Crown Club — The Founding Cohort
6-Week Hat Making Class
Learn to make a classic wool felt fedora from start to finish, one relaxed evening a week. Over six weekly sessions, you'll build genuine millinery skills — steaming and blocking, shaping, trimming, sewing a sweatband, and finishing with a curved Petersham ribbon hatband — finishing with a Sunday session where everything comes together.
Run by Lisa under Apes & Apples, our in-house hat brand, from Common Threads' Nelson store. This is our very first Crown Club cohort — a wonderful opportunity to be among the first to learn this craft with us, at Founding Cohort pricing.
This course is designed for complete beginners to hat making — no prior millinery experience necessary or accepted, so everyone learns and progresses together at the same pace. Basic sewing machine skills are required, as parts of the hat will be machine-sewn during the course.
Session Details
- 6 weekly sessions, Wednesdays, 6:30pm–8:30pm, starting 21 October 2026 (21 & 28 Oct, 4, 11, 18 & 25 Nov)
- Plus one finishing Sunday: 29 November 2026, 10:00am–2:00pm
- Maximum 3 participants per class (more block dates to follow!)
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Price: $695 per person, all materials included — Founding Cohort pricing. Future courses will be priced from $795, so this is your best-value opportunity to join Crown Club.
- For absolute beginners to hat making only — basic sewing machine skills required
What Each Week Covers
- Tools, materials, head measuring & choosing your block
- Steaming and blocking the crown
- Shaping and blocking the brim
- Trimming, sanding and finishing the brim edge
- Fitting and sewing the leather sweatband
- Curving and stitching your Petersham ribbon hatband
The Finishing Sunday
A relaxed four-hour session to complete any final touches, ask questions, and experiment with trims and materials beyond your own hat — a proper finale to the course, not just a wrap-up. We'll also take photo documentation of you and your finished hat, a nice keepsake to mark the end of the course.
What's Included
All materials for your fedora — felt hat body, hat block use, sweatband materials, Petersham ribbon, tools and guidance throughout. You'll leave with a general understanding of classic hat-making, the tools and materials involved, your own finished fedora, and a small group of fellow makers.
The Common Threads Difference
A true full-immersion learning experience in small-batch, hands-on craft — because some skills are best learned slowly, one week at a time.
