Create a welt-brim (wired-edge) fedora in this 2-day, 13-hour studio workshop. The two sessions are divided into:

Day One: 6 hours for blocking, the process of using steam, heat & muscle to shape a felt “body” (blank) over a hand-carved hat block. The felt will dry on the block overnight.

Day Two: 7 hours will be spent removing the felts from the blocks, welting the brim edges (stitching a nylon “wire” into the hem to maintain the brim’s crisp edge), inserting the headsize ribbon (sweatband), & hand-stitching the decorative hatband & trims.

**PLEASE NOTE: Students will need to order their own felt bodies & have those in hand for this workshop. (A list of suppliers & suggestions will be provided upon registration.) You may use a wool OR fur felt body for this workshop, although I strongly encourage using a Western-weight fur felt in rabbit, beaver or nutria, as these are easier to block, & yield more satisfying results. You can expect to pay $25 for a wool felt body, $60 for a rabbit felt body, & up to $140 for a beaver or nutria felt body. Please bring your own decorative trim materials or whatever you’ve chosen for a hatband (although I do have basic millinery grosgrain ribbon available); headsize ribbon/sweatbands & brim wire are provided. Most of the finishing work on your hat is done by hand, so some knowledge of hand sewing is useful - bring your own small sewing kit if you have favorite tools! Hand needles & thread are available in the studio.

Cost for this workshop is $525. Class size is limited to 4, in order to provide plenty of personalized instruction to everyone.

We will meet Saturday February 10, 10am-5pm and Sunday February 11, 9am-5pm. Please allow a one-hour lunch break each day.