Fabulous Felt and Nuno Felt Hats with Dawn Edwards

About Fabulous Felt and Nuno Felt Hats with Dawn Edwards

I love making hats and can’t wait to share my passion with you. I like to think of hats as wearable works of art, small felt sculptures in fact. During our felt exploration, there will be time for experimentation, as well as inspiration, as we create fabulous felt and nuno-felt hats through the wet-felting process. We will focus on techniques, patterns, and concepts in the design our felt millinery creations. You will love the artistic possibilities, with functionality as an added bonus. Such a dilemma…So many hat styles and only one head! Which style will you choose? Fun, whimsical, flashy, classic? Problem solved…Perhaps, all of the above in our fun time together! All levels welcome.

Materials, Equipment, and Supplies the Student Must Bring to Class

• 18-21 micron Merino wool top. Please make sure that your wool is Not Superwash as it will not felt. You will finish at least one hat, and may start a second, so bring along extra wool. Amounts needed will vary: My hats range in weight between 2.5 ounces to 6 ounces each. Living Felt carries a wide variety of Merino wool top*.
• Optional embellishments: lightweight silk fabric (chiffon, etc.) for nuno-felted hats, lightweight beaded silk fabrics, vintage cotton doilies, silk hankies. I love repurposing vintage beaded silk clothing found at thrift shops, eBay, etc., and will show you how I incorporate those in my hat-making…be on the lookout and do check the label to make sure that the garment is silk and that the silk base is lightweight.
• One Polystyrene (Styrofoam) floral wreath, smooth, round edge, 12-inch (30-31cm.) diameter (the color does not matter). Available at all craft stores such as Michaels.
• Several old bath size towels and a plastic bag to put wet towels in.
• Bubble wrap (small bubbles), minimum size of 2 ft. wide x 6 ft. length. This can be purchased through Living Felt* by the foot.
• A plastic bucket or plastic bowl (mixing bowl) for water…available at most dollar stores.
• Olive oil soap or your favorite soap for felting. Olive oil soap is available at Living Felt* and is very mild on your hands.
• Sprinkler bottle or Ballbrause water sprinkler. The Ballbrause makes for a very fine spray, so as not to disturb your wool layout, and is available at Living Felt*
• PVC pipe, wooden dowel or pool noodle (you will only need half, so if that’s easier for packing, just snip it in two).
• Stretchy ties (I just snip long strips from an old t-shirt ready to be discarded). The ties assist in keeping your felt tightly bundled when rolling.
• Sewing kit to include: Sharp pointy scissors for cutting felt and scissors for cutting plastic, sewing needle, thread, stainless-steel quilting pins, and a tape measure.
• Notebook, pen, and a black permanent (Sharpie) marker.
• If you have any cool buttons, brooches, feathers, etc., they make lovely embellishments to your hat. I will also demonstrate how to make a beautiful felt flower to add to your hat.
• A simple wooden ‘crown hat block’ (also referred to as a utility block) in your head size if you have one, or a less expensive but equally good option, a cloth wig form in your head size. If bringing a wood hat block, plastic cling wrap/film or plastic bag to cover your wood hat block so that it does not warp due to moisture. Please contact me if you need help in sourcing this.
• Optional: Wet-felting mesh fabric (I like to use this to add soap to my piece without disturbing my wool layout). Available at Living Felt.
• Optional: Any wet-felting tools that you may have, such as the Palm Washboard.
*If you need a resource for any felting supplies, Living Felt is happy to assist:
https://feltingsupplies.livingfelt.com

Materials Fee (to be paid directly to the instructor) and Kit Description

$20 - includes laminate material for 2 hat patterns of student's choice, plastic resist material, written instructions, felt flower kit.

Homework

Gather supplies