Vintage liner for restoration

[gtdean48]

Any experiences or sources for getting an appropriate liner for a vintage hat that you are restoring? I know hatters replace sweatbands & liners with new ones. I kept a Stetson 25 liner from one that I sent off & could use it but would rather have a Royal Stetson since that is the model of hat. TIA

 

[Viper Man]

Good luck. I have never seen anyone selling just vintage liners and I can pretty much guarantee that Stetson won't have anything that old.

 

[gtdean48]

Yep, I fugured the companies wouldn't have anything, just looking for a possible left over...Thanks...

 

[Stoney]

You can reproduce them yourself

It just involves a bit of work. If you can generate the artwork with a graphics program you can print directly to the satin fabric as follows ,provided your inkjet printer uses oil based waterproof ink:

1) Cut the fabric slightly larger than the printer paper and Iron it flat.

2) Lay the fabric onto a piece of Reynolds freezer paper, fabric against the shiny side and iron on medium heat to bond the fabric to the paper.

3) Trim the freezer paper and fabric to just under the size of your printer paper.

4) Use double sided tape around the edges of the freezer paper to stick it to a sheet of printer paper.

5) Run the assembled sheet through your printer.


6) Peel the fabric off of the freezer paper.

7) Trim the fabric just slighlty oversize then sew it into the top of your liner.
Trim the edge after it is fully sewn in.

8) Steam the liner on the block used to create the hat before installing it. This will make the liner conform to the hat interior.

Here's an example:

Note that the ink will smear sometimes when you print on fabric. You may have to make 3 to 5 before you're satisfied with the results. Note also that you can't print the gold foil that originals had, but if you take the sheet to your local printer, they may be able to add gold text to it before you remove the fabric from the freezer paper.

 

[gtdean48]

Very interesting! Nice tip, thanks...

 

[gtdean48]

Guess I may have to stumble on a flea market special to get Royal Stetson liner for my restore. Does anybody know what type of glue is/was used to hold liners in place? Rubber cement, fabric glue, Elmer's, etc.?

 

[carouselvic]

needle and thread....any thing else goes against God's plan

 

[gtdean48]

needle and thread....any thing else goes against God's plan

I agree but I do have a couple vintage ones that have dabs of something holding the liners in place. I have a Stetson with what looks like little squares of masking tape, but that could be after market modifications...

 

[carouselvic]

Yes there was a (short) time Stetson glued in their liners. I am not talking about modern production hats. Many years ago dry cleaners (in small mid-western towns)would clean and block hats. Some, not all, would use tape to reattach liners. My home town dry cleaner would clean hats. Although, he was a drinking man so dry he wasn't. But he could play a harmonica as well as ANY person I have ever heard. I used to have a tape of his music around somewhere. RIP Ernie

 

[seed]

Guess I may have to stumble on a flea market special to get Royal Stetson liner for my restore. Does anybody know what type of glue is/was used to hold liners in place? Rubber cement, fabric glue, Elmer's, etc.?

I too would like to know about this. And what is considered sacreligious (sp) for work on a vintage hat (i.e. replacing the sweatband with a modern one)?

 

[gtdean48]

I too would like to know about this. And what is considered sacreligious (sp) for work on a vintage hat (i.e. replacing the sweatband with a modern one)?

If the sweatband & liner are serviceable & something you would consider putting next to your head, then I think preservation is a good thing. If either are not or just the felt body is all that is "wearable", by all means renovate with new liner & sweatband. I have more than once with a Stetson 25 fedora, wearing it today, & some vintage westerns I have.

 

[David Conwill]

Yes there was a (short) time Stetson glued in their liners.

Do you know when that was? I have a vintage Stetson (black liner, but old) with a glued in liner.

-Dave

 

[carouselvic]

An exact date I can not give. I am thinking mid-60's but that is nothing more than a educated guess. I have a Stetson Royal with brown sweatband, standard round type hang tag(cream and black)with a glued in liner. I have owned Stetsons that were newer that had sewn-in liners(black and gold hang tags.)