Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Monday, September 16, 2013
I've been struggling with making blocked (as opposed to sewn) fezzes for the last year or so. We tried making a block, and it didn't come out very well. Then I purchased a fez block from Hatshapers. While I have no complaints, the finished size/shape wasn't what I was looking for. I think it will be good for shaping wool into cones, though. We'll see.
Last week I found a fez block on Ebay. These things usually go way out of my price range, but the seller had an odd description on it. So I bid, and got it for a bit under my maximum bid. yay! The block arrived today. Here it is:
While the grain on the cone looks like wood, it's definitely cork. This is cool, as pins go into cork a lot easier.
I covered the block with plastic wrap to protect the surface and then tried covering it with some felted wool. Here's what I ended up with:
It's on the patio drying right now, and I have to keep checking out the window every few minutes as there are scattered showers forming in the area.
The block is sitting on my improvised spinner. It's a wooden paper towel holder with the rod cut down. It works great.
Perhaps the wool will be dry tomorrow and I can share the results. This is all still fairly experimental, so I'm not expecting perfect results. We shall see.
Speaking of drying felt, last week I purchased some items that I'll be using to construct a DIY drying cabinet that I can use during the winter. I'll share pictures once I get the monstrosity put together.