Under construction

This is the ‘outside’ of the felt from yesterday’s stiffening.

Quite a technical post follows, but I do know some of you love the process

It’s a vintage one which I acquired in Switzerland , on German eBay,  as part of a job lot.. and found only because I misspelled ‘hat felt’.. I was very fortunate that no one else had the same typo, as I got a large number of base materials for a very low price. Even including the time and money to collect them, they were a bargain.

This is called a ‘melusine’ felt, and is the sort of felt that top hats are made from.  To buy a vintage unused one of this quality would start around £80…  I paid less that that for the whole box! There were two others of this type, the rest more standard offerings, but still of a very high quality.

I’d been very apprehensive about using it, and wanting to do it justice, but decided that my skills were now of a standard that I could be brave and try. I stiffened it with four layers yesterday, building up the firmness little by little, as didn’t want to ‘overdo’ it and have the stiffening appear on the right side. 

It’s been wonderful to work with, though does shed a little, so will need brushing and polishing well, post construction, but I think it will be worth it.

I’m also using elastic to hold it in place rather than pins, to avoid damaging the pile more than necessary.

I feel in my bones this will be a good one!  And I’m making it for me