DIY Project; NEED HELP

[warmentrout]

I won the following hat on ebay

It is a Resistol 5X and has a 6 inch open crown and 5 inch brim, and it is even more massive in person than it looks in the pics. I bought it with intentions of cutting down the brim and making a nice fedora out of it. I am a long oval half way between 7 3/8 and 7 1/2. The hat is 7 1/2 regular oval. How do I shrink it ? I've read of people wetting down a hat and blow drying it to shrink it. Does that shrink the felt and leave the leather sweat big and wrinklely ? Or do I wet the sweat and blow dry it and let it pull the felt in ? It also occurs to me that if I want to shrink in the sides, ie so they are closer to my head, I should wet the front and back and shrink it there, If I want to shrink the front and back I should wet the sides and shrink it there, I tried putting felt strips behind the sweat but it just wasn't enough. Does anyone have experience doing this ? I'd like to hear your ideas

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Wow, war', that's some lotta' hat.

I've only made a larger hat fit smaller by

1) Using the fuzzy half of velcro tape inside the sweatband. Can be obtained from office supply or hardware stores in rolls. Thicker than the usual felt strips but cushiony. Also can be positioned strategically to reshape the feel of the oval somewhat.

or

2) Slicing a notch out of the leather sweatband at the back where the seam is. I leave it joined where the little bow is near the connection to the hat's brim, but I cut an angled 'V' of material away as the sweatband goes deeper into the hat toward it's free edge. Then, by re-sewing it back together it draws the sweatband into a smaller circumference inside the hat. I could imagine overdoing this pretty easily. A little guesswork on my part and kind of sneaking up on the amount of 'V' to remove yielded lucky results in my case.

I have never used heat to try to shrink felt and would be a little worried about trying something that drastic. I have noticed, however, that when I have wetted a hat and left it to dry on its own it did tend to tighten up a bit. Might try just that first.

I have also read about - but not tried myself - putting the wet hat on a lamp with a light bulb on under it for warmth while drying. I would be concerned that I'd get the wattage/heat too high or something, but it seems some people have used this method with success. Perhaps they'll add details. Note that modern dark hats like yours seems to be can bleed a lot of dye onto anything they are touching when wet.

I also have never sent a hat to a pro for re-blocking and re-sizing, but I know that it is a viable option for a situation like you've described. All depends on how much you want to invest in it. There are some hatters in the Vendor section who provide this service and other Loungers with first hand experience may provide some insight and recommendations.

G'luck!

 

[warmentrout]

Wow, war', that's some lotta' hat.

Note that modern dark hats like yours seems to be can bleed a lot of dye onto anything they are touching when wet.

Yeah. I've already started bashing the crown. I had to soak it because of the stiffener, it's pretty stiff. My fingers got real black real fast. Fortunately I had the foresight to take out the lining first.

 

[gtdean48]

If you are a 7 3/8 LO & it is a 7 1/2 R, then you should be able to turn the sweatband inside out & wet it on the backside. Spray the crown with distilled water, too. Then either put it on or set it in the sun to dry, making sure it is evenly exposed. You could also put it in a car with windows rolled up in the sun. The new (unexposed) felt & the sweatband should both draw up enough to fit you. The hair dryer trick should work as well.