This may have been asked before, but I can't find it if it has. There are many videos and instructions on how to make a regular oval felt cowboy hat into a long oval hat using steam and a hat jack, but I need to go the other way. When I try on hats if a hat fits side to side, it's loose front to back. I have to pad the sweatband with foam front and back, which causes it to try to wrinkle and have uncomfortable spots. Putting a hat jack in sideways, from side to side, seems to me like it would be stressing the hat in an unnatural direction (whereas front to back is stretching in the "normal" direction of the oval).
Would it be enough to just dampen the crown under the sweatband using this technique: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/hat-stretcher-help.26112/page-3#post-680708 to let the sides expand slightly, pulling in the front and back? Right now my hats fit pretty well using about a 4 inch strip of foam in front and another of that length in back with the sides fitting nicely without anything more. What are the odds I'm just going to make the hat too big altogether if I do that?
Would it be enough to just dampen the crown under the sweatband using this technique: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/hat-stretcher-help.26112/page-3#post-680708 to let the sides expand slightly, pulling in the front and back? Right now my hats fit pretty well using about a 4 inch strip of foam in front and another of that length in back with the sides fitting nicely without anything more. What are the odds I'm just going to make the hat too big altogether if I do that?
