Dec 24, 2021

Here are pics of a felt I rescued from my discard bin. Somehow I stained the brim and I could not remove tehm so I decided to create my own version of The Duplex. Felt is one of Art's proprietary beaver Limestone colour with the brim dyed a dark brown. I also blocked

it twice and pounced it a great amount on both sides of the felt so it has a soft hand but still thick and lush. Topped it off with a back bow.

JVaughn1613 · Dec 24, 2021

Darrell2688 said:
Hello Everyone,

I Wish Everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Darrell
P.S. Yes, I am still working on my hat, not that I am slow, I am learning from mistakes. LOL

Merry Christmas Darrell! I’m also trying to learn hatmaking. I know about being slow and learning from mistakes

Darrell2688 · Dec 27, 2021

belfastboy said:
Here are pics of a felt I rescued from my discard bin. Somehow I stained the brim and I could not remove tehm so I decided to create my own version of The Duplex. Felt is one of Art's proprietary beaver Limestone colour with the brim dyed a dark brown. I also blocked View attachment 390376 View attachment 390377 View attachment 390378 it twice and pounced it a great amount on both sides of the felt so it has a soft hand but still thick and lush. Topped it off with a back bow.

Hello BB, I never even knew there was a Duplex Fedora, I had to run a web search for Duplex Fedora, boy was I surprised, all I can say is I am still learning. Waiting to see what is next.

belfastboy · Dec 27, 2021

Darrell2688 said:
Hello BB, I never even knew there was a Duplex Fedora, I had to run a web search for Duplex Fedora, boy was I surprised, all I can say is I am still learning. Waiting to see what is next.

Hatters have their own proprietary name for combining a Panama/straw crown with a felt brim. I think it was Art @ VS that used "Duplex" for his Milan crown/felt brim. I am thinking (it may get me tossed out of The Lounge) of experimenting with distressing felts using dye techniques.....maybe a tie/dye felt?

jlee562 · Dec 27, 2021

belfastboy said:
Hatters have their own proprietary name for combining a Panama/straw crown with a felt brim. I think it was Art @ VS that used "Duplex" for his Milan crown/felt brim. I am thinking (it may get me tossed out of The Lounge) of experimenting with distressing felts using dye techniques.....maybe a tie/dye felt?

Art borrowed that from the original Knox. I can't seem to recall whether or not a vintage Knox was being replicated or if it was just based off the ad...

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