My Process For Making My Hats...
There are several ways to make felted hats, and I suspect, I have not chosen the easy way. First let me explain what I am not…
“Needle felting” is very popular right now, and uses a special needle to punch the wool until it is compressed and shaped.
“Knit felting” is where an item is knitted into shape and then machine washed to do the felting.
The technique I use is referred to as “wet felting”. I start with raw wool, right from the sheep. I completely wash the wool and remove the natural lanolin. I then dye the wool, and blend the colors to create depth. The wool is then carded and layered for felting. Hot water, soap, and agitation is the age old recipe for making the wool turn to felted fabric. After is it “felted”, I block the wool “hood” on a collection of antique hat blocks.
After the hat has dried and the band sewn in, I hand embellish each hat with whatever strikes my artistic mood…whatever accents the style and shape of the hat base. This may include vintage passementerie, hand beadwork, vintage textiles and laces. Some may sport 1920’s flapper burn out velvets, or a flourish of arashi hand pleated silk. I’ve spent the past 25 years amassing this collection of textiles…just for your hats!
“Needle felting” is very popular right now, and uses a special needle to punch the wool until it is compressed and shaped.
“Knit felting” is where an item is knitted into shape and then machine washed to do the felting.
The technique I use is referred to as “wet felting”. I start with raw wool, right from the sheep. I completely wash the wool and remove the natural lanolin. I then dye the wool, and blend the colors to create depth. The wool is then carded and layered for felting. Hot water, soap, and agitation is the age old recipe for making the wool turn to felted fabric. After is it “felted”, I block the wool “hood” on a collection of antique hat blocks.
After the hat has dried and the band sewn in, I hand embellish each hat with whatever strikes my artistic mood…whatever accents the style and shape of the hat base. This may include vintage passementerie, hand beadwork, vintage textiles and laces. Some may sport 1920’s flapper burn out velvets, or a flourish of arashi hand pleated silk. I’ve spent the past 25 years amassing this collection of textiles…just for your hats!