Replacing sweatband?

[MrPumpernickel]

Hey there, I've been searching this forum but haven't been able to find any direct answer to this. I have two hats, one an old fedora with a sweatband cracked beyond saving and a derby (bowler, whatever) which sweatband cracked at a single point when stretching. They're not really expensive enough to warrant sending away to get mended so I wonder what it would really take to replace the sweatbands myself.

Now, I'm fairly good at sewing but I've never gone so far as to sew anything like a felt hat. Are there, that you know of, any online places that sell sweatbands with online payment, PayPal or other, (I live pretty remote and international bank transfers are expensive)? If not, what should I look for when it comes to leathers if I could just make the sweatband from scratch. I'm not aiming for perfection, my aim is more comfort and being able to wear the hats again.

As for the derby, I take it that it would be a better idea to remove the sweatband, finish stretching and then sew in a new sweatband instead of stretching after putting in a new, right?

I really love these hats (one of which is in my avatar) so I would hate for them to go to waste so I'm very thankful for any advice any of you with more experience than me have to give.

 

[MattJH]

I still have to do this with my Champ Deluxe, but my small motor skills are horrible so I don't think I'm going to have any option other than sending it to Optimo's hat repair service.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Hey there, I've been searching this forum but haven't been able to find any direct answer to this. I have two hats, one an old fedora with a sweatband cracked beyond saving and a derby (bowler, whatever) which sweatband cracked at a single point when stretching. They're not really expensive enough to warrant sending away to get mended so I wonder what it would really take to replace the sweatbands myself.

Now, I'm fairly good at sewing but I've never gone so far as to sew anything like a felt hat. Are there, that you know of, any online places that sell sweatbands with online payment, PayPal or other, (I live pretty remote and international bank transfers are expensive)? If not, what should I look for when it comes to leathers if I could just make the sweatband from scratch. I'm not aiming for perfection, my aim is more comfort and being able to wear the hats again.

As for the derby, I take it that it would be a better idea to remove the sweatband, finish stretching and then sew in a new sweatband instead of stretching after putting in a new, right?

I really love these hats (one of which is in my avatar) so I would hate for them to go to waste so I'm very thankful for any advice any of you with more experience than me have to give.

Bud N Texas can help you out...He is a member here...

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=16659

 

[MrPumpernickel]

SHARPETOYS, thanks for the suggestion, that sounds like a great route to picking up a few sweatbands.

Dumbjaw, I really wish I had an option to send it away to get repaired. I haven't found a single hat repair service here in Sweden, and living roughly 1000km (600mi) from any properly densly populated areas makes the search kind of hard if they're not avaliable online. Sending overseas would just cost more than I bought the hats for, so that's only as a very very last resort.

 

[cooncatbob]

I'm ordering a couple of sweatbands from Bud. I got some heavy upholstery thread and some craft needles and I'm going to sew it on by hand. Some of my hats have pretty long stitching so that's what I'm going to try. Bob.

 

[Davidson]

Hej san!

I second the recommendation for Bud-n-Texas. I bought some. If you buy just two, he might be able to get them in a long envelope instead of a box, and save on international shipping - I am guessing here.

Otherwise you can install a cloth sweatband. Easier to find locally and to sew, and would get you wearing your hats again, at least while you got the leather sweats sorted. Something like 3-4 cm with (or without) elastic should do.

Yes, you should stretch the hat before putting in the new sweatband.

Trevlig helg!

 

[RBH]

Welcome to the Lounge MrPumpernickel.
Bud id the one you need to contact. Try to get in around 20 post and you can PM him yourself. He is very helpful and I'm sure can offer some good advice.

 

[Flieger]

A fellow Swede! How nice! :eusa_clap

Hej MrPumpernickel, vart i v?•rt avl?•nga land befinner du dig? (sorry for the local jabber, guys)

I'm also a bit frustrated with the fact that even if you can get a hat here in Sweden, there's no way (as far as I know) to get it fixed, blocked, washed etc. That leaves me with two options: Sending it away or learning to do all these things myself. [huh]

Flieger
Ume?•

 

[MrPumpernickel]

Flieger, ungef?§r 35 mil norr om dig, en liten skith?•la vid namn Boden.

I share the exact same frustrations as you do, I'm starting to build up a small collection of various hats yet I don't have any other choice to clean and fix them other than doing it myself. It's rather amazing that a country as diverse and large (if by nothing else than landmass) doesn't have a proper hat mender. Even proper hat stores seem far and few between. If I lived somewhere more central (like Stockholm) I'd easily open up a hat store that specialized not only in selling hats but in fixing them as well...that's given that I had the expertise needed too of course. I really want to learn more though, if by no other reason to take proper care of my growing collection of hats.

There is as far as I know only one hat store that does a little bit of mending, resizing and so forth and it's located on S??dermalm in Stockholm (not far from S??derhallarna).

RBH, thank you. I'm currently in e-mail contact with Bud so I'm sure we'll be able to set something up.

Davidson, oh, Swedish or Swedish heritage? Always nice to see some unexpected Swedish here and there

I'm going to skip on getting a temporary fix for the hats though, I have other hats to wear in the meanwhile until I get the others fixed properly.

cooncatbob, yeah, I have proper needles and thread from previous leather crafting, so I don't foresee the actual sewing being much of a problem. The problem will probably be my own clumsiness where I'll stab my hand with the needle and bleed all over the hats...good thing they're not white, eh?

 

[Flieger]

Ja, Boden har man ju som man vissa pl?•gsamma minnen av... men det ska vi inte g?• in p?• h?§r.

Here in Ume?• I have a milliner (modist) that can help me with sewing to some degree, but she's getting old and rheumatic in her fingers. Getting a hat cleaned or blocked there is not an option though. She actually told me to go to a dry cleaner with my Barbisio hat.

Saw the images on your homepage - Cool stuff! lol

/Flieger

 

[RBH]

...She actually told me to go to a dry cleaner with my Barbisio hat. ..
/Flieger

Back in the day it was very common for a dry cleaner to clean and block hats.
As this newspaper ad from Monessen Pennsylvania 08-28- 1935 states.

<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/3161/clanpy9.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>


and this ad from Austin Texas 03-19-1935

<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/9031/clan1it5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>

I think they did a dip in the naphta just as some of us are doing now. I dont think they have the
knowledge or equipment to do a clean and block today.

 

[John in Covina]

If all of Sweden and maybe Scandinavia, no longer has a professional Hat renovator, then it might be an opportunity for someone to look at starting such an endevor.

 

[MrPumpernickel]

John in Covina, I can do nothing but agree, though the lack of one makes me wonder if the expertise just is lacking. It would definitely not be much of an idea to start one around here I live though, but I could see one working in Stockholm or perhaps even Gothenburg, as long as it's coupled with a hat store or something like that so the only chance of revenue isn't just hat renovating alone.

RBH, that's pretty cool actually...though I couldn't imagine handing the hat in these days, most likely the dry cleaners wouldn't know what to do and either do nothing or absolutely ruin the hat.

Flieger, haha, jo, jag ser m?•nga camouflagekl?§dda personer som upplever saker som ger pl?•gsamma minnen i princip varje dag

Glad you like my stuff, it's what I do to pass time more or less

 

[scotrace]

Three Sweat Band Replacement Projects, Step by Step

I have three hats that need new sweat bands. All three hats are vintage.

From left, a Stetson Bowler, A navy homburg of mysterious make, and an Adam Majestic.

The Adam is suffering from brittle leather. The first time I put it on my head, the sweat split away from its stitching. A warning to all.

It is edge stitched in place:

The homburg also has a quite fine, brittle sweatband that has come apart at the stitching. Can anyone identify that label?

Both the above hats had sweat bands that were machine stitched along the edge, Borsalino-style, with very fine stitches. The homburg is a very well made hat, with high quality felt, cushioned sweat band, and liner stitched in.

Now the bowler. I lent it to a friend, who ruined the sweat band with sweat, and returned it with a section of BELT leather hot-glued in place.

Though the felt is cracked at the crown, this hat is worth saving as it is a scarce 7 & 1/2 size.

I will begin with the bowler, as it would be the least loss if I screw it up trying the sew in a new sweat.

I have three new russet leather sweat bands, courtesy of our own, generous and gentlemanly Bud-N-Texas. Thanks Bud!

The belting is removed from the bowler, leaving globs of hot glue attached to the fine strip of black cloth that originally went at the edge under the sweat band. It will be lost.

Now we have a clean edge for a new sweat band in the bowler.

What's my next step? The new sweats have little stitches along the edge. Newer hats I have are not edge stitched, but have larger, basting stitches attaching the sweat to the felt opposite the ribbon.

Must I remove the ribbon? How do I proceed?

I hope this will be something many of us can learn from.

 

[citRon]

A hot glued-in belt! That's great!

 

[Ande1964]

Great thread! I hesitate to say much, because I'm a piker at this stuff compared to J.T. and others. That said, the ribbons have to go, so you can stitch through the felt.

The hardest part of this, it seems to me, is stitching the ends of the new sweat together. Looks like it requires a sewing machine, and I have no idea how to use one. On the first sweat I sewed, I did not sew the ends together. Worked for me, but probably not ideal.

I look forward to the posts from the real experts!

Anj

 

[Brad Bowers]

Sewing sweats together and attaching them are my least favorite thing to do, but certainly one of the most critical components to a good hat. You will give those fine hats many more years of use!

Brad

 

[Stoney]

My advice, take it for what it worth to you. It's just how I do it.

Make the sweatbands fit your head first. Leave about 1/8" extra, sweatband slightly loose on your noggin, length as the sweatband will shrink when it breaks in. It's often a good idea to run the thread through some bees wax first when you are sewing a leather item. This helps prevent cutting into the leather by the thread.

After the sweatband is assembled to your satisfaction, insert it into the opening on the hat. Make sure that the seam in the sweat is centered at the back of the hat.

A) If the fit is close then tack it in place, with a single stitch, about every two inches. Use white or other contrasting thread for the tack stitches as you will remove them when you sew the sweatband in. Ensure that the bottom of the sweatband is seated properly into the bottom of the hat as you go.

or

B) If the fit is too tight then stretch the felt at the base with a hat stretcher until it fits. Never sew a sweat into a hat that is too tight for it, the sweatband will pucker. Once the fit is decent the proceed with A) above.


or

C) if the fit is way too loose then mist the felt with a squirt bottle, use a hair dryer. on low setting!!!, to shrink the hat opening slightly. Check the fit as you go and don't over do it! Once the fit is decent then proceed with A) above.

* If you have a hat block you can use it to re-block the hat instead of B or C above.


Sew the sweatband back in using a thread that matches the color of the sweatband or the color of the thread in the sweatband stitches. Remember to use the bees wax. Start sewing just above where the bottom of the ribbon will be, down through the felt, at an angle that will place the needle into the outer stitch hole in the sweatband. Once through the sweatband stitch hole, never make a new one in the leather!, go back up through the next stitch hole , at a similar angle which will end up with the stitch coming out of the crown just above where the bottom of the ribbon will be sewn. You can skip a few stitch holes, about 3/4 inch of them or stitch each one for a better job. It's up to you how well made the hat is going to be. Just ensure that the stitches coming in and out of the crown are above where the bottom of the ribbon will be or they will show after the ribbon is installed.

If you are running out of thread, cut it as you come out on the crown side. Then tie the two ends into a knot. Trim off the excess and start with your new thread from the top side coming into the top stitch hole again.

The rest is easy.. just stitch away.

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

Scott, here are the basics that I use. Combining these with the others suggestions should serve you well.
First you will need to measure your head and cut the sweat to fit. A 20 degree angel cut in most cases will create the bell form that you seek. You will need to use a ferrule in between your reeding( the monofilament line), this helps to keep the size of the sweat as the mono will give but not loose its memory as much as the leather will. These can be found at some fabric stores of even hardware stores. At this point sew the ends of the sweat together, I use a waxed thread, that I also use on small leather projects. This is just my preference and not a widely used practice I am sure. Upholstery thread is widely used from what I am told. The thread must be strong, but not bulky. After you accomplish this, it is time to sew the sweat into the hat, seam to the back. Flop the leather out, so that you can access the welt easier. I then put about 5 or 6 single stitch tacks to hold the sweat in place. Then starting at the back I stitch the sweat to the hat about every ¼ to 3/8 inch (stitch the tape of the welt attached to the sweat to the hat itself) . Take your time and use a sharp needle, I will from time to time use a pair of hemostats, to pull the needle through.

 

[Brad Bowers]

One tip for sewing the ends of the sweat together is to mark your holes beforehand using a pattern tracing wheel from a fabric store. Just run it along a straightedge on your leather, then go back with a very fine awl and make your holes. This gives a nice, even spacing to the stitches.

You can also use a pouncing wheel from an art supply store, but they have sharper points, and you wouldn't want to make a long cut into the leather for each hole.

Brad