Leather Sweatbands - choices! choices!

Very exciting mail today!

In my attempt to continue my wholesale supplies trend, I've been trying to source out really affordable leather sweatbands. I found a place in New York (I know you're shocked), who has three different price points, and they just sent me six of each as samples!!

Here they are, with the highest quality (Roan - $450/gross) ones on the left, and the lowest quality (bonded leather - $150/gross) on the right

The Roan ones(below) are very thin and extremely smooth. They feel like they would not change the head size much and would be lovely to wear. I would have to choose whether to use brown or black, as I can't afford a gross of each right now. (Maybe they would split it for me....but I doubt it.)

The bonded leather are 1/3 as expensive and much thicker.  They honestly look quite serviceable. I could afford both brown AND black, which would be several years worth of them.

The one in the middle (below) is real leather and quite thick, and is right in the middle, price point wise and smoothness wise. BUT - It is so thick that I'd be concerned about the sudden effective downsizing of all my blocks. Could possibly afford both colors.

Best news, though - ALL of them are awesome - ALL are affordable, and I have enough to really test them out to see which I like best. Watch for updates as I start using them!!!

three new blocks!

And by NEW blocks, I mean "custom made by this awesome artisan in the shop at the Seattle Children's Theatre" kindof new. Newly come into the world - just for me -squeaky squawky new. Here they am:

Squee!

From left to right we have:

• A very "I made this up myself" experimental kind of block, which can be sized down by taking off the 5/8" layers at the bottom. These are basically a series of tapered headsize plates. When I remove plates, the hat gets shorter but this style tends to scale down pretty well that way anyway. Each 5/8" layer adds about 1/2" to the circumference. Using the various configurations of this block, I can get various sizes from 21"(Gwenneth size) to 24.5"(Giles size). We'll see if the use of plywood for these plates is workable or not. This multi-block is on a base with two dowels that hold the entire apparatus together - like a spinner with two spindles. I need to sand down the dowels so that the layers can come off more easily, but it is totally working.
• A 23.5", slightly-taller-than-my-current-ones cavalier hat block. This is Thore'-and-everybody-else-who-has-ordered-this-year sized. My largest flat topped block before was 23". (Ok, I've also got this freakishly large 26" block that I made and used one time only for a theatre who needed a hat for this 18th century dude in a periwig, but that hardly counts.) Murphy's law says, of course, that now only people with 22" heads will want cavalier hats. But I'm prepared for that too :)
• A 23.5" tall hat block. Again, I had a 23ish one and a 24ish one, and this has a slightly different profile. (more like one of the extant ones.) Under this block is a spinner with a small enough spindle for the blocks I have. My collection of spinners is now less pathetic, though still not robust.

I can't wait to try these out!

But I haz to to wait. :( Cause I'm preparing to teach a full-day millinery workshop in LA this weekend!)

If ever there was a good reason to have to wait....that's sounds like one to me.

The to-do list is long, but shrinking every day.

Wish me luck :)



yummy rusty coppery brown feather choices

I don't usually have quite so many feather choices for when a customer asks for rusty coppery accents. I was thrilled to be able to send him this picture just now, so he can choose what he wants to go with his outfit.

Ooh - I want to post his picture too - he has this fabulous Elizabethan ensemble that he wants a hat to go with, but I haven't asked his permission yet. Will do so - and hopefully will post the very nice shot that he sent me.

I Should have ordered from this feather place immediately (they had a screaming deal on 100 feathers and would let me mix these and other awesome and subtle colors) However - after I got this small order, I went to place the big one and the price had gone up too high. ($3.95 per feather is way higher than it was when I first ordered samples from them) (Hmm...though that price DOES include shipping.....hmmm)
Here's the link, just in case anyone is interested.: http://stores.ebay.com/Feather-Store/Ostrich-Plumes-/_i.html?_fsub=4719115&_sid=148762439&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

I may end up ordering from them anyway just because of the fabulous, subtle colors they have.

Please note that the color names in my picture are probably not the color names they offered. The feathers did not come labelled, and one of the feather colors I ordered (and not sure which one, above) is called "luggage". Though I don't know which one that is - I'm sure that I like it.

I enjoy fun but semi-unhelpful color names. My new favorite lipstick, for example, is called "twilight".

12th Night 2011...tomorrow!!

Hello hat lovers.

here are some quick, terrible photos of what is going to be for sale at An Tir 12th Night, which is tomorrow. (Aaaaargh!!!)

There are 28 here:

There are two more felt hats on top of these racks, and six Cavalier hats on the top rungs.
There will be 24 finished flatcaps, many of which are shown here, and the last four will be finished in the car tomorrow. (bringing the total to 24, which perfectly fills the racks. I am very pleased. I've even got SIZE labels in them all this time.)

 Here are the four custom ordered Cavalier hats all finished and boxed up and ready for their new homes. I really should have gotten photos of some of these, but chose to make more hats instead.

 Here  is the bag of 1000 custom labels!! I thought they were too big when they arrived, but they have grown on me. They didn't make it into all the hats, but I can work on that during slow booth times.

New for 12th Night!: I actually have finally, after many many false starts and frustrated sourcing, made some jewelled hatpins which I like and which are functional! Finally found really strong hatpin blanks, and got the half-drilled beads I needed for the ends. I think they will be $10 each.

 closeup of one. I need a new camera.

I have not packed or ironed my clothes, or my husband's clothes, or my child's clothes,  and haven't printed a price sheet or loaded the trailer, etc .....but hey,  I've got a total of (does quick math...) 64 hats for my booth!!! That is about 14 more than I've ever hat at one time!

Now - just need to GET them there and all set up.

Showtime!

1000 custom woven trulyhats labels!!!!!!

I just ordered 1000 custom woven labels.

Blink.

I've been "going to definitely DO this this year!" for about ten years now.
The things that have been stopping me for these last ten years have been:

• Even companies that say they have "low" minimums" seem to want to ship you zillions of these, and charge you over 200 bucks. Not a small committment there.
• I have very low level graphic design skills, and reasonalby high standards.Also, I had no concrete ideas for a logo. I knew that I absolutely did not want to have a hat pictured on it. (too Kitchy, maybe?) I also knew that I didn't want it to look at all like the iron-on name labels that mom put in all my camp clothes. That's all grand, but knowing what you don't want does not a logo design make.

Then I found some custom woven label companies on ebay - they had VERY low minimums - I could have spent as little as $45 on this project! (Course, the real price break came at 1000 labels, but even that was under $100, shipping included!)

I decided that if Anne Klein and the like can have labels with just a name on it in a clear but identifiable font, mine could be similar. Here is my final design, which is on its way to me MAYBE in time to get them in the 12th Night hats:


The company name has always been Truly Originals, but they are only ever referred to by customers as "Is that a TrulyHat?"

 If I love them, I'm set for labels for about nine years.

(I hope I LOVE them)

Feathers, blanks, and two finished Cav hats!

Finally got some pictures of the lovely new feathers and blanks that came in!

Grey, white, chocolate brown, olive, gold, and black. Loving those green ones in particular, as you will see.

Below are the hat blank samples that I just got yesterday! There are two brown ones with wide enough brims for me to make the pre-ordered brown Cav hat (GS - this means you! Do you want me to try for the bronzey chocolate one in the center, or the slightly tanner but still definitely brown one on the left? The so-called "emerald green" one on the right is more like "screaming kelly green",

which is not what I think you were interested in, but let me know.)

So - OK cavalier hat folks. I've made a few cav hats, to see how it works. Below are the results of my initial experiments. Two hats are currently finished and available, neither of which were part of the pre-orders. Here's the first one, a VERY sweet, sueded fur felt hat, size 22, with a smallish brim (for a cav hat.) I have some more of these blanks, but this is the widest possible brim I can get out of them. It's perfect for someone who wants shade and style,

but who is a little less flamboyant.

 Looks great on ME. :)

Here's the second one. A large (size 24, I think?) very WIDE brimmed wool felt cav hat with those yummy olive green feathers and matching green band. Came out lovely and clean, and I've got a call in to the supplier of those blanks to see what colors I can get them in. This blank was a dream to work with.

Second shot of same hat, with kitten, cause I'm just kinda like that. 

And - that's all for today!