Resize both up and down

[Sam Craig]

'Stop whining and enjoy your respective hats'

No, seriously ....

'Stop whining and enjoy your respective hats'


OK, just trying to be funny, but seriously folks ...

'Stop whining and enjoy your respective hats'

Sorry, that one got away from me

Today I am wearing a great old Dobbs ... tall crown, wide brim ... I've had it for years and it was always just a little too large ... but since it is a big hat to begin with, the roominess was more pronounced.

Then I tried making my own spacers, to fit under the sweat , using strips of microfleece ... you can get it cheap at the discount stores

It fills in around your head better than anything else I've tried, including the professional spacers

Anyway, I really enjoy the hat now

As far as stretching ... you will find lots of discussion elsewhere.

On the other hand, I suppose you could just ...

'Stop whining and enjoy your respective hats'

Sam

 

[Lloyd]

As others have said for the hat that's too small a little stretching is pretty easy. If it's a full size or more then I'd send it to a hatter to resize. For the hat that's too big I'd find my self a good rainstorm and get it totally soaked. It will probably shrink a little after that. Failing that I've had Optimo upsize and down size hats, and I've hat VS reduce several hats by a size or more but it does cost a fair amount so the hat jack and tissue route may be the best for you.

 

[Rick Blaine]

to shrink

Lampshade trick
It has always worked for me. Do not :eeek: let your attention wander though.

 

[johnnycanuck]

To shrink it a little, wear it. The sweat from you head will shrink it over time. If not, use a little water (rub a damp cloth over the leather) and put it on your head till its dry.
To make a hat little bigger, stretch it over you knee. If you have a hat jack put it in the hat and give it an extra 1/4 turn, leave it overnight and see how it fits.
my two cents
Johnny

 

[dogrocketp]

I prefer to let a master hatter stretch or shrink. While I've used the spacer in the band trick repeatedly, there are hatters who can give you an excellent result for very little money. I just don't know any on your side of the pond. I like to have my vintage clothes and hats fitted properly.

 

[bombin]

Resizing hats?

There's a felt hat I'm comtemplating buying (looks like it's from the 1920s), but its inner circumference is 22" and I'd probably need it to be close to 23". Would that be an unreasonable expectation in terms of resizing?

 

[ManofKent]

There's a felt hat I'm comtemplating buying (looks like it's from the 1920s), but its inner circumference is 22" and I'd probably need it to be close to 23". Would that be an unreasonable expectation in terms of resizing?

The short answer is yes. You can generally stretch a hat one size sometimes a little more but an inch would involve re-blocking and the loss of so much brim that it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[LuvMyMan]

I know not much about hats, what I do know I had to learn from my Husband. Using a hat jack on a hat that is close to a proper fitting size is not all that hard to do. You will notice right away the brim on the hat while being stretched larger will start to go "wonky" on the sides of the brim of the hat. Do not allow that to bother you too much. Steam the hat really well during the stretching process, right on the ribbon area and check the leather sweatband before you do anything, make sure it is supple and not dry or brittle.

You may need to iron the brim a bit after using a hat jack. If so, it is easy. If I can do it, anyone can (or should be able to do so). But I am certain that if you need to do a lot of "up size" it would sure be best to allow someone that is a "pro" do it, and maybe too much a up size will just not work.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Lampshade trick
It has always worked for me. Do not :eeek: let your attention wander though.

This does work...but if the hat is on the lampshade too long, it can start to burn up...instant fire by Stratoliner....lol(break out them marshmellows).....

 

[fedoracentric]

I think I should again warn that using a stretcher can easily damage a leather sweatband, especially with a vintage hat.

It simply isn't a matter of just sticking in a stretcher and giving it some healthy cranks and you will magically upsize a hat.

Some leather sweatbands will take a stretch right away. Others will only stay stretched if you leave the stretcher in for weeks, not hours, because it will shrink right back to where you started without the stretcher inside.

Still other sweatbands will crack or tear. Especially on vintage hats as you just don't know what shape that leather is in. Even if you use a leather treatment before the stretch, the leather may just be too old and dry to withstand the pressures.

And then there is the stitching holding in the sweatband. On some vintage hats the thread is aged and delicate, just enough that wearing it as is won't be a problem but trying to stretch the hat will cause the thread to pop and break.

So, be warned. Using a hat stretcher, especially on a vintage hat, is simply not a guaranteed success story.

One other hint, if you are upsizing a lot, one thing you will see on some old hats is the stitching where the sweatband meets itself will be cut way so that the stretching can happen in that gap without hurting the rest of the sweatband thread. But even that trick isn't a guarantee of success.

 

[g.durand]

fedoracentric--very good synopsis of all the things that can happen when trying to stretch a vintage hat.

 

[fedoracentric]

fedoracentric--very good synopsis of all the things that can happen when trying to stretch a vintage hat.

Thank you. I just thought all that needed to be said because many of these posts were leaving the impression that stretching is an easy, sure thing. It isn't. Not at all. Even on new hats it could cause unexpected trouble.

And I didn't even mention that sometimes using a stretcher can leave a horizontal crease in the crown or force the brim to gain an unnatural or unwanted curl on the sides.

 

[ManofKent]

fedoracentric--very good synopsis of all the things that can happen when trying to stretch a vintage hat.

+1 and the more you stretch the more risk there is.

 

[Longplay]

Hat Resizing Question

From the few hats I've purchased, a size 7 seems to be right for me. However, I recently purchased one that was a 6 7/8 LO and though it's a bit tight front to back, it's definitely wearable. I've found several hats I'd be interested but the number could be expanded if I could expand the acceptable size range. My question is this: how far above the 7 could I go when looking for hats? How much larger a size could have its sweatband lined and still sit well?

And ... what is the best method to make a larger size fit?

 

[H Weinstein]

I'm not an expert. But you probably want to stick to your actual size.

For my first fur-felt hat (Akubra), I measured my head per guidelines and decided I wore a 58 (7 1/4). Because it wasn't oval-y enough, and I didn't know then how to tweak the shape, it seemed snug (front to back). So for my 2nd hat, I ordered a 59. Which turned out to be relatively HUGE. Even with felt padding inserted all around the sweatband, it never fit properly. And didn't look right on my head. You wouldn't think ONE centimeter would matter that much, but it did. Lesson learned!

So all my subsequent hats have been size 58. From info here on the Lounge, I learned how to use steam (or water) and a decent wooden hat jack (purchased on eBay for about $20) to give my hats a little more of an oval shape with a bit of judicious stretching. With a pinch of stretching here and a little padding there as needed, all 10 of my Akubras fit really well.

But the key was starting with the right size for the best initial fit and then tweaking from there. I hope this helps!

 

[Glenville86]

I am a 58 or 7 1/4. I never go down below that. I have bought a couple 7 3/8 which I used cork strips to snug up. Sometimes the 7 3/8 band will shrink down a little to fit but sometimes, you wear the cork strips or whatever you use as long as you own the hat.

I would just recommend buying your proper size.

 

[barrowjh]

For some of us it becomes a journey just to settle on exactly what is my normal hat size. I started out thinking I was a 7 1/4, then I was half-way between a 1/8 and 1/4, and finally a 7 1/8th. I am actually a little below 7 1/8th, a standard 7 1/8th is a teeny bit loose, but not enough to justify going down to 7. It took me more than a year to figure this out.

 

[Lotsahats]

Great point, John. It took me a while to work out that I'm somewhere between a 7 1/4 and a 7 3/8, although I can wear a 7 1/2, too (especially since I wear a yarmulke under the hat). I also think the hat in question makes a difference; depending on who wore the hat before me, I can even get into some 7 1/8s.

A

 

[Longplay]

Thanks for all the advice! If I still had all my hair I could probably wear a 7-1/8 but seeing as it's not making a comeback in this life, I guess I'll have to stick with the 7. I do have a few 7s though that are a bit short front to back and I may give the hat jack a try.

I'm looking for a light grey whippet-like lid and everything I find that close to what I want is never a 7! One of these days the right one will show up.

 

[fedoralover]

It's easier to go down than up. I've found numerous hats over the years that were several sizes too big for me but I bought them anyway because the price was too good to pass up. When I found out I had a hatter in town I took them over to Northwest hats and he was able to remove the original sweatband, liner and ribbon and reblock it down to my size. He put all the original pieces back and now they fit perfectly. He has resized smaller ones upward but you generally have to replace the sweatband as it won't stretch too far without splitting. But, depending on the quality of the felt you can stretch up several sizes. I've seen it done with no problem.

fedoralover