Teardrop Workshop

[jimmy the lid]

He did when he first started out but now he is a Crease Whisperer & softly talks the felt into shape....

lol lol lol

 

[jimmy the lid]

I wonder if you'd share with us what you use for a source of steam? Like most, I've got a kettle (around here somewhere, I think...), and possibly a steam iron. I'm betting you're using a garment steamer of some type?

I use a Rowenta "Precision Valet" garment steamer. Not only can I control the amount of steam (it has a couple of different settings) -- but, more importantly, the use of the hose allows me to really pinpoint where I am applying the steam. I also like the fact that I can bring the steam to the hat, rather than bringing the hat to the steam (as one must do with a Jiffy Steamer). It allows me to keep my eyes on what I'm doing, and also allows me to achieve quicker results.

Good luck with the BGCD!

Cheers,
JtL

 

[zetwal]

He did when he first started out but now he is a Crease Whisperer & softly talks the felt into shape....

Man, if that's the case he must have some hot and humid breath. Next step on the way to total Olympian mastery? Laryngeal resonance stain removal ...

 

[sulla]

This is kind of a cross post. I just wanted to show how I used this awesome workshop on my new hat. You can see more pix in the new hat thread here. JtL your tutorial worked perfectly! Thank you so much for making it available to us.

 

[Auron]

Awesome. This will definitely help. Are there tutorials for side dents?

 

[barrowjh]

More on the difference between a C-crown and a teardrop -

This is a copy of my post #43 in the 'Got White?' thread, where I was talking about a double tear drop (DTD):

"If, on the other hand, you begin with a traditional center crease and then 'roll out' some of the crown to make deep front dents, and after that take the crown to a teardrop (rounding the back of the crown, raking it down as well), this often will 'eat up' sufficient felt that there is not enough left to really put a full DTD in. "

I start out a teardrop and DTD the same way; the end result is dependent on how much felt (how tall a crown) you are working with. If the center of the teardrop is so tall that the hat just does not look right, then you probably need to do a DTD to 'eat up' more felt. However, I have broken from JTL's teachings by making the front dents deeper, rolling out some of the crown to achieve this, resulting in some nice curvature along the top of the crease before it rakes down towards the back. This is an alternate to step #3 in JTL's post #1 at the beginning of this thread -

With the front of the hat facing you, place the fingers of both hands into the center crease with the thumbs out (towards you) and on either side of the center (ie, right where the center of each dent will be), and push in with your thumbs while pulling (rolling) up a little with your fingers. This will 'roll' maybe a quarter inch to half inch of felt on each side out of the center, over the crest of the crease, and down into the dents. Otherwise, process is probably same as JTL's in post#1. You finish this part by using more than your thumbs to fully shape the dents to your satisfaction, starting this with the 'thumbs' is only necessary to 'roll out' some of that crown felt into your dents.

done here on a Stevens 6 3/4 for a grand daughter:

Two pics of a Barcelona 'Stately' with a huge 3 inch brim, and the crown was so high I had to do a 1.5 tear drop:

With deeper, longer front dents it becomes a C-crown instead of a teardrop, because the additional length of the dents forces the V to go longer and it is more difficult to make a smooth transition. So, is my DTD really a double C-crown (DCC)? Depends on how long I make the dents!!

 

[Bourne ID]

More information that I was needing, thanks Jimmy! My dry bashes are pitiful and wont stay put, keeping an eye out for a steamer now!

 

[dlvh]

Is it the preffered method to start with a freshly blocked hat first to put in the teardrop listed in the first post? The reason I ask, is because I recently purchased a new Scala that has a factory-stamped crease already in it, and it's harder than I thought it would be to "tweak" the crease. Perhaps I just haven't gotten it wet enough yet?

 

[gtdean48]

Is it the preffered method to start with a freshly blocked hat first to put in the teardrop listed in the first post? The reason I ask, is because I recently purchased a new Scala that has a factory-stamped crease already in it, and it's harder than I thought it would be to "tweak" the crease. Perhaps I just haven't gotten it wet enough yet?

I like to take my hats to open crown state then go to a new crease. It helps to remove the lines of the previous crease which the felt wants to fall back to = memory. I have sent hats off for cleaning & blocking to open crown so I can crease when returned. I also have a shaper that I use as well.

 

[1961MJS]

I like to take my hats to open crown state then go to a new crease. It helps to remove the lines of the previous crease which the felt wants to fall back to = memory. I have sent hats off for cleaning & blocking to open crown so I can crease when returned. I also have a shaper that I use as well....

Hi

I've been considering a form like that for my British WW2 Bush Hat. It got rained on and soaked. Being a wool hat, it shrunk a lot and now has a lot more of a taper than I like. I can order a new Rabbit fur one from Akubra for about $150.00 or I can try and stretch the old one out. I have a 50/50 beaver on order to replace the hat. I wear it at the range from late fall to early spring, then switch to a Sun Body for Kansas Summers.

I think that the http://www.hatshapers.com/ is where you ordered that form from, and the http://www.hatshapers.com/Product%20Pages/cattle_baron.htm seems to be close to the right shape.

Will Wool stretch back out if I wet it again? How much is the shipping for the forms within the US (roughly)?

Thanks

 

[dlvh]

I like to take my hats to open crown state then go to a new crease. It helps to remove the lines of the previous crease which the felt wants to fall back to = memory. I have sent hats off for cleaning & blocking to open crown so I can crease when returned. I also have a shaper that I use as well.

Thanks for the reply gtdean48 -

If you don't mind my asking, where did you purchase that 'shaper' and how much do those cost? I need a size 7 long oval, if they come in the LO size. I thought it would be easier to get the hat back to it's raw form before trying to crease it.

Happy Hat Wearing!

 

[gtdean48]

...Will Wool stretch back out if I wet it again? How much is the shipping for the forms within the US (roughly)?

Thanks

The one I have is the Straight Sided Dome at 23 1/2 or Medium Plus and I wear a 24" = 61cm, 7 5/8. That allows me to put hats over it with sweatbands so consider that when you order.
As far as wool goes, wool fibers shrink when wet then dried. They shrink more when exposed to hot water & hot driers. That is why you always wash wool in cold water & let it dry slowly. I doubt a shrunken wool hat will stretch much at all.
Shipping was not unreasonable as I recall for my order from Hat Shapers.

 

[gtdean48]

Thanks for the reply gtdean48 -

If you don't mind my asking, where did you purchase that 'shaper' and how much do those cost? I need a size 7 long oval, if they come in the LO size. I thought it would be easier to get the hat back to it's raw form before trying to crease it.

Happy Hat Wearing!

I got mine here = http://www.hatshapers.com/
I don't think they do LO as such. You'll have to look for true hat blocks for that detail.
I got 1 closest to my head size of 24". HTH

 

[dlvh]

I got mine here = http://www.hatshapers.com/
I don't think they do LO as such. You'll have to look for true hat blocks for that detail.
I got 1 closest to my head size of 24". HTH

It doesn't look like they do the LO, I wear a size 7 (22") so I suppose I would need the Small, at 21 1/4". I think my hat needs tha "Calssic Dome" My hat is slightly tapered in versus a straight-sided-no taper, that yours has? Then I suppose I would need a Hat stretcher after that to bring it back up to the 22" again. I hope that will work.

Edit: The current Scala that I have is a "Fur Felt" hat. Does that react/shrink at the same rate as the Wool Felt hats do...if at all?

 

[Bernie Zack]

Thanks for the tutorial. When I get a fedora that needs working, this will be the first place I will check. Thanks again!

 

[icemanxxxv]

My Teardrop

I followed these instructions on my conversion. Thanks for the great toutorial


DSCF0182 by icemanxxxv, on Flickr

 

[gtdean48]

I followed these instructions on my conversion. Thanks for the great toutorial

Excellent work!

 

[Torpedo]

Mmmmmh... I would really like to know if there is a consensus about what are the differences between a c-crown and a teardrop, either with or without dome. Even, if there is really a difference, ot they are just different names for the same thing, instead.

It looks like it depends on the length and/or depth of the side creases? If these are longer, you have a c-crown? But, this still looks like the shape of a teardrop, doesn't it?

 

[gtdean48]

Mmmmmh... I would really like to know if there is a consensus about what are the differences between a c-crown and a teardrop, either with or without dome. Even, if there is really a difference, ot they are just different names for the same thing, instead.

It looks like it depends on the length and/or depth of the side creases? If these are longer, you have a c-crown? But, this still looks like the shape of a teardrop, doesn't it?

A teardrop doesn't have the straight sides coming from the front pinch that a c-crown does. The crease is more oval as opposed to the V & C shape of a C-crown = C>. JMHO

 

[jimmy the lid]

Mmmmmh... I would really like to know if there is a consensus about what are the differences between a c-crown and a teardrop, either with or without dome. Even, if there is really a difference, ot they are just different names for the same thing, instead.

It looks like it depends on the length and/or depth of the side creases? If these are longer, you have a c-crown? But, this still looks like the shape of a teardrop, doesn't it?

Torpedo -- see Post #33 in this thread for the difference between a C-crown and a Teardrop.

From a very practical standpoint, it's easier to conceptualize a C-crown as a Diamond Crease with a rounded crown at the back of the hat. In fact, if I am out to crease a C-crown, that's exactly what I do -- I start off by setting the two side points of the "diamond", and then smooth the back of the crown in a rounded fashion, just as I would for a teardrop.

In contrast, the teardrop does not contain the two distinct points at the side of the crease, but, instead, has smooth lines -- as illustrated in Post #33.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
JtL