It's a brand new year, and I've been making some brand new things. They really are brand new too; because each piece is hand sculpted, they're all unique.
My first project back this year was attaching a brim reed to a blocked beret.
I used bulldog clips to hold the reed in place while I hand stitched it to the inside of the hat. Chrissie had already blocked this hat, but I helped finish it, including the brim reed and embellishment. I bagged out two strips of fabric to weave through the beret and tie in bows. (This picture is from Chrissie's instagram, @hattherapy).
After the beret was finished, I got to block my own felt hat, how exciting! I used a gorgeous aubergine coloured felt and a wooden hat block that Chrissie uses quite often for this type of everyday winter hat.
These hats are quicker to make than other because they don't require a separately blocked brim. They're so popular with ladies in the shop because they can be worn every day but they're so glamorous, and they can still be put into your bag without being ruined like other blocked hats.
To start a blocked hat, you steam the felt really well, holding the felt up so the steam floats over the whole hat. Once the steam has penetrated the whole felt, you pull it over a wooden block. This is the tricky part because the felt can be quite stiff - this is why the steaming is so important. Once the felt is pulled down over the block and all the bumps have been smoothed out, you pin it to the bottom of the block, making sure it stays pulled tight. The hat gets left to mould to the shape of the block, and the brim is trimmed down to make it easier to work with.
To add some detail while making sure the hat fits onto the head well, I added some pleats inspired by vintage hats.
Once the felt is dry, it gets taken off the block. I retrimmed the brim right down and began shaping it how I want it to look on the finished hat. To help the brim stay folded up once the hat is finished, it gets steamed again and pulled. This is repeated until the brim stays in shape.
For the trim, I decided to use leftover scraps of felt from the original piece. I experimented a bit with different shapes, some twists and weaves, and decided to use the woven trim on the hat.
I used tortoise shell buttons to hold down the pleats on the left of the hat, which I think look so lovely with the aubergine colour of the felt.
So here it is, my first blocked hat...
