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[Bill Hughes]

ahhh .... Peters Bros... I knew I forgot some
they are awesome

I live close to Peter Bros so figured it was my go to place. When I checked I was told a custom job would be at least 6 months but probably more.

 

[Bob Roberts]

I'm going on a two week Alaska vacation/cruise in August. I'm going to take at least one fedora. I was just trying to figure a way to take two or three.

Christys of London has a foldable traveler in fur felt. Holland Hats has them on sale.

 

[Ren]

so help me out here, which akubra is this in the photo below?
...and, I know it, but fellas, please spare the dress comments.... thnks
j

I
It looks like you're wearing the Adventurer. Cool!

 

[gtdean48]

Christys of London has a foldable traveler in fur felt. Holland Hats has them on sale.

Worst hat purchase I ever made was the Christy's foldable traveler & I have made some doozies!!! Akubra traveler with the wire brim rim removed....

 

[RJR]

Worst hat purchase I ever made was the Christy's foldable traveler & I have made some doozies!!! Akubra traveler with the wire brim rim removed....

+1 re the Christy's !!!!!!

 

[M Hatman]

Worst hat purchase I ever made was the Christy's foldable traveler & I have made some doozies!!! Akubra traveler with the wire brim rim removed....

GOOD to know!!!!! I was looking at one of these hats.....
M

 

[Bob Roberts]

Worst hat purchase I ever made was the Christy's foldable traveler & I have made some doozies!!! Akubra traveler with the wire brim rim removed....

Lol. Don't shoot the messenger. I would never buy one...

 

[andrew_AU]

Worst hat purchase I ever made was the Christy's foldable traveler & I have made some doozies!!! Akubra traveler with the wire brim rim removed....

I agree. I had a Christys' fordable hat. Terrible. Returned it to the store and swapped it for an Akubra Traveller. I also cut off the wore brim. I'm now thinking about swapping the leather crown band for ribbon and binding the brim too. Traveller is a good hat to shove into an overhead locker.

 

[blueAZNmonkey]

Question for the knowledgeable Loungers regarding DIY brim binding:

I'm noticing that my Brother sew-all machine is having issues with tension when going over a previous seam line. So for example, when I make a mistake on the binding and have to slice the thread and restart, the holes from the previous seam muck up the effort and cause a ton of bunching. How would you guys suggest I mitigate this problem? Should I stiffen the felt? sand/brush the old seam areas? Or is this something that a more professional machine won't have issues with?

Also, I'm pretty sure my woes aren't related to the ribbon itself. I'm practicing with some vintage Petersham rayon/cotton ribbon, and the initial stitch work goes in fine.

Hopefully I'm not the only amateur with brim binding issues =)

Thanks in advance!

 

[belfastboy]

Question for the knowledgeable Loungers regarding DIY brim binding:

I'm noticing that my Brother sew-all machine is having issues with tension when going over a previous seam line. So for example, when I make a mistake on the binding and have to slice the thread and restart, the holes from the previous seam muck up the effort and cause a ton of bunching. How would you guys suggest I mitigate this problem? Should I stiffen the felt? sand/brush the old seam areas? Or is this something that a more professional machine won't have issues with?

Also, I'm pretty sure my woes aren't related to the ribbon itself. I'm practicing with some vintage Petersham rayon/cotton ribbon, and the initial stitch work goes in fine.

Hopefully I'm not the only amateur with brim binding issues =)

Thanks in advance!

Maybe there is a reason that Tim at Alley Kat Hats does it all by hand and he is a pro!

 

[FedOregon]

John Penman does them all by hand, too, but Art Fawcett at VS and Mike Miller at NW Hats use a machine. AFAIK, Michael Gannon uses a machine, too, and his brim bindings are real nice. I can't find fault with any of them!

That said, it's something I won't attempt on anything but the worst quality "beater." And the Stetson No. 1 Quality "beater" I got off the lounge last week isn't bad enough for me to try... man, the felt on that lid is sweet!

 

[blueAZNmonkey]

Maybe there is a reason that Tim at Alley Kat Hats does it all by hand and he is a pro!

John Penman does them all by hand, too, but Art Fawcett at VS and Mike Miller at NW Hats use a machine. AFAIK, Michael Gannon uses a machine, too, and his brim bindings are real nice. I can't find fault with any of them!

That said, it's something I won't attempt on anything but the worst quality "beater." And the Stetson No. 1 Quality "beater" I got off the lounge last week isn't bad enough for me to try... man, the felt on that lid is sweet!

Interesting... I didn't know the Alley Kat and Penman hats are all hand-sewn! Now I'm starting to think my stitching awl is the best bet for redoing a machine mess-up...

 

[FedOregon]

That's a box of worms I don't want to open. I admire people with talents like that!

 

[Bill Hughes]

I have a question about stretching. If the leather headband has shrunk so that a hat doesn't fit anymore did the entire hat shrink? In other words if the headband needs to be stretched back to original size does the crown need to be stretched back out also?

 

[rogerstg]

I have a question about stretching. If the leather headband has shrunk so that a hat doesn't fit anymore did the entire hat shrink? In other words if the headband needs to be stretched back to original size does the crown need to be stretched back out also?

It could be that only the leather shrank. But that will be obvious because it will appear pulled away from the lining. Generally, everything will be stretched at once if using a simple hat stretcher.

 

[moontheloon]

I have a question about stretching. If the leather headband has shrunk so that a hat doesn't fit anymore did the entire hat shrink? In other words if the headband needs to be stretched back to original size does the crown need to be stretched back out also?

in my experience if the felt has shrunk you will see obvious taper and/or ripples ... I personally have never seen felt shrink where only the size was affected.
most of the time it is only the sweat band that has shrunk ... and if it is drastic shrinkage the leather will ripple.

stretching is a dicey game .... tread lightly ...

using the traditional stretching method I would not recommend attempting more than one size... (7 1/8 to 7 1/4 for example) ... especially on a vintage hat to avoid popping stitches and seams .

I've seen people stretch farther with some success but you can almost always tell ... the crown starts to bell at the break ... sometimes the ribbon starts to rise ... if it is a thin ribbon you can see marks from the stretcher in the felt... it always just looks slightly off.

@mmbarnes has a special stretching technique that he swears by where he has stretched hats much farther with great success ... it is a very involved process that I am sure he will share with you if you contact him

 

[Redfokker]

in my experience if the felt has shrunk you will see obvious taper and/or ripples ... I personally have never seen felt shrink where only the size was affected.
most of the time it is only the sweat band that has shrunk ... and if it is drastic shrinkage the leather will ripple.

stretching is a dicey game .... tread lightly ...

using the traditional stretching method I would not recommend attempting more than one size... (7 1/8 to 7 1/4 for example) ... especially on a vintage hat to avoid popping stitches and seams .

I've seen people stretch farther with some success but you can almost always tell ... the crown starts to bell at the break ... sometimes the ribbon starts to rise ... if it is a thin ribbon you can see marks from the stretcher in the felt... it always just looks slightly off.

@mmbarnes has a special stretching technique that he swears by where he has stretched hats much farther with great success ... it is a very involved process that I am sure he will share with you if you contact him

+1 If you have a reputable hatter close, I would suggest taking it to them for this kind of work. I take my off sized hats to Mike at NW Hats (an hour drive south) and he can reflange, stretch and restore/replace sweats as needed. Hats come back fitting like a custom. I'm too ham fisted in my attempts to resize, and they end up going to my hatter anyway.

 

[RJR]

+1 If you have a reputable hatter close, I would suggest taking it to them for this kind of work. I take my off sized hats to Mike at NW Hats (an hour drive south) and he can reflange, stretch and restore/replace sweats as needed. Hats come back fitting like a custom. I'm too ham fisted in my attempts to resize, and they end up going to my hatter anyway.

+1

 

[FedOregon]

+1 If you have a reputable hatter close, I would suggest taking it to them for this kind of work. I take my off sized hats to Mike at NW Hats (an hour drive south) and he can reflange, stretch and restore/replace sweats as needed. Hats come back fitting like a custom. I'm too ham fisted in my attempts to resize, and they end up going to my hatter anyway.

Me too, Red. After Mike converted my Stratton western to an outback styled hat I was blown away by his work. As you say, it was like I had a new hat. It was tagged as a 7-3/8 and I run in between 7-3/8 and 7-1/2 but can usually fit just fine in a 7-3/8. But that Stratton was waaaaayyyyy to tight. If I tried to wear it lower than my hairline I'd get headaches because it was so tight. All Mike kept was the felt itself and the liner. He cleaned and reblocked the hat, sewed in a new sweatband, steamed in a shallow teardrop crease on top, medium front pinch and small - medium side dents, and I went with a new buffalo hide hat band. Seriously, it's a new hat now!

When I picked it up from Mike's shop and slid it into place on my noggin' it was like a smooth custom fit hat. Just perfect.

I'm a klutz and I'm sure I'd mess up any work listed above...

 

[EstherWeis]

Question for the knowledgeable Loungers regarding DIY brim binding:

I'm noticing that my Brother sew-all machine is having issues with tension when going over a previous seam line. So for example, when I make a mistake on the binding and have to slice the thread and restart, the holes from the previous seam muck up the effort and cause a ton of bunching. How would you guys suggest I mitigate this problem? Should I stiffen the felt? sand/brush the old seam areas? Or is this something that a more professional machine won't have issues with?

Also, I'm pretty sure my woes aren't related to the ribbon itself. I'm practicing with some vintage Petersham rayon/cotton ribbon, and the initial stitch work goes in fine.

Hopefully I'm not the only amateur with brim binding issues =)

Thanks in advance!

Sounds like tension to me.
Previous holes should not affect your stitch.

Is your actual tension of your under spool good?
If you correctly put in the the metal cover, hold the thread and let it dangle it should not go down.
If it falls right down you have to tighten the screw.

And, since you mention actual holes, how thin is the needle you stitch with? Try to go quite thin.
I use a 60 or a 70( might be European size number though)
Holes should disappear with a little steam and a brush. If not, your needle is way too thick.