Silver Spur Ranch LLC is a working agricultural ranch located in a high mountain valley in Tabernash, Colorado near the Winter Park and Granby Ranch ski resorts…and home to The Tabernash Hat Company, makers of Pacahat and OOAK (one-of-a-kind) hats.
Along with raising alpaca and producing premium grass hay, we took an interest in making hats while watching a documentary on John Stetson. In 2018, the long journey into hatmaking began with an experiment - wet felting 100% alpaca fibers into custom western hats. This idea was not new, but having a successful outcome was - PacaHat was written up in the book The Brim and the Crown and also caught the attention of Cowgirl Magazine, calling alpaca “the new kid in town”. Since then, the Tabernash Hat Company has never looked back.
A self-taught hatter and formally educated hat shaper, the owner Deb Culig, creates bespoke hats under these self-imposed guidelines:
Respect what the material allows.
Pay attention to all of the little details.
Accept that things worth having always take time and effort.
Each Tabernash Hat Company creation is built on those standards.
How This Works
Consultation
What do you have in mind? Or maybe you got nothing but the desire to have a custom hat. We can offer suggestions and show you options to make you look great!
Materials
This is your Hat101 course. Feel different materials. Talk about durability. You’ll learn more than you probably ever wanted to know, but you’ll be ready to make an informed decision.
Fit
We will size you up using traditional hatting equipment dating back to the 1800s to get not only your head size, but its shape, too.
Design
This is where the fun starts. It’s a custom hat, so you’ll have lots of choices. The liner. The hatband. The trimmings like studs, strapping, feathers. The crown shape and size. The brim width and bend. Don’t worry - We’ll help!
Watch
No secrets here, you can see the entire process if you select a hat shaping session. If you are more interested in fully handmade, custom option like alpaca, you’ll be able to learn all about the process and we’ll send you photos documenting the steps.
Options
As if you haven’t already had enough, remember you can distress, burn or brand your hat, too. We have a full branding bar with everything from numbers and letters, to all types of symbols.
Where We Work
The hat studio is located in the barn and we operate by appointment only. But know that when you’re here, you are our ONLY priority. So plan to stay awhile. Have a whiskey. Relax by the fireplace or stare out at the mountains. Walk around the ranch and meet the animals. Like they say, Good things can’t be rushed…and you’re WORTH IT!
AND REMEMBER...We can also come to you and your event in our fully self-contained mobile hat studio!
"I didn’t set out to become a hat maker. It started with buying the ranch. Next came the animals and the fiber itself. I made yarn out of it. I knitted. I was a weaver.
But then it became apparent that this material offered so much more… We lined the walls of the chicken coup with alpaca fiber because it was so insulating and lightweight. We used alpaca fiber sheets to keep weeds down. And yet, I still couldn’t keep up with the amount of fiber we were producing yearly.
That’s when the hats came into the picture. And, that was quite a learning curve. I watched a documentary on Stetson and thought, “I wonder if I could do that with alpaca?”
Well, apparently many had tried and many had failed. After a couple years of hit-and-miss, I figured it out. Cowgirl Magazine noticed. PacaHat was written up in a book about hat makers… and away we went!
A lot has changed since trying to figure this all out on my dining room table. I’m now not only a self-taught hat maker, I’m a trained and certified hat shaper, as well. But, every hat is still all about the person it’s made for.
I like to take my time and take great pride in what I make. Nothing is more satisfying than seeing a hat customer smile when trying on their hat for the first time. I always tell them - "If it doesn’t feel right when you put it on, it’s just not finished yet.”
If you ask me what’s the best thing about a Tabernash Hat Company creation I would tell you this…these hats are built to be seen, not just owned!
Life is short - WEAR THE HAT!