Grrrrr stiff felt shaping. Springy!!!!

[vespasian]

Anyway, the eye catching title is now past and we come to the question.

I'm a 77.5 head nearing 78, but have a fedora of 77.5 which sits a tad snug and I want to make it a tad less snug so it plops on and off the head a bit easier. I have a hat stretcher that does a grand job if left for a couple of hours and the extra bit of room adds no discernible taper, however when I stretch the hat I want it to STAY STRETCHED GRRRRRRR. The thing has a mind of its own. Within a few hours it has gone back to its original snugglyness. How do I get it to stay where I have stretched it?

Your comments gents, please.

 

[D. Hats]

I talked to a hatter about this a couple weeks ago and he told me he could let out the stitching in the back of the sweatband and add an extension piece in to the sweatband...
I know I've read here on the Lounge where folks have suggested taking out the stitching in the back of the sweatband, but I don't recall them saying to add an extension piece back in.
I think it would probabbly be a prudent idea to sew back in an extension piece to keep the integrity of the hat in tack. That way your not stressing the felt itself.

 

[tonyb]

What kind of stretcher are you using, vespasian? I'm not familiar with the sizing convention (77.5 and 78) you're citing, but I'm guessing you're attempting to stretch from something like a 7 1/8 to a 7 1/4, as we say over on this side of the pond. Is that right? For whatever it's worth, I, like you, have found that stretched hats do seem determined to return to their original size. However, leaving the lid on the stretcher for more than a couple of hours goes some ways toward changing its inclination to return to its former ways. Try leaving it overnight, at least. And do it repeatedly. I've taken hats off the stretcher in the morning and found they fit me fine, but by late in the day they seemed tight again. So back on the stretcher they went.
I've used shoe-stretching spray on sweatbands to prevent them from being damaged in the process. (Placing paper towels between the leather and the onion skin before you put the hat on the stretcher might not be a bad idea. I've yet to see any of that spray transfer to the liner or the felt, but it's best to err on the side of caution. And paper towels are cheap.)
One apparently reputable maker of hat stretchers advises moistening the hat (with water) before attempting to stretch it. But I've seen that method leave "high-water" marks, which are especially noticable on light-colored lids. But having stretched a few while they were wet with naptha has made me a believer. I end up a clean hat that fits, usually. But I'd advise experimenting with a "beater" (as we West Coast Yanks call 'em) before trying it with a more-treasured lid. And, as more-knowledgable others have noted here before, GO SLOW.

 

[vespasian]

So is it the sweatband that drags it back in? Only the felt does infact stretch, but then shrinks back.

 

[Art Fawcett]

Vespasian, when you have the hat on the stretcher turn it over some steam. this will help the felt, ribbon, and leather relax a bit. You are right, it's more than just the leather trying to return, its a combination of all three. Most ribbons are sewn pretty tightly so they also have to be relaxed. Leave the hat overnight on the stretcher and at least for a while, leave it on whenever not wearing it.( maybe a few days) Eventually you will build a new "memory" into the hat.