stretching a fedora

[Blaise]

Hello,

I am new to this site and thought this would be a good forum in which to get an answer to a question concerning several fedoras given to me by my grandfather. I have 4 fedora's given to me in 1979 by my grandfather who was 81 at that time. They are as follows: 6 7/8 wool fedora, National City;
6 7/8 wool fedura, Kingsway; 6 3/4 felt fedora, Sperbers; 6 7/8 straw fedura, Bonds Royal. I would like to stretch them to 7 1/8 if possible in order to wear them. They have been stored uncovered in a closet on their own shelf for the last 25 years. Based on my limited knowledge they seem to be in excellent shape. Would anyone have advice on how to stretch them. What equipment I need and what process i should follow. If it is too complex or delicate, would you recommend the stretching be carried out by a specialist. Would you be able to recommend one in the Boston area.

Thank you

Blaise

 

[besdor]

Welcome to the site! A hat can only be stretched so much . You can have your hats stretched at your local hat store if you live near one . You can also buy a hand stretcher on sites such as Ebay . They work great a nd will give your hats a little extra room . But dont expect much if they are made of wool .

 

[Uncle Vern]

Do a search using the "seach this forum" drop-down tab. "stretching" or or "stretching a hat" should bring up lots of information that might help you.

 

[Sefton]

Blaise,
There's a number of ways to do what you want. My first sugestion whould be to have a professional hatter do it as this will give the surest results. And the least chance of an unfortunate irreversable outcome. However if you do chose to do it yourself it's not too difficult, I've done it twice with decent results.

Buy a hat stretcher. It's an oval shaped (usually) wooden device with a twist bar to adjust the size. Make sure you center the two ends of the center bar so they match one end to the center front of the hat and the other to the center back. Use the small inside bow and seem to find the spot.

Next I lightly steam the sweatband (with stretcher still in hat) all the while slowly turning the hat. Start to slowly stretch the hat by turning the handle. A warning about this: make sure to do this slowly and remember to only stretch as little as possible. It's best to have to redo this than risk damage to the sweatband.

When you feel that you've stretched it enough sit the hat upside-down on it's crown overnight. Next day crank the stretcher handle down and take it out. Most likely you will need to repeat this process until the hat is the perfect fit.

I've done this with a modern Stetson. I brought it up to a 7 7/8 from a 7 3/4. I did the same thing to an Akubra Federation.

There is always the chance that you may damage your hats by stretching them. If it's a valuable vintage or just a hat with great sentimental value I'd go with a professional hatter...why take the risk with your grandfather's old hats.

I hope this (rather long) reply has helped. Me no expert, me just got big ol' head! Regards, Sefton

 

[Andykev]

Forget it

You can't stretch the straw. Forget it.

The felts can really only go up one size (6 7/8 to a 7) without screwing up the brim, break, and sweat.

If you REALLY love the hat, consider sending the hat to Optimo. You will pay about $35 per hat, and more if you have it cleaned, ribbon changes, etc.

You will LOOSE brim width as the felt has to come from somewhere. How wide is the birm? If it is a "stingy" brim, forget the whole thing. Put Gramp's hat on the display, and hit ebay for some nice vintage in your size. If you are a 7 1/8.. you are lucky..tons out there in that size. Me? 3/8 is hard to find in good vintage.

Good luck.