In an ideal world, your workroom would be stocked with a different hat block for every single head size. Since this is not the reality for most of us, though, we sometimes have to be creative to get the most of the blocks we do have. In this tutorial, London milliner Elena Shvab demonstrates an ingenious way to change the size of a crown block using felt.

This method can be used on most hat blocks, although standard wooden shapes without intricate details will work best. You can use new or recycled felt, or even repurpose an old felt hat. The only requirement is that the felt is stiffened and dried before use. If you are not sure how to stiffen felt, take a look at Elena’s tutorial on the subject.

Category: Hats, Hints and Tips

HATalk Subscribers – sign in below to view the full instructions for this project.

Not a Subscriber yet? Sign up to begin your free trial and get instant access to all of our hat making projects and e-magazines.