I Cut My Optimo Brim...

[Mr. Lucky]

...now what?

I took my 20 buck optimo panama and trimmed the brim because I never liked it so wide. Well, now I like it. What can I do to preserve, if anything, the edge and keep it from fraying?

Thanks for your support.

 

[metropd]

Blasphemy!!! Well.... if you like it than you should do it. Just remember the eye is powerful weapon of deception.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The obvious solution is to stitch a piece of thin silk/cotton edge binding around the edge.

bk

 

[scotrace]

Obvious and probably only solution.

 

[Mr. Lucky]

THAT'S what I was afraid of.


Honey! Remember when you did seamstress work in colleg...

 

[Baron Kurtz]

You could always use duct tape.

bk

 

[AlanC]

On the bright side, when I saw the thread title I thought you had done it to an Optimo of Chicago felt. Now that would be an iffy enterprise.

 

[Mr. Lucky]

You could always use duct tape.

bk

With a matching band! Brilliant!













Anyone know where I can get an Optimo Panama with a TWO INCH brim?

 

[Orgetorix]

Anyone know where I can get an Optimo Panama with a TWO INCH brim?

It may depend on your head size, but PanamaBob might be able to (eventually) get one for you or have one made for you.

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

You could always use duct tape.

bk

lol And it comes in such a wide variety of colors now. lol

 

[metropd]

On the bright side, when I saw the thread title I thought you had done it to an Optimo of Chicago felt. Now that would be an iffy enterprise.

Oh thats what I thought when I posted.

 

[fatwoul]

A long time ago, I remember I saw a guy at a pool hall. He was wearing a straw hat of some description, with no edge to the brim at all, and it looked a little like he had cut it smaller. He wore it when playing, so maybe the original brim was too big and got in the way of his shots. Anyway, he had a piece of thin green baise or felt covering the entire bottom of the brim, right up to the edge. I only noticed it when he put his hat down brim up next to me. I suppose this was also to stop light catching the underside of the brim and distracting him or something, same as baseball caps.

I'm thinking the felt was stuck on all over, possibly with that bias tape iron-on stuff sewing people use. Anyway, whatever it was seemed to be keeping the loose edges from fraying, but they still looked a little ragged following the home scissor job he'd done.

 

[nulty]

Lets' hope you are... in fact.... "Mr. Lucky"

 

[The Wingnut]

Hrm...some high-quality lightweight felt attached to the underside of the brim with aggressive spray adhesive might be just the ticket. It would increase the weight of the hat, but it would preserve the integrity of the weave and block sunlight...

...heck, I bet Art could turn this into a brilliant piece of work, stitched around the inside and outside edge and 'tacked' with thread in enough places to keep it from lifting. Brim durability of a felt with the air circulation of a straw.

 

[fatwoul]

Hrm...some high-quality lightweight felt attached to the underside of the brim with aggressive spray adhesive might be just the ticket. It would increase the weight of the hat, but it would preserve the integrity of the weave and block sunlight...

The increased weight might be helpful in the wind, and the weave in the crown (where it matters) would remain unobstructed.

I was hesitant to say a spray adhesive, because that stuff can be VERY difficult to control, and you can often find it in places you didn't want it, such as (in this case) the other side of the brim or inside the crown. If you stuffed the crown with tissue paper, and covered the top of the brim with a piece of card, it would probably be fine. It would, however, need to be a very aggressive adhesive to hold the felt right up to the edge without any other attachment.

...heck, I bet Art could turn this into a brilliant piece of work, stitched around the inside and outside edge and 'tacked' with thread in enough places to keep it from lifting. Brim durability of a felt with the air circulation of a straw.

A true hybrid hat, with a completely felt brim and straw crown, could be really interesting.

I've seen some women's felt fedoras with patterns cut out of the brim, and they look very pretty.

 

[The Wingnut]

If you stuffed the crown with tissue paper, and covered the top of the brim with a piece of card, it would probably be fine. It would, however, need to be a very aggressive adhesive to hold the felt right up to the edge without any other attachment.

Perhaps a better approach would be to spray the felt and let the adhesive soak and even dry just a bit so it wouldn't ooze through the straw. Measure and cut beforehand, lay flat, spray, apply hat underside of brim downward onto straw, work quickly before it sets. No masking required, and you're not spraying onto the hat and risking overspray. You might even be able to leave the hole for the crown alone and cut it out afterward, although it would probably bond to the lower edges of the sweatband.

I've got a can of 3M adhesive designed for car headliners that has to be the most aggressive stuff I've ever encountered. It would no doubt provide a great hold for this application.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Fabric under the brim of a straw hat is not a bad idea. I have a cheap seagrass that has a tan cloth on the underside of the brim. Without it, the hat would only keep some of the sun off my face. (Seagrass has a lot of openings for light to pour through.) Since the under-liner is a co-ordinating color, it looks right!