I keep a stuff upper lip

This is buckram.

Once upon a time, this stuff was everywhere. All different kinds, too. Apparently, now there are only four, used mostly by milliners to make vintage style hats and Civil War era bonnets. It's the stuff that will be making the brim of my cloche hat nice and stiff.

Can you get high on Elmer's Glue fumes? Not that I'm trying or anything

The nice thing about buckram is that it's essentially a glue stiffened fabric. You can use a hot iron to and bend it the way you want and steam to get your fabric to stick to it.

But all the steam makes for waves of Elmer's glue sent all up in your face. I feel like I'm in the third grade again, spreading glue on my hands and waiting for it to dry why I pretended to care about my times tables.

What?

You didn't spread a thin layer on your palm so you could peel it off, wave it in a boy's face and pretend it was dead skin?

I'll shut up now.

Look at the pretty hat in progress (and stop staring at me. The third grade was a confusing time in my life.)