Thursday, April 4, 2013

The Making of a DEER Beret

Asked for more information on the DEER Berets, Kongo-Shokai, the manufacturer, made this fantastic series of photographs: the whole manufacturing process of their berets.
Not only gives it a very detailed and intimate impression of how these berets are made, it also shows the artisan way how real hand made berets come into being. 
To me, it also explains the (relatively high) cost of these berets; so much manual work, handling, checking, procedures... 
I have said it before, there are not many berets that can compete with these DEER Berets on comfort, craftsmanship and eye for detail. 
Highly recommended!
Beret knitting machine
Closing (or 'linking') the beret
"Rough" beret with the closing thread (txortena) visible
The washing machine, where berets are shrunk in 70 - 80 minutes
Pre- and post-washing and drying
Dying the berets
The individual beret is, after being dunked in hot water, wrapped in a wet cloth before going through the fulling machine (4 times), to compress the fibers 
Fulling in progress
Beret after fulling
Preparing the beret for brushing and shearing
Brushing of the beret
Shearing the beret
Before and after shearing
Blocking the beret, pre-steaming
Beret blocks in the steamer
A string is attached pre-steaming to get the right size
The beret post-steaming
Headband fitted, the final product.
Many thanks to Yumiko for her fantastic help!

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