Wet felt hat using craft-foam hat block

[@kikataye6293]

Amazing!

[@donutpanic]

Thanks Erika!

[@kikataye6293]

donutpanic you’re welcome

[@ogulcanekiz5474]

Hey hello i am really interested with hats and sadly can not find any hats which is handmade in here. So i would like to try to make my own. Where can i find the inches to make the hat block such as height, etc and what kind of fur should i use ? Does it has to be pure or something like that?

[@donutpanic]

Thanks for your comment. Any natural fur fibre should felt. Fine sheep wool is what most people use for felting. I use alpaca as we keep them. Height to suit the style you want, but around 125 mm. This video has detail about sizing. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6rEnXZpjqmFprc Good luck!

[@Rav0000000]

How hot is the water you pour over the hat when using the craft foam block? How well does the craft foam hold up against hot water?

[@donutpanic]

As hot as you like - no problem.

[@courtneyermoian823]

Where do you find such a large bamboo roller? I can’t seem to find one that large

[@donutpanic]

Hi Courtney. It is a bamboo window blind with the pulleys etc removed. You might need to re-tie the strings. I've just looked on Amazon and there are all sizes available on the US and UK sites. I bought my last ones from Dunelm if you are in UK.

[@courtneyermoian823]

donutpanic thank you! I’m in the US and my bamboo roller is only 12 inches wide. I’m making my husband a top hat trying your method of 24 in round instead of a resist. Thank you for the videos they’re very helpful!

[@donutpanic]

@@courtneyermoian823 sounds fun! You might need to go bigger than 24" if it is a tall topper. Let me know how you get on. Cheers, Mike.

[@Shrimp_Insurance]

I'm planning on using wool for my first hat and I wanted to have a blend of colors going into it, would pre dying the fiber cause it to shrink too much to to use? It would need to be dyed in boiling water Also do you happen to sell those ceramic tools that you made for the brim?

[@donutpanic]

Hi Wolfy. Most people who wet-felt used dyed fibre, so it is doable. In fact, buying already dyed fibre may be a solution. I don't think the individual fibres get smaller (shrink), but rather the piece of fabric that they become gets smaller (shrinks) as the fibres pull into each other as you work the piece, so as long as you are able to dye the fibre without causing it to felt to itself before you want it to, then you should be OK. You need to disturb it as little as possible when dyeing - no doubt there are videos on how to dye raw wool on youtube. Best practice would be to make a small sample with the process that you are going to use to check that it works. I have dyed hats but I dye them a solid colour once I have more or less finished the process, boiling the almost finished hat, then re-blocking it. Let me know how you get on. Mike

[@Shrimp_Insurance]

@@donutpanic Thanks a lot! That makes a lot of sense that it wouldn't be the individual fibers that shrink, gonna give it a go and see how it turns out. Also just wanted to thank you for all of your videos on this subject, I found them a few years ago and am only getting around to trying hat making for myself now. Your videos really are invaluable when it comes to this and seem to be the only decent ones on the subject on KZbin. Thanks again for your advice!

[@donutpanic]

@@Shrimp_Insurance email me [e-mail] regarding the tools.

[@sombrerosdalpacacinane4568]

Buenas cuanto tiempo se demora en hacer un sombrero

[@donutpanic]

Hola. Por lo general, toma dos o tres horas. No tiene que hacerlo todo en una sola sesión.

[@bhavdevchauhan4]

hello sir can wet felt bodys be made from camel fur and if so how long does it take to make a hat body

[@donutpanic]

You would have to try a sample to see if it felted. I use alpaca, which are members of the camelid family. It takes any where between 1 1/2 to 3 hours to make a hat from start to finish.

[@kikataye6293]

Where did you buy the fiber?

[@donutpanic]

Hi Erika. It is from our own alpacas. Hopefully you will have some alpacas near you, and will be able to get hold of some.

[@kikataye6293]

donutpanic thank you!