Help needed with grosgrain ribbon installation

[Magus]

Well the MyHatin Project is nearing completion. I have a nice new ribbon...but having a small difficulty. Since the crown of the hat slopes in ever so slightly, when the bottom of the ribbon is tight...the top is not.

I guess I could reblock it and try to get verticle sides...but that can't be the correct answer...is it? Plus I rally like the current shape and fit so I don't want to effect that.

Suggestions needed...and then I'll call Art. lol

M

 

[dr greg]

hat ribbon

From my experience in such matters, ordinary grosgrain has the problem you mentioned, which is why there is a special type that is actually slightly 'curved' to account for the slope up to the crown, it's very hard to get in any colour other than black, but I would suggest contacting a decent milliner, or else see if a hat shop has some already 'tied' lying about. I ended up consulting a shop 600 miles away, which may seem keen, but it did the trick.

 

[John in Covina]

Would it be posible to bunch the ribbon a little along the top and put in a few stitches to tighten it down behind the bow?

 

[Magus]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. John...the gathering of excess material would mess up the look of the ribbon. (I think it might at least...lol) But good thought.


Dr Greg...I guess that call to Art is in the making huh?

Again,
my thanks for the suggestions,
M

 

[decodoll]

You need to swirl the ribbon and you need to have the correct ribbon to be able to do this. It should be petersham (looks like grosgrain but the edges are unbound) and be at least 50% cotton. What is most common nowadays is 50/50 cotton and rayon (or viscose). You can find french milliner's ribbon at The Ribbonerie and Lekos too, I believe. Swirling is a process of steaming and stretching until the ribbon conforms to the shape of your hat. I can scan some directions tomorrow and post them here for you if you'd like.

edit: just remembered I'd recently seen directions online... here ya go.

 

[Magus]

Thanks Doll....and I must say...the name fits the lady.

 

[John in Covina]

Pleating

Would it be posible to bunch the ribbon a little along the top and put in a few stitches to tighten it down behind the bow?

*********
What I meant was along the lines of Pleating.

 

[Fedora]

I swirl all of my grosgrain, if the hat has a tapered block shape. I do no use the petersham because I do not like the sawtoothed edging. Looks cheap, and better suited for the wastebands in trousers. So, you can do it with regular rayon/cotton grosgrain too. It is easy to do. Just mist your ribbon with water, and use a dry iron. Set the edge of the iron on the ribbon, and then pull only from one side of the ribbon,as you pull it through the heated iron. You may have to do it a couple of times to get the arc. You are basically stretching out one edge, or side of the ribbon in this process, while the opposite edge stays stock. The end result is a ribbon with the top edge being shorter than the bottom. The shorter edge, of course, goes to the top of the hat. Oh, place the hot iron on the backside of the ribbon, not the viewable surface. Fedora

 

[Pilgrim]

Sneaky! Me likie! :eusa_clap

 

[decodoll]

I swirl all of my grosgrain, if the hat has a tapered block shape. I do no use the petersham because I do not like the sawtoothed edging. Looks cheap, and better suited for the wastebands in trousers. So, you can do it with regular rayon/cotton grosgrain too. It is easy to do. Just mist your ribbon with water, and use a dry iron. Set the edge of the iron on the ribbon, and then pull only from one side of the ribbon,as you pull it through the heated iron. You may have to do it a couple of times to get the arc. You are basically stretching out one edge, or side of the ribbon in this process, while the opposite edge stays stock. The end result is a ribbon with the top edge being shorter than the bottom. The shorter edge, of course, goes to the top of the hat. Oh, place the hot iron on the backside of the ribbon, not the viewable surface. Fedora

That's good to know. I'd always been taught it wouldn't work with the bound edge, so I've never tried it. Although, I can't really say I agree about a good petersham looking cheap. I actually prefer the sawtooth edge.

 

[Visigoth]

Well, I thought I should raise this thread from the dead rather than start a new one on the same topic. (Oh, and hi all -- haven't been here in a couple of years.)

I have a couple of questions about switching a ribbon from one vintage fedora to another. I've removed the ribbons from both. One of them is a little short on the other hat -- but from this thread, it seems as if you can steam and stretch grosgrain? I just need a tiny bit of length -- maybe a centimeter.

Second question: I'm a lousy sewer, and I read somewhere that it's possible to sew both ends of the ribbon together before attaching it to the hat -- that way making a circular band that you can just slide down over the crown and fix with a few stitches once you have it in place. Is this silly? (I worry that if I do it the way everyone shows here -- stitching it bit by bit it as I fix it around the hat -- that I'm never going to get it tight, and that I'll probably end up with it too short as a result.)

Advice from the wise?

 

[randooch]

Hey, I remember you! Where ya been, Mexico or Manhattan?

Advice: wear a thimble.

 

[Tomasso]

Oh, and hi all -- haven't been here in a couple of years.

I have a couple of questions

Oh sure, drop in when you need some help.........................

 

[Visigoth]

Ha! You sound like my mother. (And I mean that in the best possible way, of course.)

I'm still in Mexico, yes. Even farther from Manhattan: I'm now in Oaxaca, in the deep southwest. Getting closer to areas of the world where the indigenous do in fact wear fedoras.

 

[Visigoth]

So, I did it. Sewed a circle, and then -- while the ribbon was damp. pulled it down over the crown. It dried perfectly: tight, unwrinkled.

 

[carldelo]

So, I did it. Sewed a circle, and then -- while the ribbon was damp. pulled it down over the crown. It dried perfectly: tight, unwrinkled.

I just used this method to add a new ribbon to a polystraw hat - it worked very well, thanks for the idea - results over on this thread:
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?16909-Straw-hat-ribbons&p=1463896#post1463896