What Hat Are You Working On Today?

[RickP]

I did get the ribbon sewn on the Navy blue Sovereign last night, Did some brim straightening and brim blocking overnight ( got a little snap up in back and down in front now).Gave the liner a woolite bath. Liner still looked pretty grungy after wash, but when it dried it no longer looked like greasy parchment paper, and has an even gold/ creme tint. Still has a nice satin sheen and the liner imprinting survived. Just need a bit of wrinkle steaming before I call it done. SO... Had to find a blue shirt to go with it outside. Really happy with how its turning out... To bad it has an under welt brim edge.... this one would look great with a brim edge binding that matched the ribbon

 

[Blare]

I did get the ribbon sewn on the Navy blue Sovereign last night, Did some brim straightening and brim blocking overnight ( got a little snap up in back and down in front now).Gave the liner a woolite bath. Liner still looked pretty grungy after wash, but when it dried it no longer looked like greasy parchment paper, and has an even gold/ creme tint. Still has a nice satin sheen and the liner imprinting survived. Just need a bit of wrinkle steaming before I call it done. SO... Had to find a blue shirt to go with it outside. Really happy with how its turning out... To bad it has an under welt brim edge.... this one would look great with a brim edge binding that matched the ribbon

View attachment 646682 View attachment 646681

Looks great. Nice job!

 

[RickP]

Several days ago I removed a crunchy cellophane liner top on a nice little 3x Open Road. When I removed the faded, crunchy not-so-clear part, it became evident that whomever had it before me had reblocked the hat at about a 10% angle off center. ( guess they were in a bit of a hurry). Didnt really affect how it wore, but everytime I looked inside it, it bugged me to see the ribbon in back about an inch and a half to the left, and the "Open Road" imprinting in front an inch and a half to the right of center.

So today I couldnt stand it anymore... I fired the steam up and softened everything and re-blocked the crown back to square where it should be. No wonkiness in the brim and no funny dimples on the crown... SUCCESS!. Not a horribly big deal, but now its fixed. Thank goodness for nice soft felt that shapes well. Lots simpler than pulling the sweatband out and re-sewing it back in the correct orientation lol.. A bit miffed to also find that the liner is actually glued in at the bottom of the liner, and its a few degrees off center still.... Ill deal with THAT another day. Looks the same on the head now , but I no longer have that little gnawing irritation I felt everytime I looked inside it. Time to go light the firepit, make a big Mojito, and celebrate a minor success.

 

[RickP]

A while back I posted a picture of an old family hat... An early 50s Knox Premier with a 2" brim, centerdent cown with a 2-1/4" ribbon with a backbow. Hat is in really nice condition but due to the back-bow and really large grosgrain ribbon, it just didnt look right on the head. ( guess I dont have an early 50s shaped head lol) I kinda wanted to leave it the way it was, but decided to modernize it just a bit so it would actually get worn.

I removed the ribbon and bow and after a bit of ironing, they are still in great shape. If anyone needs a nice dark brown, wide 2-1/4" ribbon and Back-bow, let me know... Ill donate it to a good home so it can live again.

I had some slightly lighter brown 1-1/2" wide grosgrain, so I made a new ribbon and side bow. I think it looks nice and is much more wearable now.

I removed the yellowed crunchy cellophane top from the liner and its a beautiful white with a perfect logo. Ill pull out the Woolite bottle later and wash the side skirts a bit... they're in pretty decent appearance, but they are just a bit dingy. Ill see if I can get them whiter to match the top better.

Did just a little steaming and smoothing where the backbow had left a couple vertical dents in the back of the crown. Past that I really didnt have to do ANYTHING.... Nice clean hat,

Haven't sewn the ribbon band down permanently yet, so its heading out to the coffee shop as-is this morning. Trying to decide if I like the bow where it is or whether I like it rotated rearward on the crown just a bit before I stitch it down. I think it looks much more refined with the slightly slimmer ribbon.

Anyway.. another older hat back out in the sunlight!