Welcome to Millinery!
Millinery is really a form of sculpture. First and foremost, it requires strong hands to withstand steam and manipulate stiff felt into different positions. It also requires some expensive tools.
Hat blocks are the main expense for any aspiring milliner. It is the canvas upon which you build your hat. Unfortunately, hat block making is a dying art and precious few people currently make hat blocks. If this is your first hat, you should check eBay for a basic block (shaped like a head). Once you are more established, you might invest more seriously in a modular set. That way you can mix crowns and brims for different looks.
Once you have a block, you need a felt body to block. Felt bodies (also called hoods or cones) are unblocked hats made out of wool or fur felt. They come in many different colors and textures. Wool felt is the cheapest kind of body (under $15), but fur felts (around $30) are much easier to work with. Fur felts come in a variety of finishes, but flat and velour are the most popular. Velour (also called peachbloom) has a nap on one or both sides. The nap gives it a richer texture. Melusine, on the other hand, has a true furry texture not for the faint of heart.
Hats keep their shape with the help of stiffener, a glue-like spray that can dry quite hard if you aren't careful. I mix up my own stiffener from hydrolac b5 powder, rubbing alcohol (try for at least 90% alcohol), and a bit of water. It becomes a clear, slightly yellowish liquid and can be sprayed in light layers on the inside of the body. Stiffener is also available pre-mixed, but who wants to ship a flammable liquid? Powder is cheaper and easily shipped.
Steam is a key ingredient for blocking hats. I use a travel garment steamer to keep my felt pliable and set the stiffener. Steam burns are a real hazard so be careful!
Pins are necessary to keep the felt in place as it dries. I use straight pins when I am hand-draping and blocking pins when I am anchoring the body.
Next time, we'll discuss the process of blocking a hat.
Here's a video of a hand-draping workshop with Jasmin Zorlu, it's supercool!