MAPip
Familiar Face
- Messages
- 50
Hey everyone,
After many attempts to upsize my hat with stretching, I just could not get comfortable with it. It also had a pretty noticeable verdigris stain at the rear through and through the hat and was visible from the outside. The stain likely came from the sweatband metallic rim (my guess is it has some cupronickel alloy, but I have no info on it.
I decided to remove the sweatband and clean the verdigris stain. I made my own oxalic acid solution (pure oxalic acid dissolved in hot water) and combined intermittently with dilute hydrofluoric acid (Whisk rust stain remover). The combination was far superior than either alone and removed the stain in minutes with gentle cotton swab applications on either side of the hat. Unfortunately, the ribbon was stained heavily and had to be removed; I did save the bow if I want to use it later. Interestingly, the felt is darker under where the ribbon used to be but matches the underside of the hat (sun-bleaching!)
For the upsize, I noticed with the three Stetson sweatbands I have removed in the past, each is a partial cone, with the base tapering upward to the crown of the head. With the band removed, I could tell that the base fit me quite well. I decided to cut the running stitch from the crown down to the last 2 millimeters above the base where the metal rim sits. This opened up the sweatband nicely.
I then stitched it back in place with interrupted horizontal mattress stitches. The best result utilized the pre-existing suture holes near the base of the sweatband in the order seen in the first image. Start your needle within the potential space between the felt and the sweatband, enter the first hole (1) through the sweatband toward the interior of the hat. Then, cross over to the nearest suture hole and pass the needle through the sweatband back into the potential space (2). At this point, carefully measure the position where you would like the sweatband to rest; ideally, place the suture hole directly over the level of the inferior or lower rim of the ribbon on the outside. Pass the needle through the felt (3). Measure the space between (1) and (2) on the sweat band and pass the needle back through the felt at this distance, horizontally from (3), to create the last suture hole (4). Holes (1)/(4) and (2)/(3) should be aligned, and both the thread tail and needle with thread should both be within the potential space ready to tie (see image 2). You can hand tie in many ways from here, but take care to bury the knot under the sweatband rim. I sutured in eight places in the order seen in image 3.
Be well ~
After many attempts to upsize my hat with stretching, I just could not get comfortable with it. It also had a pretty noticeable verdigris stain at the rear through and through the hat and was visible from the outside. The stain likely came from the sweatband metallic rim (my guess is it has some cupronickel alloy, but I have no info on it.
I decided to remove the sweatband and clean the verdigris stain. I made my own oxalic acid solution (pure oxalic acid dissolved in hot water) and combined intermittently with dilute hydrofluoric acid (Whisk rust stain remover). The combination was far superior than either alone and removed the stain in minutes with gentle cotton swab applications on either side of the hat. Unfortunately, the ribbon was stained heavily and had to be removed; I did save the bow if I want to use it later. Interestingly, the felt is darker under where the ribbon used to be but matches the underside of the hat (sun-bleaching!)
For the upsize, I noticed with the three Stetson sweatbands I have removed in the past, each is a partial cone, with the base tapering upward to the crown of the head. With the band removed, I could tell that the base fit me quite well. I decided to cut the running stitch from the crown down to the last 2 millimeters above the base where the metal rim sits. This opened up the sweatband nicely.
I then stitched it back in place with interrupted horizontal mattress stitches. The best result utilized the pre-existing suture holes near the base of the sweatband in the order seen in the first image. Start your needle within the potential space between the felt and the sweatband, enter the first hole (1) through the sweatband toward the interior of the hat. Then, cross over to the nearest suture hole and pass the needle through the sweatband back into the potential space (2). At this point, carefully measure the position where you would like the sweatband to rest; ideally, place the suture hole directly over the level of the inferior or lower rim of the ribbon on the outside. Pass the needle through the felt (3). Measure the space between (1) and (2) on the sweat band and pass the needle back through the felt at this distance, horizontally from (3), to create the last suture hole (4). Holes (1)/(4) and (2)/(3) should be aligned, and both the thread tail and needle with thread should both be within the potential space ready to tie (see image 2). You can hand tie in many ways from here, but take care to bury the knot under the sweatband rim. I sutured in eight places in the order seen in image 3.
Be well ~
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