A Hat of a Different Color

[J.T.Marcus]

It was $5.00 at a local antique store. To say it was filthy would have been a kindness. But it had a good ribbon and maybe a good sweatband. When I washed it, the sweatband disintegrated. So, I blocked it to fit my head without a sweat. (I can get away with it, with fur. Wool is impossible, for me.) The real surprise came when it dried. I had only seen a slight hint of the multicolored nature of this pile of rabbit hair. Is it brown, grey, red, or blue?

It has the biggest moth hole I've ever seen, but I love the shape and the color(s). I can't bring myself to part with it.

From a distance, it looks brownish grey, but only from a distance!

 

[Daoud]

Wow- what a cool old hat- sure is different! I wouldn't want to get rid of it, either. Someone ought to be able to come up with a Moth Hole Repair kit........I know I'd buy it.

 

[carter]

JT, The color looks like an irridescent brogreble on my monitor. Whatever it is, it's a neat color.
I imagine a bit of glue and some felt scraped from the interior of the hat might patch that hole but you'd have to do both sides and that could be tricky.
Have you ever replaced a sweatband on any of your other refurbs? JP showed me how to do this once upon a time.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Have you ever replaced a sweatband on any of your other refurbs? JP showed me how to do this once upon a time.

Yes, I've done quite a few. I just wasn't sure, when I blocked this one , that it was a keeper. The wierd thing is, it's quite comfortable without one. Much lighter, too.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Well, the repair 'kit' for a hole like this is more of a do-it-yourself situation but I'll attempt to explain. Sure would've been helpful if I would have taken process photos when I fixed a big hole in one of my old Stetsons but I didn't. :eusa_doh:

Get a small can of Super77 spray adhesive by 3M available at hardware and office supply stores.

Use 150 grit sandpaper under the brim to sand up some fluff felt to use to patch the problem. This will need to be done repeatedly, evenly and carefully as you will be working both sides of that hole and building up layers of patch felt fluff until you reach your desired effect.

Spray a small shot of the adhesive on a piece of paper at close range so you get a little wet puddle of the stuff. It dries real fast so have some toothpicks ready. Use one of those to get a dab of the glue and dot it around the hole underneath the brim. Then, take an amount of the felt fluff and press it onto the glue and use the clean end of the toothpick to blend it into the felt around the hole. Do this until you have a thin layer of felt spanning the hole.

Now it gets tricky. Use a Post-It note and paper or a bag so that you protect the hat top from overspray. Use a hobby knife to cut a hole in the Post-It to just a tad larger than the hole in the hat and put it over that area. Cover the rest of the hat and go outside to shoot a very quick spray of the adhesive (about a foot away) onto the hole area so it gets onto the newly applied felt fluff showing through from underneath.

Here's where you needed to already have plenty more of the felt fluff ready 'cuz you'll want to zip back to your work table and work that fluff into the area from above this time, welding it with the felt you applied from below earlier.

You have to repeat this from above and below and press the layers together and work them into the brim and keep at it until a reasonable patch/plug has been achieved. Note that the handling with your fingers and the glue itself sometimes darken the donor felt, but all you're trying to do on a job like J.T. has in front of him is to plug the hole not entirely fool the eye.

But I have done this on a couple and then they blended in enough that I forgot about it.

Fortunately the hole on J.T.'s hat is in a good place for a not-too-noticeable repair.

Whew! Hope this helps.

 

[Wil Tam]

I dig it!!

I smell project hat

great repair tips gene :eusa_clap

----------------
Now playing: Al Green - Full of Fire [*]
via FoxyTunes

 

[carter]

Great guidance, Gene. I do have one question though.
Wouldn't it be better to sand up some fluff inside the crown beneath the sweatband (no problem in this case) so the sanded area is hidden behind the sweatband and sandwiched between the sweatband and the ribbon? [huh]

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Great guidance, Gene. I do have one question though.
Wouldn't it be better to sand up some fluff inside the crown beneath the sweatband (no problem in this case) so the sanded area is hidden behind the sweatband and sandwiched between the sweatband and the ribbon? [huh]

Great idea if you can work in there effectively. Or if the hat has no liner, inside the crown is the best place for obtaining the graft.

On the one's I've done, I really couldn't be bothered trying to get in there so I went under the brim and by evenly scrubbing up what was needed from a large area and then brushing it back smooth afterwards it didn't leave a scar.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Gene, Many thanks for the tip. I had done one of those repairs, about two years ago, and perhaps this one, now. Thing is, though, I sure am going to miss that moth hole!

 

[HatSoup]

Looks brown to me. Here is a list of Crayola colors you can use to help you identify the color of your hat:

Almond
Antique Brass
Apricot24
Aquamarine
Asparagus
Banana Mania
Beaver RN> Bear Hug2008
Bittersweet
Black8
Blue8
Blue Bell
Royal Purple
Blue-Green16
Blue-Violet16
Brick Red
Brink Pink
Brown8
Burnt Orange
Burnt Sienna
Cadet Blue
Canary
Carnation Pink16
Caribbean Green
Cerise
Atomic Tangerine
Copper
Cornflower
Cotton Candy
Cranberry
Denim
Desert Sand
Eggplant
Peach
Electric Lime
Fern
Forest Green
Fuzzy Wuzzy Brown
Gold
Goldenrod
Granny Smith Apple
Gray24
Green8
Cerulean24
Green-Yellow
Hot Magenta RN> Famous2008
Indian Red RN> Chestnut1999
Lavender
Teal Blue RR> Wild Blue Yonder2003
Macaroni and Cheese
Magenta
Magic Mint RR> Jazzberry Jam2003
Mahogany
Manatee
Dandelion24
Maroon
Mauvelous
Melon
Mountain Meadow
Mulberry Mango Tango2003
Navy Blue
Neon Carrot
Olive Green
Orange8
Vivid Tangerine RN> Fun in the Sun2008
Jungle Green
Orchid RN> Best Friends2008
Outer Space
Pacific Blue
Periwinkle
Piggy Pink
Pine Green
Pink Flamingo
Plum
Purple Heart
Purple Mountain's Majesty
Purple Pizzazz
Midnight Blue
Radical Red
Raw Sienna
Wild Strawberry
Razzle Dazzle Rose
Razzmatazz
Red8
Red-Orange16
Red-Violet16
Robin's Egg Blue
Salmon
Sea Green
Sepia
Shadow
Shamrock
Sky Blue
Silver
Spring Green
Sunglow
Sunset Orange
Tan
Thistle <RR>Indigo2000, 24
Tickle Me Pink
Timberwolf
Torch Red RN> Scarlet2000, 24
Tropical Rain Forest
Tumbleweed
Turquoise Blue RN> Happy Ever After2008
Blizzard Blue RR> Inch Worm2003
Screamin' Green RN> Giving Tree2008
Outrageous Orange
Shocking Pink
Wild Watermelon RN> Awesome2008
Laser Lemon RN> Super Happy2008
Unmellow Yellow
Violet (Purple)8
Fuchsia
Violet-Red24
Vivid Violet
White16
Wisteria
Yellow8
Yellow-Green16
Yellow-Orange16

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Crayola_crayon_colors