Having started with the ‘hobby’ quite recently I probably don’t even know what I’m doing, anyway, of the three Akubras I have (Stylemaster, Campdraft and Angler), none of them was pleasing me completely. So I decided to make some modifications.
Starting with the easiest, the Stylemaster, I did not like the excessive tapering. I decided to re-crease it, in a rather unusual way, which has taken care of the problem. It looks a bit like a porkpie now, but since I only wear this when it’s sunny and when I am happy (so.. very rarely), it suits me.
Next came the Angler. If you know this hat, it is a classic safari/outback kind of hat. I bought this hat for cycling and hiking (holes for neck strap, yet it does not fly off even in a gale!). Anyway, I did not like the band (a thin leather ribbon ...with a tooth), so I replaced the ribbon, I think it looks less country this way.
I also creased the hat the best I could, again to remove the tapering. I pounced it with 120/400 grit sanding paper to make it a bit less stiff.
Finally, since this hat looks huge on me (small crown but very large 3” brim), I trimmed the brim to the same exact dimensions of a Fed IV (70x65cm dimensional brim). Removing one centimeter from each side makes a huge difference on how the hat looks on my head, in fact I can now use it for social occasions as well. For a neat job, I made a perfect ellipse template in Photoshop, which I attached to the hat with pins. Then it was just a matter of cutting along the paper and sanding. I also ironed down the kick ups on the sides and flattened the entire brim a bit. Here's the result:
Finally the Campdraft. I love this hat but I prefer raw edges, and again a smaller brim.
I’ve been searching on the forum first but even though there are people mentioning the intention to remove the edge binding (and/or trim the brim) from the CD, apparently nobody has done it (main reason for this post basically).
First I removed the binding, as you can see from the photos it does not leave you with a very noticeable stitching line (so the hat could be worn as it is), however, I preferred to remove the stitching i.e. take off 0.5 cm all over the brim. This brings the hat to the classic 65mm brim instead of 70.
These are close ups after removing the edge binding (BEFORE trimming):
With a very sharp box cutter it is a very easy and neat job since you can ‘feel’ and follow the stiching holes (no need to ‘saw’ up and down, you just sort of “push" against the holes). Easier than the Angler.
After that it’s just a matter of sanding the edge.
“Tools" and leftovers photo:
To make the rather large crown look smaller I also replaced the ribbon with a 1.5" rayon band.
The first thing I noticed after losing the binding was how softer the hat was - see video
Nevertheless it keeps its shape just as before. It looks and feel like a better quality hat in my opinion. See photos:
The following (bad quality) photos show how the modified Angler and CD look on my noggin:
(It would probably have been easier to just buy a Federation IV I guess, but money-spending at the moment is a bit limited…)
Anyway maybe this post can give you some ideas (?) … it’s been fun! Otherwise if you think that I have ruined three perfectly good hats please feel free to let me know!
Starting with the easiest, the Stylemaster, I did not like the excessive tapering. I decided to re-crease it, in a rather unusual way, which has taken care of the problem. It looks a bit like a porkpie now, but since I only wear this when it’s sunny and when I am happy (so.. very rarely), it suits me.
Next came the Angler. If you know this hat, it is a classic safari/outback kind of hat. I bought this hat for cycling and hiking (holes for neck strap, yet it does not fly off even in a gale!). Anyway, I did not like the band (a thin leather ribbon ...with a tooth), so I replaced the ribbon, I think it looks less country this way.
I also creased the hat the best I could, again to remove the tapering. I pounced it with 120/400 grit sanding paper to make it a bit less stiff.
Finally, since this hat looks huge on me (small crown but very large 3” brim), I trimmed the brim to the same exact dimensions of a Fed IV (70x65cm dimensional brim). Removing one centimeter from each side makes a huge difference on how the hat looks on my head, in fact I can now use it for social occasions as well. For a neat job, I made a perfect ellipse template in Photoshop, which I attached to the hat with pins. Then it was just a matter of cutting along the paper and sanding. I also ironed down the kick ups on the sides and flattened the entire brim a bit. Here's the result:
Finally the Campdraft. I love this hat but I prefer raw edges, and again a smaller brim.
I’ve been searching on the forum first but even though there are people mentioning the intention to remove the edge binding (and/or trim the brim) from the CD, apparently nobody has done it (main reason for this post basically).
First I removed the binding, as you can see from the photos it does not leave you with a very noticeable stitching line (so the hat could be worn as it is), however, I preferred to remove the stitching i.e. take off 0.5 cm all over the brim. This brings the hat to the classic 65mm brim instead of 70.
These are close ups after removing the edge binding (BEFORE trimming):
With a very sharp box cutter it is a very easy and neat job since you can ‘feel’ and follow the stiching holes (no need to ‘saw’ up and down, you just sort of “push" against the holes). Easier than the Angler.
After that it’s just a matter of sanding the edge.
“Tools" and leftovers photo:
To make the rather large crown look smaller I also replaced the ribbon with a 1.5" rayon band.
The first thing I noticed after losing the binding was how softer the hat was - see video
The following (bad quality) photos show how the modified Angler and CD look on my noggin:
(It would probably have been easier to just buy a Federation IV I guess, but money-spending at the moment is a bit limited…)
Anyway maybe this post can give you some ideas (?) … it’s been fun! Otherwise if you think that I have ruined three perfectly good hats please feel free to let me know!
