First attempt at making a western

[KTK]

My long awaited journey is coming to a close on my first hat.

I have been doing hours and hours of research on everything hatmaking and like ti thank videos by wolfbrae, art faucet, and cowboy cartel as well as many others. Videos and constant Reddit & fedora lounge searches to find exactly all I need to know.

I started by ordering some 3d printed blocks and tools and practicing on a couple hats I already have. Also picked up a jiffy for a heck of a deal and made my own hat spout.

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Ordered a couple 100% beaver blanks which came in a few days ago.

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I got to steaming then blocking the hat to start. As well as ironing out the brim then leaving it to dry in my hat press I created from some wooden rounds at Home Depot

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Today after letting it dry for around 30 hours I started pouncing by hand which I was terrified of but turns out wasn’t too bad and my favorite part so far. Semi pounced on left and raw body on right. Even the color changes a bit.

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Then I fired the hat with 91% isopropyl alcohol, which I was also nervous about, and it created an amazing finish and stiffened the hat like a board. Which is what I want from my cowboy hats.


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[KTK]

as you can tell from the last picture, I already cut the brim down after that and used the excess that I cut to make a self band for the hat and added my buckle set I ordered. I cut the brim down to a little under 4-1/2”

I love the unfinished squared off brim edge from the brim jack so will keep it as is

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I will add a few pictures in daylight to show at the end. I am waiting till today or tomorrow to sew in the sweatband and add the hat liner as well as reshaping the crown and brim.

Hoping to pickup a foil press today also since I order some custom die sets for stamping the sheepskin leather sweatbands I bought

 

[KTK]

Finished the hat and here it is!

 

[jackadven]

That's a pretty nice first sweatband. Did you stitch in the ditch or through the reed tape?

 

[KTK]

That's a pretty nice first sweatband. Did you stitch in the ditch or through the reed tape?

Through the reed tape. Behind the band

 

[Judgmentalist]

I say this is a pretty impressive result for anybody doing something for their first try. Have you made any more hats since this one?

 

[KTK]

I say this is a pretty impressive result for anybody doing something for their first try. Have you made any more hats since this one?

Yes I have made a few! Waiting on some custom things I’ve ordered to finish the next few. Also been designing custom 3d printed blocks that I will be selling soon! Been pretty busy as of late but trying to fit everything in.