"eBay is a good place actually"

"Dear Catherine, In regards of stiffening the brim, you said that it ruins the apperance... but in which way? I've read other people saying that some stiffener doesn't leave any marks. In regards to wiring the hat, is the any special wire…"

"Hi Emilis I make fedoras and have tried to get a stiff brim without wiring on rabbit and wool felt but I haven't  found it possible without stiffening under the brim which ruins the appearance. Even on a narrow rim sprayed with strong hair…"

"Hello again Emilis, Typing late at night made my sentence all garbled. Sorry. If you sand thinner felts that have been stiffened your sanding down to the inside of the felt where most of the stiffener resides. From experience, the felt tends to look…"

"Thank you for your answer Victoria! What did you meant by "With other felts you can sand up the chalk stiffener with thinner felts. "? And when you said to stay away from sanding and 'use your brushes', which brushes were you…"

"Sanding is done by Hatters because they use a lot of Beaver mix felts.Sanding works best with beaver because you general don't need stiffener when working with that felt. With other felts you can sand up the chalk stiffener with thinner…"

"Hello Emilis The hat making trade call that a ''Pusher down'' tool. It is a very old tool used mostly in the making of men's hats but does have the same use in millinery. It is used to push down a cord or thin rope when…"

"Thank you for your answers Elaine!Talking about sanding the surface of the hat (with a trimmer machine or sand paper), my question is, Can you do it on any felt, to get the skin-like texture?"

"Hi Emilis, I often tell students they are actually learning a trade and like all trades need some tools. I know how hard it was to buy a range of blocks as a mum of 4. There are cheap blocks but many students have been caught out as timber is not…"