Cloche Hat, Part 1: Boiling Water is Hot Y'all

And so it begins!  Adventures in hat making.  I am now a milliner.  Alright that isn't necessarily true.  I guess I have to finish a hat before I can officially be a milliner.  Hat maker. 

Anyway let's get started.  You remember my Christmas present from Charlie, yes?

The hat block shown here surrounded by kitchen appliances.  You'll understand why I did this in the kitchen, I swear.  The first thing I had to do was cover the hat block in saran wrap.

Why, you ask? 
A.  So that the hat block doesn't absorb any moisture
B.  So no dye from hood is transferred to the hat block and
C.  Just so I can get frustrated with saran wrap.  I hate that stuff!

One must also wear special protective gear during the hat blocking process!  IT IS ESSENTIAL.

Specifically an apron and rubber gloves.  Aren't my rubber gloves fantastic and stylish?  I can feel your envy.  Before I block another hat though I need to get a different apron.  One that is waterproof so as to avoid looking like I'm ready to enter a wet tshirt contest.

Here's what you make the hat out of.

 Charming, right?  That is a 100% wool hood.  You have to buy them like this.  I look like Dumb Donald from the Fat Albert cartoon, except he could actually see.

The next step was to saturate the hood with boiling water.  This is where the rubber gloves came in handy.  Once it was saturated I took it out of the water, squeezed out the excess, and put it on the hat block.

Then it's just a matter of pulling the hood downward until it is snug against the block.  Once that's done I used the rubber tubing to hold it in place so any more tugging wouldn't mess up the crown.

The last step was pulling the hood down and pinning it underneath the brim section of the hat block.

This is where the waterproof apron would have come in handy.  You use your upper body as leverage against the top of the hat block as you tug a section of the hood down and then pin it underneath the crown.  Here's the entire hat pinned.

Now all I had to do was wait for it to dry.
Wait for it to dry...
Wait for it to dry...
Wait for it to dry...

Still waiting.