My first hat experiment

[DRB]

I saw this hat on ebay. I was looking at the velours. I saw this poor pathetic looking hat and decided to rescue it. It is from the 50's I assume, as I found this advertisement:

I wanted to see how a hat was made so I tore it apart and went to work on it. wet it down, shrank it (too big) with alternating hot and cold water, and vinegar.

After shaping and shaping, I let it dry and painted the underneath with stiffener.

I am still waiting on the petersham and liner to arrive but here I am wearing it, with a smile....

 

[alanfgag]

Cool project, Dennis... how did the shrinking work out?

 

[Sam Craig]

Petersham is so great to work with ... I will never go back to poly ribbon again, even though the Petersham is harder to find.

You did a great job.
Are you replacing the sweat?
Post again when you're done.

You ARE the man!

Sam

 

[DRB]

Thanks Alan:
The hat actually shrank pretty well. I was able to make the brim longer with the extra felt too.

Same: YOU da man..

 

[delectans]

Looking good, Dennis, I applaud your intrepid spirit! :eusa_clap

 

[randooch]

It looks better already! (What, pray tell, is that pin that came with it? :eeek

 

[hatophile]

Nice job, Dennis. I like it better this way.

 

[DRB]

Sorry Sam, I (mispelled) / misspelled your name (same).

Thanks for the support my friends.

The hat pin which I thought was unfashionable was, I am told by the ebay seller, a pin worn by firefighters. Looking at it, I couldn't tell, all I knew is, it HAD to go.:eeek:

 

[fmw]

You guys are great craftspeople. If I tried that, I would make things worse. Nice job.

 

[Sam Craig]

You guys are great craftspeople. If I tried that, I would make things worse. Nice job.

Actually, there are a lot of things you can do yourself.
I'm just not sure I'm up to the sweat replacing yet, especially since the difference in price after paying for a new sweat ...that will still need to be sized and altered before being sewn in ... is only about $8 difference from what the hatshop in Wichita charges for the job. I just know about 2 hours into trying to replace a sweat, that $8 will seem pretty cheap

On the other hand,

The shaping, trimming and even ribbon replacement gets to be enjoyable, I think.
You just have to take you time and .... especially with the ribbon ... start with the right stuff.

I tried making cheap poly ribbon work
It just doesn't
It never looks as good as Petersham ... and any more it's not THAT much cheaper. Just harder to find

Sam

 

[bendingoak]

Can you post a better shot of the pin?