Cloche Fever! - Autumn is great for hats!

 Novembre as begun and autumn weather has really reached us. Some days are pure gold, with sunshine, warm temperatures (still 20 degrees Celsius!) and clear blue skies. Others are grey, foggy and wet and you don't see the sun no matter how hard you try. And others are a bit of both, which I like best. When in the morning the fog lifts with the first rays of lights and seems to flow over the tops of the hills and retreat slowly, then comes back a bit, and then by early afternoon the sun has taken over and warms the skin and face.

Anyway, it inspired me to make some more cloches.

The light blue "bluebell" cloche seems to be more suitable for lighter days. I have to admit - light blue isn't really my colour... I do like the outcome though. I also start to like hats in weird colours, because  usually wear black (happy black, of course) and the coloured hats are a nice contrast. light blue also suits my complexion and eyes (says my husband, who also said "look, I would REALLY tell you if it wouldn't look good, don't worry), so I'll go with that. It reminds me a bit of my great-grandmother. The story goes, that when she went shopping for clothes and the shop keeper was telling her how wonderful the coat (or whatever) looked and she didn't really like it, she would say "yes, it definitely makes a small foot". And whoever accompanied her on the shopping day, would know what she meant by that. I assume it is another way of saying "the rest of me looks enormous in this coat".

awww, what a friendly creature!!

Maybe I will add feathers to this side... later...

This is the other hat I made. ACTUALLY I love it. It is great. It's the first hat in a non-weird colour and I like the outcome. Maybe I will reshape the bluebell cloche (or add a feather that crossed from left to the middle or something, it defnitely needs a little more "pzazz").

It is inspired by hats made by this talented lady http://behidadolic.com/   She used to do lots of free form felting on a simple balsa block, lots of cloches or smaller hats. It seems her newer creations (now also in "straw" for summer) are made more and more on special hat blocks, which I find really sad, I love her free form felt hats.

bonus material. :)

The "Duck à l'orange" Cloche

Another cloche in a colour that will definitely make car drivers see me in winter. :) For no real reason (other than the strikingly orange colour, obviously) it became the "Duck a l'orange" cloche.
This time I've planned the positions of the pleating a bit more careful, used stainless steel super fine needles and didn't brush as vigorously. :)

my skills considering hair-dos definitely need seeing to...

I still have a lot to learn about the free from felting but I think I am getting somewhere. Even the weather has changed - from nearly 40 degrees celsius to about 24 degrees. :) Autumn is definitely on its way!

Normally I wouldn't choose orange, but I do like the cloche, although I am not sure, whether orange really suits my complexion. Nevertheless, I guess in winter it will look nice with a  black coat. 

The Postillon Cloche

The past few days (well, over a week really, with several interruptions...) I've spent experimenting with free form felting. And I can only say: I love it. I found it a very sensual experience to work with the felt cones with all the steaming and manual shaping. It made me think about millinery and milliners in a completely different way. 

This friendly person is trying to present you her first felt hat creation. What you don't see is the totally enthusiastic 3 year old clinging to her left leg.

Anyway, some time (...ages...) ago I had bought a set of hat cones in light colours and I started by choosing the one with the colour I thought I'd wear least... in case it goes wrong you don't want to waste the really nice super colour. It was a bright yellow wool felt cone. Yellow happens to be the colour of the German Post. In the end I attached a wood button covered in very dark dark blue woolen fabric, and then I thought "this would go really well with the German Post work gear" and for a very short moment considered an alternative career. 

Despite the vigorous colour (that doesn't really suit me...) I really like the outcome for the first time felting. I learned a great deal of things about the directions of felting, about how the material behaves, ... and about needles. It is really annoying if your needles rust away while the hat is drying. As I had put it in the loft to dry, I didn't see what was happening right away so I unfortunately have a few rust stains that mark the ex-needle-holes. In a way I don't mind too much,  probably because the hat is ... yellow... although I guess it's great in winter on the bike - people will definitely see me... :) 

Talking about the weather - I can't answer the question why I made a wool felt cloche while the outside temperature was nearly 40 degrees Celsius. I also made a batch of dark chocolate macaron. 

40 degrees Celsius outside (nearly) - it WAS a little hot under that wooly cloche, I have to admit.

If you want to try free form felting, these are the things I learned this time

1. It is really good to thoroughly spray the hat with water the night before and keep it in an airtight plastic bag over night so it is nice and evenly moist. 

2. Hot water steam is still really hot.

3. Use needles that don't rust and that aren't too thick. 

4. Cover your hat block with cling film, it really helps cleaning up. 

5. When you brush your hat for the last finish, don't get carried away. I tried to remove a few of the rust stains by brushing the hell out of the felt with a suede brush, and while a few strokes really liven up the colour and texture, everything beyond "a few strokes" creates a fluffly sheep like surface. Unless you go for fluffy and sheeplike. It sure didn't help against the rust stains. :) 

 I wish you a lovely day. Enjoy! X

Evolution of a hat

I thought I'd share a few picture of how I made this hat:

 First I prepare the felt (3mm think, soft) with 2-3 layers of my shellac mix and let it dry. I covered the while sheet (A3) with shellac because I thought I might use some of it for decoration. As important as the shellac is tea and chocolate. fruit are optional.

After drying I cut the felt to an "easier to handle" size. The hatblock has a diameter of 17cms. In the backround you can see I never work without the help of chocolates.  I use needles that are 0,7mm thick. I prefer the ones with a plastik top, because it means I don't need a thimble. They are about 1,5cm long.

I use an old fashioned kettle with a longish spout to create steam, which works really well. Then I pull it over the hat block and attach it underneath with the needle. I start at a 12 o'clock position, then 6 o'clock, then 3 o'clock, then 9 o'clock, then in between those and always opposite until the felt lies smoothly over the hat block. ( i take it off the hat block stand for most of that)

 this is what it looks like in the end. In between I always steam the felt on the hat block. And in the end I give it a good steam before I set it to cool down and dry.

This is what it looks like after drying and removing it from the hat block. 

I cut of the excess felt with sharp scissors.I kept this scrap, it looks funny and I thought I might turn it into something.

The next step is to attach the Petersham / Grosgrain ribbon. First I shape it with an iron so be a bit rounded. 

 Then I attach it by hand (lots of modern hats have it attached by machine, but I think by hand looks nicer).

 After that comes the decoration. I chose 3 feathers from pheasant and 5 short goose feathers dyed black. I cut 2 leaf/wing shaped pieces of felt, steamed then into shape and tacked all into place. On the inside I attached a small comb so the beret can sit on the side of the head nicely.

I'll try and add a picture of the hat on my head at some point soon, I promise.

Some hats, some beans

Sooo,

after my hat stiffener experiment I had 4 hat bases. :) And let's not forget that first ever silk rose!

Below you see the hat bases with petersham ribbon attached and the betty hat with the bobbly has both bobble and comb attached, too. :)

 Diameter 13cm

Diameter 13 - 10 - 8 cm

Please do excuse me, I am not wearing make-up. I just didn't have the time... concentrate on the hats instead! ;)

I've combined the hat base with the silk rose and swirls of same felt.

 

I don't know why, but I find this a little "Parisian"... I LOVE it.

this hat HAS got a bobble hidden somewhere!

THERE is the bobble!

 I have attached a little bit of black veiling with self-made light beige dots to this one, it sort of reminds me of vintage hats with their lovely veils, but it is definitely a modern little thing.

with a bit of black veiling with light beige bobbles here.

 I am still working on the tiniest hat you can see above, it's going to get a tiny bobble, too, like a shrunk version of the above bobbly hat. I am also still working on the headpiece.

So long, have a lovely week!

PS: some of you might have recognized the "Blackadder II" quote of the title. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y0yolPv7tU

The felt stiffener problem and its solution - an experiment

It seems that one of the best kept secrets ever in millinery is the ingredient of the felt stiffener you can buy. Apart from the fact that it is highly flammable I didn't seem to be able to find out more about what it actually contains (chemically). I also didn't manage to find/buy it in Germany. Highly annoying.

from Alice in Wonderland

So I ordered it from England. Because having to order stuff from England is less than ideal I looked for alternatives and came up with the following experiment to find out whether traditional recipes (easily available ingredients) are as good as "special" stuff (that also happens to be difficult to get).

Here we go

The Hertzwerk - Felt -Stiffener - Project

1. I bought mysterious felt stiffener from England (I am still not quite sure whether they should have really sent that highly flammable stuff via post... but anyway... there is no declaration of contents, I have absolutely no idea, what it is, I assume some sort of resin). That stuff is recommended in Sarah Cant's book "HATS!". She uses that stiffener before she starts shaping the hat. It's said to be waterresistant. (can only be used for felt).

2. The German book "Hut und Putz" by J. Barbe mentions, that most felt cones are treated with some sort of stiffener from the factory and possibly don't need extra stiffener. She does give a recipe (see below) for a shellack based felt stiffener which you can use on untreated felt or to stiffen bowler or top hats entirely (to "superstiff"!) or to give a hat just a little bit of extra "stiff". She refers to the readily available stiffener as "synthetic resin based" stiffeners, that make life a lot easier. She describes how to use the shellack based stiffener after shaping the hat. Shellack based stiffener is also waterresistant. (Shellack-sprit mix in a different concentration can also be used for straw hats to stiffen them and make them shine, as far as I understand the author...)

[Sabine from Kleidung um 1800 brought my attention to Plantago ovata/blond psyllum, or "Indischer Flohsamen" in German. Used mainly for silks but also for millinery purposes (historically). I won't be experimenting with this now, this is just for future reference. It is water-soluable, so it is only suitable for hats that definitely don't get wet (e.g. silk hats on buckram frame)]


The question:

What is better/easier and how do I use it: traditional Shellack stiffener vs modern (resin?) stiffener

Ingredients

Mysterious Felt stiffener from UK (some sort of resin?) (clear)

Shellack based felt stiffener (light yellow)
100gr Shellack flakes (lemon or lighter coloured) +
500ml methylated sprit ("Polierspiritus", it has to contain at least 98% alcohol)
(needs a few days to dissolve, but does this nicely without regular stirring, careful: make sure you use an absolutely airtight container!!)

Picture from book "Hut und Putz" by J. Barbe, p. 217, my shellack mix is lighter yellow than this

 - 2 pieces about A4 size (not hat felt, just ordinary felt) 100 % wool felt fabric (3-4mm thickness, rather soft touch, colour: mottled gray),
- 1 piece A4 size, 100% wool felt fabric (again, ordinary felt) 4mm thickness, rather dense and "stiff", colour: mottled off-white

The experiment:

1. I used one piece of grey felt without any pre-treatment (apart from moisture and steam) and shaped it on the hat blocks, let it dry thoroughly and then applied shellack stiffener inside.

2. I treated one piece of grey  felt before shaping with the mysterious felt stiffener (resin) (one layer) and let it dry. Then I put it on the hat block (on the stand) and used the leftover (too small for any hat block...) on the head to make a headpiece.

3. I applied 3 thin layers of shellack stiffener on the inside and let it dry. The felt was dense anyway and the shellack made it rather stiff. Despite the shellack stiffener being light yellow, you can see there is hardly any discolouration.

white felt with shellack stiffener -  3 layers on inside

(just out of interest I soaked a tiny piece of the grey felt in the shellack - it gets REALLY stiff. And darker and keeps a sort of "wet" look. But I think you could get the felt to a degree of stiffness that would easily hold up a top hat, even though the grey felt was rather soft in the first place)


edit: I've also made a sample on just normal felt to compare directly how stiff you can get stuff. This is more visual. :)

 the result:

While hat-blocking:
I found it really interesing how the felt became sort of fluffy on the surface after heating it (both did, the hair from the felt "stood up"), and of course soft and pliable.

I really liked working with it. 3-4mm thickness is a bit thick, 2-3mm would be easier,I think.
The 4mm piece was not only rather thick but also very densely felted. The shellack stiffener gets soft when heated, so that was not a problem, the thick felt itself was also soft and pliable but the sheer mass of felt is a bit of a hinderance when working with it. The finished hat gets a nice touch from the thickness though, so I couldn't say whether it was a bad idea, or not, to use such thick dense felt.

I am very happy with the hat blocks, they are nice to work with. The water kettle works fine for steam, I just have one word of advice for anyone wanting to do this stuff: steam is REALLY hot. Really really hot. No joke. Be careful.

in the middle of the experiment; front left 2 blocks are w/o stiffener

after drying

I've left the felt dry for 2 days in the loft (that at the moment heats up like a nice sauna due to the weather).
I removed all of the felt pieces from the hat blocks.

All of the felt kept its shape, no matter whether it had been stiffened previously, or not.

Obviously the non-stiffened felt was as soft as it was before, just in a different shape. Wobbly would be another word for it.I then took the shellack stiffener and applied one thin layer inside of the felt hats that had no previous treatment  (if you soak it, it probably wouldn't look nice on the outside), put them back on the block and let them dry. They went a little "crisper" but not hard. I then applied 2 more thin layers of shellack and let it dry again -  they turned out nice and firm. 3 to 4 layers seems to be the right amount for this size.
The shellack leaves a slightly "shiny/sparkly" sort of layer on the felt, but if you brush it with a suede brush it is barely visible.

The felt that I had treated with the resin stiffener was a little stiff, but also qualifies for "wobbly". I think 2-3 layers of resin would have been better. I applied 2 more layers of resin stiffener to the pre-treated felt hat to give it more "crispness", which worked fine.

The felt that I had treated with shellack stiffener was really nice. Not cardboard-stiff but stiff, not wobbly. No shine inside, no discolouration. Very happy with this method.

after taking the felt of the blocks, outside.

after taking the felt of the blocks, inside.

The above mentionned "fluffiness" of the surface gets less while drying, you can iron the felt carefully (I used the iron directly on the felt, maybe a cloth would be a good idea) to smoothen the surface.(NO stiffener on outside!)

After stiffening:

I cut the inside edges even and attached Petersham ribbon (slightly shaped with iron) to the edges. Then I attached a comb. Then decoration. (I will post about the actual hatmaking another time, this post is concentrating on the stiffener)


Conclusion:

Both stiffeners work fine.

Personally I prefer shellack, it's got a sort of "traditional" feel to it. I know what's in it, it is a natural product, it's not some sort of mysterious chemical resin (or so...). And it is dead easy to make and comparably cheap AND easily available. The mixture of the above recipe (500ml sprit+ 100gr shellack lemon) will probably last me for... uhm...maybe 100 hats or so...?


I think applying 3-4 thin layers of shellack stiffener and letting it dry thoroughly before hat blocking works fine for the ordinary kind of felt I used. It is a lot easier than applying it after hat blocking, because you can't reach all corners inside as easily anymore after shaping the hat.

So personally, I am going to use that method in the future.

From Alice in Wonderland. Love the stripey socks.

Getting into millinery - the materials

Because of the fitting issues connected with my post-pregnancy shape, I am getting into millinery this year. I've always wanted to do that anyway ... :)
(yes, I am pausing woolly things for now - what good is a warm scarf or poncho in July at 35 degrees Celsius?  - and I am planning to get into sewing again by the end of 2015/beginning 2016)

A word on millinery:
Millinery is a highly specialized trade. It's not something you just "do". It requires not only special equipment and material but also knowledge and skills. Something that you usually learn in years of an apprenticeship and refine all though your life.
I am hoping to acquire some skills in the future, but you never know what happens.
I am expecting this to be a long and hard ride with successes and setbacks, with good ideas that turn out completely horrible and mistakes that turn out wonderfully. I am hoping to be able to use these skills for my historical projects as well as vintage inspired headwear for "everyday" (1920s cloches, 1950s headpieces).This will include covered buckram frames as well as felt based hats.

Hatmaking/Millinery also includes making the decorations yourself - e.g. work with feathers or making silk flowers from scratch. I have to be honest - I'd LOVE to be able to make one of those hilariously big and beautiful silk peonies or silk roses, but I am not sure, whether I am ever going to get there. Especially the japanese flower making art seems so appealing...  Making something like this would be great, wouldn't it?

from an alaya bar ad, google, never mind the jewellry, look at the flowers!!

Anyway, back to millinery:

It all started with always wanting a properly fitting 1920s cloche. And never finding one. And then I stumbles across free-form hat blocking (see e.g. here, a video on youtube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nj0bBbkBA8)

And then I found this book:

http://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312656867

I really like this book, the author gives an overview over materials first. What I REALLY appreciate was her suggestions to use an old fashioned waterkettle to generate steam. So far I had only found apologetic "yeah, these professional steamers are, like, really expensive, but what can you do..." (you can only get these apparently jiffy steamers (Germany)). And to  be completey honest with you, I didn't really think spending about 250 Euros just to do a bit of millinery on just a steamer was quite worth it.

I also got this one:
It is in German and it focusses on modern millinery, too, with reference to stuff available in Germany.
People don't wear headwear as much here, so it's more difficult to get things.

(picture form amazon.de)

So over the last months I have slowly started to collect the ingredients

An old fashioned water kettle.
You can't see it, but it is big. It can contain about 4 litres and the bottom circumference is about 22cms. I love the spout. I could even make tea in it. It is in perfect, spotless condition, looks as if it had never been used before. Or just really gently. It should produce lots of lovely steam. :)

(picture from ebay.de bidding)

And lots of bits and bobs

- sturdy needles (I got some that are meant for model plane making, they have a finger friendlich plastic top, "Stoßnadeln")
- for a start simple wool felt cones (I prefer the softer surface of melusine or peachbloom, but for practising simple ones should do) and plain 100% wool felt pieces
- millinery wire (Hutdraht)
- millinery needles (Modistennadeln)
- suede brush (Rauhlederbürste)
- felt stiffener (this proved to be the most difficult part, more on this in a later post) and brushes
- water spray bottle
- petersham ribbon (cotton/viscose blend) (Ripsband)
- and last but not least a hat block

- due to the need for experiments regarding felt stiffener I got a small fascinator hat block, so I could try out different stiffening techniques before ruining the felt cones.

(picture from etsy.com, easyhatblocks)

- For free form hat blocking a hat block like this is required, you can also use it for small headpieces, fascinators and wig-dressing. We'll see to that later. Due to the need to experiment with the stiffener first,

(picture from etsy.com, borsolino)

The hat blocks are the biggest investment if you want to get into millinery...

So long!

From http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alice2a.html

Coming up next in millinery: the felt stiffener project.