[Madhatters] my brown felt tophat

[David Stainton]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for the advice!
I'm going to go with black superfine wool bias.
For this I'll sew some bias tape at Nan's workshop (http://bspoketailor.com/)...
She uses it to cover the waste band seam in the wool knickers etc.

Millinery wire sounds like a good idea too.

It sounds like a good idea to machine sew one side of the bias tape
first; faster...
I was thinking to hand stitch both sides of the bias tape so that the
stitches don't
go all the way through the felt... but it probably doesn't matter that much.


David

On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 5:32 PM, Sarah James <sarah at instructables.com> wrote:
> Holy crap - CNC hat blocks!  For that I would be willing to learn crazy
> software.
>
> To cover the edge of your brim, David, look for some nice bias tape.  Again,
> Britex is your go-to place for this.
>
> Alternatively. grosgrain could work if you're patient enough to steam the
> heck out of it.  You'll need to pin it in place and steam it into shape
> around the brim.
>
> Finally, if you find some fabric that is just killer, cut a strip on the
> bias to go around your brim.  Cut it twice as wide as you think you'll need
> it - it will stretch and get skinny.
>
> You can actually machine sew at least the first side of the tape to your
> hat, but may want to hand stitch the other.
>
> If you're going to cover the edge of the brim, I highly recommend wiring
> it.  I know Lacis used to carry millinery wire.  Make sure you "spring" the
> wire first - straighten it all out - before you bend it into the shape you
> want.  This will increase the durability and life of your hat.
>
> There's my two cents!
>