"The cloche is a wonderful winter hat that is best made from felted wool but can be any woven wool that you plan on steaming a lot. It can also be made from sinamay for summer. This hat needs some steaming to help shape it."

This hat must be steamed whether it is made from felted wool, woven wool, or sinamay? Or do different directions apply for some of these fabrics?

Steam is an important tool to forming the smooth "curves" if the cloche into shape and to activate the natural or chemical stiffeners in each type of fabric. You are also doing a controlled "shrinking" of the fabric over whatever you are using as a base or block if its a head block or a bowl.

A felted wool or natural woven wool will shrink some while a synthetic may not. A millinery sinamay available by the yard or as a hood or capeline usually has a type of glue impregnated into the fibers which soften when steamed and can be patted,tugged,pulled into soft shapes then hardens as it re-drys- not brick hard just stiffer.

You can use a tea kettle,pot of boiling water or a fancy hat steamer or anything in between to form your steam. The steam is your working tool.
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