Wolfbrae Custom Hatters

[EL-Jimenez74]

NHD

Ohhhh that’s nice!!!

 

[jba972]

Ohhhh that’s nice!!!

The fit is spot on too. Robert has a good system to dial it in.

 

[Rmccamey]

I'm in!

We need a group photo

 

[jba972]

@Judgmentalist We just bought an extra ticket for her hat.

 

[Darrell2688]

Really nice looking Panama hats, I have always been curious about that style of hat, however I don't have any idea how to make a hat like that. That style might sell pretty good around here in KY, we have a number of farmers that bail hay, grow tobacco & take care of goats and cattle. A panama would be a bit easier to wear in the warm months. Next week we will be looking at 100 degree weather, clear skies, zero rain.

 

[jba972]

Hey Robert,we were just in a WaWa gas station here in Orlando and someone asked me about my hat. He's got your contact info now.

 

[belfastboy]

@Judgmentalist We just bought an extra ticket for her hat.
View attachment 794095

Does the hat get its own bag of pretzels?

 

[belfastboy]

Here is the result of a fun experiment. I set out to see if I could make a hat for my grand niece, 4 1/2 years old with a tiny head size (48cm). My smallest block is a 53cm. I blocked the straw on the 53cm to set the crown and proceeded to step the size down in increments by using band blocks cut from construction foam. First, down to 51.5cm and then a final 50cm. I had to stop at 50 as the straw began to show a bulge above the brim break. I knew that would happen, just not at what point. But the 50cm is close enough, as the leather sweat makes it a 49cm and a few felt spacers gets me to the correct size.
I initially thought of a deeply cupped brim but I don't have a flange anywhere near the right size so used my millinery brim block to give it a down turned, bell shaped brim. The upside is the brim gives much better sun protection which is kinda the point.
A puffy back bow in Bubble Gum pink (her favourite colour and the one she picked out) to complete the look.
The addition of a stampede string, made from a pinkish leather strip with a 'baby beluga' adjustment, hand carved from Africa provides the final, practical touch.

 

[Darrell2688]

Here is the result of a fun experiment. I set out to see if I could make a hat for my grand niece, 4 1/2 years old with a tiny head size (48cm). My smallest block is a 53cm. I blocked the straw on the 53cm to set the crown and proceeded to step the size down in increments by using band blocks cut from construction foam. First, down to 51.5cm and then a final 50cm. I had to stop at 50 as the straw began to show a bulge above the brim break. I knew that would happen, just not at what point. But the 50cm is close enough, as the leather sweat makes it a 49cm and a few felt spacers gets me to the correct size.
I initially thought of a deeply cupped brim but I don't have a flange anywhere near the right size so used my millinery brim block to give it a down turned, bell shaped brim. The upside is the brim gives much better sun protection which is kinda the point.
A puffy back bow in Bubble Gum pink (her favourite colour and the one she picked out) to complete the look.
The addition of a stampede string, made from a pinkish leather strip with a 'baby beluga' adjustment, hand carved from Africa provides the final, practical touch. View attachment 796190 View attachment 796191 View attachment 796192 View attachment 796193

Really nice hat. My wife would love a hat like that, she is always working outside with the flowers or the garden, I just cut 4 acres of grass riding my zero turn. I was curious about what type of sweatband would be put in a Panama hat.

 

[Rmccamey]

Is always nice to have a few of those fun hats around and I'm sure this one will be a memory maker!

Here is the result of a fun experiment. I set out to see if I could make a hat for my grand niece, 4 1/2 years old with a tiny head size (48cm). My smallest block is a 53cm. I blocked the straw on the 53cm to set the crown and proceeded to step the size down in increments by using band blocks cut from construction foam. First, down to 51.5cm and then a final 50cm. I had to stop at 50 as the straw began to show a bulge above the brim break. I knew that would happen, just not at what point. But the 50cm is close enough, as the leather sweat makes it a 49cm and a few felt spacers gets me to the correct size.
I initially thought of a deeply cupped brim but I don't have a flange anywhere near the right size so used my millinery brim block to give it a down turned, bell shaped brim. The upside is the brim gives much better sun protection which is kinda the point.
A puffy back bow in Bubble Gum pink (her favourite colour and the one she picked out) to complete the look.
The addition of a stampede string, made from a pinkish leather strip with a 'baby beluga' adjustment, hand carved from Africa provides the final, practical touch. View attachment 796190 View attachment 796191 View attachment 796192 View attachment 796193

 

[belfastboy]

Really nice hat. My wife would love a hat like that, she is always working outside with the flowers or the garden, I just cut 4 acres of grass riding my zero turn. I was curious about what type of sweatband would be put in a Panama hat.

I think for garden work a more rugged and less expensive straw would be best. Think of a raffia, or sea grass or even a parasisal would be a better match. Panama straws are not robust. Better off with a more rugged hat and alterante straws can be purchased so much more cheaply. I brought in samples from China for $5 each, parasisal for about $15. You can sew in cloth or leather, either one works

 

[belfastboy]

Delivered the hat yesterday, it fits, she loves it so it a true success. And I learnt how to make a child sized hat without having a child sized block. Probably won't do my business any good as the children's market for $300 Panama hats is a small size, if it exists at all. But it sure was fun.

 

[jeffgarf]

Delivered the hat yesterday, it fits, she loves it so it a true success. And I learnt how to make a child sized hat without having a child sized block. Probably won't do my business any good as the children's market for $300 Panama hats is a small size, if it exists at all. But it sure was fun.
View attachment 796293

She is one lucky kid to own a 1 of 1.

 

[thekiyote]

I don't like working with Nutria as it presents difficulties not encountered with rabbit or beaver. 160gr is a tweener weight, a bit heavy for dress weight but light for western. It fits a niche for an outdoorsy hat or a more robust dress hat. They now offer a 110gr or so dress weight but I have not worked with it. The distributor, Sunrise offers a great colour palette. For about the same money you can buy a 100% beaver felt that makes for a higher quality hat.

If you don't mind me asking, what issues do you have with nutria? I have a few blanks on order from sunrise, and I've always heard it works very similar to beaver, and I won't lie, I like the fact that the felt comes from an invasive species, not a keystone one, but is it going to be really hard to work with?

 

[belfastboy]

If you don't mind me asking, what issues do you have with nutria? I have a few blanks on order from sunrise, and I've always heard it works very similar to beaver, and I won't lie, I like the fact that the felt comes from an invasive species, not a keystone one, but is it going to be really hard to work with?

Sunrise the distributor for nutria had some issues when they first started out. There were issues with the dye penetration and with it mottling. I had problems with the first 4 or 5 felts I worked with and abandoned the pursuit. Many other hatters experienced similar issues. But, Sunrise has done a lot of work with the factory and I think they have sorted out the issues. It is just that I brought in felts from other suppliers and decided not to stock nutria as the price was not much lower than beaver felt and I standardized on that. Nutria is a good fur, and makes a nice hat.