Sunrise Hat Company felt (nutria) and hatters’ tools

[deadlyhandsome]

I really want to like these felts but my success is limited.

I totally get that. They aren’t cheap and it’s a huge disappointment when they go bad after putting in so much work.

I’m looking forward to your review of your latest Gannon…has it shipped?

 

[belfastboy]

I totally get that. They aren’t cheap and it’s a huge disappointment when they go bad after putting in so much work.

I’m looking forward to your review of your latest Gannon…has it shipped?

Now the border is opened and the testing requirement dropped I am getting him to ship it to Blaine WA. I will pick it up mid April when we get back from a short vacation. Delayed gratification!!!

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Now the border is opened and the testing requirement dropped I am getting him to ship it to Blaine WA. I will pick it up mid April when we get back from a short vacation. Delayed gratification!!!

Ah, anticipation!

I’m trying to get back to BC this summer. We’ll fly in to Victoria where my sister will pick us up. I really miss the peace and coolness of Piers Island (out side Sidney) in the summer.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

FYI: the 160g hat bodies are mostly back in stock (some are still showing out of stock). Interestingly, there is a new color called sea glass. I asked for a photo of it as it currently isn’t shown on the website.

160 Gram Coypu Hat Bodies (Dress Weight)

The Sunrise Dress Weight 2.0 is here! Refined with your valued feedback, we've added a little more fur per body yielding wider brims and made adjustments to the stiffening specifications resulting in an incredibly soft and supple hand-feel that will still hold its shape once blocked. Remember...

www.sunrisehatsupplies.com

Edit: this is how Sunrise described the color: “…it’s like a slightly lighter less deep version of the forest we had in the past.” I was promised a photo tomorrow.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Sea glass:

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Sunrise just restocked most colors of nutria felt:

https://www.sunrisehatsupplies.com/collections/coypu-hat-bodies

 

[Claudio Pellerito]

Does anyone have a hat made with their Espresso nutria hat body? From the pics it seems black, but they told me it’s more like a deep sable.

 

[Claudio Pellerito]

From Sunrise via Instagram:

View attachment 305521

The Espresso seems so black… But I’ve ordered two of them basing on the pics from another hatter… Does anybody have actual pics of the Espresso color?

 

[belfastboy]

The Espresso seems so black… But I’ve ordered two of them basing on the pics from another hatter… Does anybody have actual pics of the Espresso color?

I have never purchased that colour but I do have a set of their colour swatches. The Expresso is a very dark brown that I would say has black in the dye. Nice colour but it is a very very dark brown. It may lighten up a bit on the pounce.

 

[fuzzyowl]

I know it's late but here's Espresso made into a hat!

 

[deadlyhandsome]

https://www.sunrisehatsupplies.com/products/160-gram-coypu-hat-bodies?variant=40045574258768

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I know it's late but here's Espresso made into a hat!
View attachment 547314

Nice. I have a dress weight espresso with a hatter waiting to be turned into a hat. I’d love to see photos of your hat in direct sunlight if possible. Looks like a great color.

 

[belfastboy]

View attachment 547585 View attachment 547586


https://www.sunrisehatsupplies.com/products/160-gram-coypu-hat-bodies?variant=40045574258768

Their dress weight is now up to $150. I think the first time I purchased they were $100. A 50% increase in less than 3 years....now that is inflation.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Their dress weight is now up to $150. I think the first time I purchased they were $100. A 50% increase in less than 3 years....now that is inflation.

My first dress weight in 2020 was a smaller 150g felt and it was $105. In 2021 the 160g was $115, and in 2022 it was $125. As they sell out of almost everything long before the next shipment arrives I suppose it’s good business sense for them to raise the prices. They are still cheaper than the Ukrainian (Millinery Warehouse) 100% beaver dress felts and I greatly prefer the nutria/coypu so far.

I don’t like the price increases we’ve seen in felt, but it’s the lack of availability that is my greater concern.

 

[belfastboy]

I have been stocking up whereever and whenever I can so have close to 200 felts in my stock. I should be able to withstand the apocalypse.

My first dress weight in 2020 was a smaller 150g felt and it was $105. In 2021 the 160g was $115, and in 2022 it was $125. As they sell out of almost everything long before the next shipment arrives I suppose it’s good business sense for them to raise the prices. They are still cheaper than the Ukrainian (Millinery Warehouse) 100% beaver dress felts and I greatly prefer the nutria/coypu so far.

I don’t like the price increases we’ve seen in felt, but it’s the lack of availability that is my greater concern.

 

[Blain]

Rick at The Phoenix Hat Company recently completed a custom build for me using a Sunrise 100% nutria 220g western weight hat body. The felt arrived from Sunrise feeling very stiff/firm and very much like Winchester’s 100% beaver western felts. It felt just like my earlier Sunrise nutria in Almond that David at VS made into a hat for me. The last two 220g western felts I’ve received feel considerably less stiff and give me hope!

Back to this hat: I wanted it to approximate vintage western beaver felt and had Rick pounce it thin! It lost approximately half of its thickness. Rick did his usual outstanding job. However, this felt just didn’t have what it’s takes to duplicate the vintage qualities I was after. It’s fairly thin and wonderfully smooth with a truly an outstanding hand, but the limitations of the felt could not be completely overcome. It’s certainly not claylike and copious amounts of steam was required to shape it. It’s very much a modern western weight felt...bummer. It’s at least as good, if not better, as any of the Winchester 100% beaver westerns I’ve seen, but it’s nowhere near vintage.

Rick also ran into a mottling problem as he pounced it to approximately half its original thickness. The mottling doesn’t bother me and is only really visible in in certain lighting and angles of view. If I had been content with a stiff western there wouldn’t have been any mottling, but I kept encouraging Rick to take it farther to see if he could make a silk purse out of a modern sow’s ear. The problem isn’t the hatter or the skills or the tools: this modern felt is like Winchester’s beaver in that you just can’t get there from here.

I think Rick wrongly sees this as a failure on his part, but I’m the one who insisted on pushing the limits. The build quality is excellent, and the felt’s shortcomings are not Rick’s fault. It’s also not bad or flawed felt: it just has its limitations. If you’re happy with modern Winchester western beaver felt you should be happy with these Sunrise Nutria felts. I’m hoping that the newer less stiff felts will get me closer to what I’m after (I hope to know by Christmas!).


View attachment 277905 View attachment 277906 View attachment 277907 View attachment 277908 View attachment 277909 View attachment 277910

Rick at The Phoenix Hat Company recently completed a custom build for me using a Sunrise 100% nutria 220g western weight hat body. The felt arrived from Sunrise feeling very stiff/firm and very much like Winchester’s 100% beaver western felts. It felt just like my earlier Sunrise nutria in Almond that David at VS made into a hat for me. The last two 220g western felts I’ve received feel considerably less stiff and give me hope!

Back to this hat: I wanted it to approximate vintage western beaver felt and had Rick pounce it thin! It lost approximately half of its thickness. Rick did his usual outstanding job. However, this felt just didn’t have what it’s takes to duplicate the vintage qualities I was after. It’s fairly thin and wonderfully smooth with a truly an outstanding hand, but the limitations of the felt could not be completely overcome. It’s certainly not claylike and copious amounts of steam was required to shape it. It’s very much a modern western weight felt...bummer. It’s at least as good, if not better, as any of the Winchester 100% beaver westerns I’ve seen, but it’s nowhere near vintage.

Rick also ran into a mottling problem as he pounced it to approximately half its original thickness. The mottling doesn’t bother me and is only really visible in in certain lighting and angles of view. If I had been content with a stiff western there wouldn’t have been any mottling, but I kept encouraging Rick to take it farther to see if he could make a silk purse out of a modern sow’s ear. The problem isn’t the hatter or the skills or the tools: this modern felt is like Winchester’s beaver in that you just can’t get there from here.

I think Rick wrongly sees this as a failure on his part, but I’m the one who insisted on pushing the limits. The build quality is excellent, and the felt’s shortcomings are not Rick’s fault. It’s also not bad or flawed felt: it just has its limitations. If you’re happy with modern Winchester western beaver felt you should be happy with these Sunrise Nutria felts. I’m hoping that the newer less stiff felts will get me closer to what I’m after (I hope to know by Christmas!).


View attachment 277905 View attachment 277906 View attachment 277907 View attachment 277908 View attachment 277909 View attachment 277910 View attachment 277911 View attachment 277912 View attachment 277913

I have a Nutria hat from Sunrise Hats that I just finished and it has the same molting. However mine is less uniform. I have a long spot on the top of the crown and then a little on the back of the crown. It has been annoying me to no end.

And I guess after seeing your post, there's nothing I can do to "clean" it out.

Frustrating when you put effort into a new hat and it comes out looking like that. I think I would be less upset if mine were more uniform like yours is.

I also didn't pounce my hat very much at all.