Mad Hatter

The Tale Of The Mad Hatter

So in my last post I mentioned that my husband had booked me onto a wet felted hat workshop. Last week we travelled up to Cheshire and I spent the day with Alison Rose from Rose Creations whilst my husband took my son to the Outlet Centre for a spot of retail therapy – think I got the better deal…

So thinking about the style of hat I wanted to create had me thinking about the ‘Mad Hatter’ from the Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” where the cheeky rabbit was famously featured.

However, contrary to believe the phrase “mad as a hatter,” used to describe someone who’s prone to unpredictable behaviour, didn’t originate with Carroll.  So where did it originate?.

The expression is actually linked to the hat-making industry and mercury poisoning. In the 18th & 19th centuries, a toxic substance, mercury nitrate, was used as part of the process of turning the fur of small animals, such as rabbits, into felt for hats. I can confirm that I only used soap and water in my workshop and no small animals where harmed in the process either….

Workplace safety back in the day were lax and exposure to mercury caused employees to develop a variety of physical and mental ailments, including tremors (dubbed “hatter’s shakes”), speech problems, emotional instability and hallucinations, not the best working environment and glad to report that the use of mercury in hat making was banned for use in the early 1940’s.

Fitted and Felted

We spent the first hour  measuring my head so we would get a good fit, preparing the template and choosing the wool which of course was my favourite colour – purple. Several hours later and after a lot of felting, fulling and shaping I had a hat to take home and dry.

Process and Practice

The process is long but enjoyable as you see the shape appearing. I shall make another hat in a different style as the more I practice the more I will learn about this great craft.

Hope you like it:

 

 

The Leicester Longwool

Over the last few years I have had a growing interest in felting and taken more interest in where our wool is coming from. At country shows one of my favourite areas besides the Poultry is the sheep and the breed to recently catch my eye has been the Leicester Longwool.

This breed is now listed on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as Vulnerable along with the Lincoln Longwool. They are just so chic looking with their coat of curly hair that a lot of ladies would be pleased to have!.The breed produces a natural and white wool in colour but is also know to dye easily and great for felting projects.

Just chillin

Is it just me or do some sheep just give an aura of being chilled? The Leicester Longwool is known to have a docile nature and they always look to be calm and collected as they saunter around waiting for their twice yearly haircut.

Any way enough musing I am of to order some wool to add to my needlefelted sheep collection, might even make it a christmas hat..

 

 

 

Craft Kits – What ingredients shall we add?

Are you ready to release your inner creative self?. Here at Wobbly Headquarters we have been developing a range of Needle felted kits for beginners.

There has been a lot of crushed boxes and discarded instructions in the process but we are nearly there.

Having explored the market there appears to be a whole menagerie of animals with the top 3 being hare’s, robins and mice.

So please Bear with us – that might be a clue! , hopefully we will not get to grizzly and make a spectacle of ourselves and we will soon be reunited with our blue teddy.

So if you have any ideas for a starter kit please let us know.