Stiffener on Felted Items?

[nykohchyn]

Do any of you use stiffener on your felted items?

 

What sort do you use?

 

For example, I am making a felted top hat. The felt is plenty stiff enough for a short-brimmed fedora (which was my first attempt and it came out awesome!!), but a top hat has so much more weight, it tends to be slightly floppy. I tried spray starch, but that really didn't do the trick. I considered white glue, but it is water-soluble, meaning if the hat is worn in the rain, it will melt. Bad. I experimented with a fabric stiffener tonight, but it was very difficult to work into the felt, and tended to want to stick more to me, than to the hat. It caused the hat to "fluff" and leave little purple balls of sticky wool all over me. I worked at it with a brush until it came smooth, but I was sort of hoping to NOT spend two hours of vigorus scrubbing trying to get this to work...so for the wide-brimmed fedora I am making my Dad, I was wondering, if anyone knows a better way?

 

 

I feel silly asking for a shortcut for the final touches on a project that took me two weeks to complete, but, one can only hope. Sometimes the first method that works, is not the EASIEST method that works. ^_^

[smokeyp81]

Hmmm, I have never heard of anyone trying to stiffen a felted item. I understand what you are trying to do. The only thing I could come up with is maybe you will have to make 2 hats and sandwich something stiff in between the layers. Something like plastic canvas?

[klouised]

I've been making patterns for purses for my site, and a couple of them are box purses. I didn't want to use cardboard between the purse and lining, because I wanted it to be a little pliable. Once cardboard bends it stays bent. The plastic canvas was my choice, and it works great. I cut the plastic the same size as each panel/piece, then trim each edge about 2-3 squares shorter. Then, I placed it between the purse and lining, and sewed the lining to the purse. The plastic is just laid in there loose, and it stayed in place pretty well.

[sherryzzz]

you could make a lining for the crown part of the hat, and sandwich plastic canvas in between the inside of the hat and the lining. I would tack the plastic canvas in place, and then hand sew the lining over the plastic canvas.