Hat Stretching-To Extremes

[airforceindy]

I picked up 7 1/4 Resistol, in good but well-used shape, for a song at the local antiques bizarre. I plan on giving it a naphtha/white gas bath at some point, and turning it into a close approximation of a OR or Strat. Has anybody had experience stretching a hat by a full 1/4? I'm a big 7 1/2, and I'm hopeful. If not, then I'm only out $12.

Regards, Andy

 

[John in Covina]

How extreme is too extreme? Actually, the thing is if it is too much , you may pop the stitching on the ribbon and also the sweat band. But both are replaceable. If you stretch the body a lot you may see a "shelf" line where the stretcher ends in the felt. But it is not a giant leap in sizes, you're slipping past 7-3/8's to 7-1/2 but in circumfrence it is 22-3/4 inches to 23-1/2inches. Just go slow, and I am wondering if you should dampen or soak the body at all when stretching it.

 

[SonOfaPreacher]

I agree with John, The more you strech the more distorted the hat becomes and work involved is more as the sizes go up. I had a resistol once that easily took one size, '1/4' very well with very little distortion. On the other sizing side, I took a 7 7/8th and sized it down to 7 1/8th! Huge amount of work, and trials by error, but it did turn out very nice. so good luck and take your time.
SoaP

 

[Ande1964]

Since you asked...

I was going to wait until this hat was all done to post pictures, but I'll share my extreme stretching story now, and I'll come back with an update later.

I paid way too much for a vintage OR awhile back. It was from the '50s, I think... a 3X model that had once been nice, in a size way too small for me. Not only was it small, but it was in rough shape. The felt was dirty, and the sweat and liner were pretty much gone.

Still, I hated to give up on good, vintage 3X felt, so I stripped it down to just the felt and gave it a bath in Coleman fuel. A lot of dirt came out in the fuel, even though I just washed the hat... I did not let it soak over night. When dry, I dunked the hat in water and put it on my homemade stretcher. I cranked it out pretty good, knowing that I needed room to get the new sweat in, and that this felt might bounce back some.

It took the stretch well. I did not move the brim line, although that line was not as sharp as it had been after the stretch. I sewed in a new sweat, ironed down the brim to give it a good break and gentle swoop, got the hat wet again, and put in a C crown bash.

Next is the ribbon. As you can probably see, I either sewed in the sweat a bit high on the crown, or ironed the brim break a bit low, so I need to decide whether to re-do the sweat or go to a 5/8 ribbon to hide my stitches. Haven't decided yet. I wanted to turn this into a light summer hat, so it will stay unlined. I may think about salvaging the logo from the old liner and gluing that to the inside of the crown.

So, here is the hat that came to me as a 7 1/4, now fitting my 7 5/8 long oval pretty well.

Before:

After:

Anj

 

[tonyb]

That's great, Anj.

Where are you getting your sweatbands? And what is your opinion of them?

 

[jimmy the lid]

Wow, Anj -- that is really impressive. Nicely done! :eusa_clap

Cheers,
JtL

 

[Ande1964]

That's great, Anj.

Where are you getting your sweatbands? And what is your opinion of them?

Thanks, Tony. I got this sweat from hatsupply.com. I am not very impressed with it. I'm looking for other sources.

Anj

 

[Rick Blaine]

ANDE

.. How bout a sweat replacement / reattachment tutorial, if & when you had the time. I would sure benefit from some instruction.

 

[Stoney]

If you're going to keep the thin ribbon, you can always stitch it again lower than the current thread using a different co,or of thread. Then take out the old stitching with a seam ripper. If you are going to add a ribbon 7/8 " or bigger then no need to do anything.

Great job on the stretch and sweatband install.

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[airforceindy]

Thanks for the advance peek at your work, Anj. That helps alot. Did you use actual block pieces to create your stretcher?

 

[tonyb]

Thanks, Tony. I got this sweat from hatsupply.com. I am not very impressed with it. I'm looking for other sources.

Anj

Well, I'm about to take this up another notch or two myself, and I'm looking for a reliable source of quality sweatbands. Perhaps we could go in on an order and save ourselves a few bucks? I'm fairly confident there's a solid handful of people here who might also be interested.

I just can't see scrimping on materials, seeing how the good stuff, while costlier than the lesser stuff, is still quite inexpensive, really.

I'll keep on the lookout too, Anj. Let's see what we can turn up.

 

[airforceindy]

Talk to Jim at JW Hats. $5 apiece, and they're goatskin. Supposed to be pretty nice quality.

 

[tonyb]

Ask and ye shall receive. Thanks.