My first attemp at "Rebuilding" a fedora....What do you guys think??

[Joshbru3]

I bought a beat up early 1950's or late 40's champ months ago. Its just been sitting around and I thought I would take a shot at rebuilding the hat from the ground up tonight. The only thing that I didn't do was replace the beat up sweat band. That has to be done by optimo or another hatter, because I do not know how to stitch sweatbands. The felt was in awesome shape, but the ribbon and brim binding were all faded and had major sweat stains. I decided to remove the brim binding and swap ribbons with a 1960's pilgram straw that I no longer liked wearing because it was a short stingy brim. The straw hat had a thick black ribbon without a bow. I think wide brim fedoras look the best with wide ribbons. Heres some before shots:

Here's the shot of the crown punched out, the ribbon removed, and the brim binding removed. I was lucky when I removed the brim binding because the felt underneath wasn't faded, so the brim matched perfectly. I used a stiff brissel hair brush to scrub the felt in order to get rid of the "ridge" that the binding left and get rid of the little tinny stiching holes. Everything blended nicely:

And here are the final shots after I spent over and hour stiff and soft brushing the hat while steaming. I spent about 4-5 hours redoing the hat in total. It now has a raw edge, which I like very much. I also tacked on the new ribbon and put a new bash in the crown. The brim feels much nicer now that the binding is gone. The felt is even softer than before, and I just love the way that the black thick ribbon looks with the 2 1/4 inch brim. Like I said, I still have to have the sweatband replaced, but the hat has gone through a "reformation."

 

[Elgin1924]

You've done a great job there!

I think the black bow looks very nice against the colour of the felt.

TOmmy

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Looks like a great job to me as well!

 

[cybergentleman]

nice job

very nice work- you have some talent.


i like the gold ribbon work in the original . but your choice of ribbon and bow design is sharp- looks like a new hat :eusa_clap

 

[RBH]

Looks good, I like the ribbon.

 

[azshawn]

Looks great, just in time for Fall.

 

[hatophile]

Good job, Josh, you might have a new calling there.

 

[Madkat]

Beautiful. Love the crown work.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

I like it

Nice job!
:eusa_clap

 

[Joshbru3]

THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!!! I really appreciate all the wonderful comments. I almost wore the hat to bed last night. I love it. The raw edge doesnt have as much snap as some overwelt or underwelt brims that I own, but its a really subtle snap which I like. This is my first hat that combines a raw edge and wide brim, Im really diggin' it.

 

[Yeps]

It looks good, and I like the new ribbon, but I preferred the bound edge. But that is just me, I like bound edges.

 

[Joshbru3]

It looks good, and I like the new ribbon, but I preferred the bound edge. But that is just me, I like bound edges.

I like bound brims also, but I think if I ever have the brim bound again it will be with wide binding like a whippet. The old ribbon and binding were so bad that when I pulled them off, the real color of the ribbon was revealed.....it was a shade of greyish blue. How it got to be gold, I dunno.

 

[Joshbru3]

Good job, Josh, you might have a new calling there.

I would love to restore old hats or be a hat maker as a profession.

 

[Preacher Man]

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap
Joshbur your refurbish job looks great, and it looks great on you! Good job with the ribbon!

Preacher Man

 

[RobFedoraField]

Major Moore

I like bound brims also, but I think if I ever have the brim bound again it will be with wide binding like a whippet. The old ribbon and binding were so bad that when I pulled them off, the real color of the ribbon was revealed.....it was a shade of greyish blue. How it got to be gold, I dunno.

if you want it done, I'd contact the Major. I've seen quite a bit of his work up here and the work he's quoted me has been extremely reasonable.

and here's to a great lookin' lid!

:eusa_clap

 

[Dave E]

That's an absolutely cracking result! Looks excellent now, nice work.

 

[Tampahound]

Outstanding! Is this really your first attempt?!

 

[EggHead]

Excellent work! I really like the crown shape and raw edge of the brim. Black ribbon gives a good contrast to the color of the hat.

 

[Joshbru3]

if you want it done, I'd contact the Major. I've seen quite a bit of his work up here and the work he's quoted me has been extremely reasonable.

and here's to a great lookin' lid!

:eusa_clap

Thanks Rob, I will look into it possibly for a couple of my other hats that need to have the binding redone.

 

[Joshbru3]

Thank you very much Elgin1924, Mike in Seattle, cybergentleman, RBH, azshawn, hatophile, Madkat, Mobile Vulgus, Yeps, Preacher Man, RobFedoraField, Dave E, Tampahound, and EggHead!!!!!! It means a lot to hear all of your comments.