Am I churning out more hats than before? I guess I am. I think what you are witnessing is the result of an efficient work place. I am also spending more time crafting hats than crafting furniture or tools that I need in order to make hats faster and more efficient. I hope, with the new year, that I am running a tiny and more efficient factory that produce hats of the highest quality to a market that demands just that. I might be getting ahead of myself here.
It's a bit early to make a recap of 2023. But moving in to the new year 2024, the shelfs are well stocked with felts and materials to craft a lot of hats. I am eager to place orders for more and new felt colors. I think 2024 will be the year that I take a break from ordering and start to make hats of what I have in stock. As I have new felts on the way, arriving in a week or two, the first quarter of 2024 will see even more felts. I have 100 pcs arriving this month and another 150 in the next 2 months. Just amazing! They were completed earlier than expected.
Here I was thinking, just a year ago, that felts would be really hard to come by and it would be devastating for the business. On the other hand, prices have skyrocketed for felts. Doubled in cost. With that said, there might be price adjustments made in January 2024 to cover the increase in cost. If I was looking for a fur felt fedora, I would place the order right now. Literally right now.
What color are arriving? Well. Black color in 50X Beaver Blend is arriving this month and you can already order a custom hat in that color on the site. In December, you will also see the new Whiskey felt color in 50X Beaver Blend. I had this color before and I called it Vintage Beige. I loved the color so much that I had to get it in a beaver blend. Before, it was only a Rabbit and Hare Deluxe Blend, which is amazing. Beaver blends have become a favorite of mine and I only want the best for my customers. Sage Green will arrive during January. That color is also an old one, but 50X Beaver Blend is the newness. Then we have Fawn and a replenishment of Stone. I would say, perfect spring colors all around.
Some amazing looking hats in the photos below! You might have noticed, Homburgs are coming back. I have been working on crafting these a little bit different from before. An improvement I might add. I am working on a couple of new samples before I release them to the shop. The one in the Marketplace at the moment is one of those samples. The price is very amazing, but don't expect that for a custom order. These hats takes a long time to craft and the stitching work on the brim is very time consuming. For a 100X Beaver, expect the double and a bit more for the 50X compared with the one available. Waiting period for those could be quite long as the production of those should not impact the production of other hats which are faster to make. In the past, the waiting queue got out of hand because Homburg orders were stacking up. Let's see how I organize this in 2024. Expect some amazing hats in the coming year.
I better get back to work. Up at 4 am, finished the day at around 8 pm. Long days, but that's the only way to craft more hats for you. Have a wonderful Sunday! Love you all!
Regards,
Mikael Einarsson | HUFVUD HATMAKER | Askeröd, Sweden.
