From here...to there...?

[LoveMyHats2]

I have to ask this and hope it will be left maybe even a sticky placed on this, but we all have to just go a bit "bonkers", (well I know I do) when I see a hat for sale, but it just is a bit far too small to fit. I have a nice old commercial grade stretcher, but I am not confident enough to really "crank" a hat into another size, as such, not going to take a hat apart, my talents just do not include sewing in a new sweatband yet...

So now, please, what is the most you have stretched a hat? What is the "normal" rule about it? ( I noticed clean a hats lists a 3 size stretch in their pricing, but is that safe)?

 

[alanfgag]

As RLK pointed out in another post a while back... no amount of stretching is "safe." If you send a hat to a hatter for renovation, they will be able resize it in either direction within a size or perhaps two. The sweatband needs to be removed and the hat reblocked. When you stretch a hat at home with the sweatband in place, the sweat will take the brunt of the blow. If the rear seam is taped it will split at the tape seam quite readily. If the rear seam is sewn, it will often tear along the line of the stitching (rather than at the seam) pulling and tearing through the weakened leather at stitching holes on one side or the other. Certain sweatbands are more forgiving when forced than others. If the leather is dry or thin, it can easily tear at any weak point around the circumference.

Another thing that can happen is an embossment into the felt from the extra pressure created by the added thickness from the sweatband, leaving a line around the felt where the sweatband ends. You can see this as well from welted seams where the crown is sewn to the sides of the liner.

With these cautions said, I can usually stretch a size 7 that fits me too tightly a half size. The decision whether to to do this will be based on the particular hat.

 

[rlk]

Ribbons also don't stretch and will first pull and distort at the stitch points until they ultimately pull loose or tear.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

As RLK pointed out in another post a while back... no amount of stretching is "safe." If you send a hat to a hatter for renovation, they will be able resize it in either direction within a size or perhaps two. The sweatband needs to be removed and the hat reblocked. When you stretch a hat at home with the sweatband in place, the sweat will take the brunt of the blow. If the rear seam is taped it will split at the tape seam quite readily. If the rear seam is sewn, it will often tear along the line of the stitching (rather than at the seam) pulling and tearing through the weakened leather at stitching holes on one side or the other. Certain sweatbands are more forgiving when forced than others. If the leather is dry or thin, it can easily tear at any weak point around the circumference.

Another thing that can happen is an embossment into the felt from the extra pressure created by the added thickness from the sweatband, leaving a line around the felt where the sweatband ends. You can see this as well from welted seams where the crown is sewn to the sides of the liner.

With these cautions said, I can usually stretch a size 7 that fits me too tightly a half size. The decision whether to to do this will be based on the particular hat.

Thanks I sort of thought it would be a risky thing to do, and here I purchased a cranker metal hat stretcher thinking I could make a 7 into a 7 3/8 until I just put my 7 3/8 on it and started to tighten it up, I could tell if I cranked it even a bit more, I would have had some damages. Thanks for the input.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Ribbons also don't stretch and will first pull and distort at the stitch points until they ultimately pull loose or tear.

Yes, I figured that. I am not really too good at the ribbon replacement part of hats yet, I have some nice vintage grosgrain, some that is 2 inch wide, and some that is thin ribbon for open roads or strats, but I was already guessing to really do anything making a hat larger, the hand band would have to go first, then as I am positive after reading things stated already, a hat would have to undergo some major surgery to not develop a issue. (Sigh). There are so many drop dead beautiful hats being sold, and for such a good deal on the pricing...but sadly just not my size. Thanks!

 

[zetwal]

There are so many drop dead beautiful hats being sold, and for such a good deal on the pricing...but sadly just not my size. Thanks!

There are still plenty of great 3/8 floating around. When you see something in your size that you want badly, let out the stops.

Eventually you will land a big fish ... :yo:

 

[Mystic]

(Sigh). There are so many drop dead beautiful hats being sold, and for such a good deal on the pricing...but sadly just not my size. Thanks!

EXACTLY.......very frustrating !!!!

I'm a 21 1/2"....now down to 21 1/8', after losing about 30 lbs. last year I really didn't need to lose. almost down to my Jr. High weight.

I see lots of nice hats in the sizes 7 1/8 - 7 1/2.....not so much 6 7/8 and below.

I'm not ready yet to spend money on a 20" or 20 1/2" and try and stretch it.

 

[Terry "The Hat"]

The most I've ever been able to stretch a hat safely is if the hat already fits but is just a little snug I've been able to loosen it up enough to make it comfortable. Even then I've split a sweatband once doing just that.

 

[gtdean48]

Being a LNL, Large Noggin Lounger, at 24"/61cm/US 7 5/8, finding good vintage selection is more than challenging. I watch for 7 1/2 & 7 1/2 LO in the vintage models I desire. If the sweat is in good condition, I have gotten a 1 size enlargement but realize I have to do preventative maintenance to keep some in that shape. Art Fawcett's band block that exact shape of my head rotates thru the hats regular, especially if I sweated any during the last noggin session.

 

[tonyb]

Stretchers that act only on the area around the sweatband (as contrasted with those full-crown stretchers) might get a hat up one size (a size being a one-eighth increment -- a 7 1/4 to a 7 3/8, say) without unduly risking damage. Maybe. All the materials -- the leather, the ribbon, the felt -- will stretch some (especially the felt), but they will want to return to their previous size, so getting the hat to keep its new size often takes repeated coaxing, as Tom noted. And yes, stretching more than a bit is courting elongated and popped stitches and torn leather, etc., etc. And then there's the problem of a wonky brim.

So yeah, stretching isn't the best substitute for a hat that fits right to start with, but it can be (and has been) done quite successfully, especially with hats with fuller crowns. (A stretched smaller crowned hat, even one that fits well enough at the bandline, can look "off," especially on a guy with a fuller face.) It is better, of course, to use a full-crown stretcher, and not attempt too great a stretch, and to go sloooowly.

 

[DJH]

Art Fawcett's band block that exact shape of my head rotates thru the hats regular, especially if I sweated any during the last noggin session.

I must sound like a broken record having said this so many times, but getting a bandblock from Art is one of my best hat investments. Simplest way to keep my hats fitting perfectly.

In a perfect world, we'd all have one for each hat.

 

[alanfgag]

EXACTLY.......very frustrating !!!!

I'm a 21 1/2"....now down to 21 1/8', after losing about 30 lbs. last year I really didn't need to lose. almost down to my Jr. High weight.

I see lots of nice hats in the sizes 7 1/8 - 7 1/2.....not so much 6 7/8 and below.

I'm not ready yet to spend money on a 20" or 20 1/2" and try and stretch it.

Under 6 7/8 is limited, but there are many great hats on auction at 6 7/8. A lounger recently offered a wonderful vintage 6 7/8 lightweight hat in the classifieds that went unclaimed and sold at auction at a very low price. Borsalinos in size 7 or Punti 4 1/2 tend to run on the small side. Keep looking!