My Year-End Hat Modifications

[FedoraRedHat]

In this thread, I will be posting my year-end hat modifications for basically my entire hat collection. If this thread needs to be moved, please do so. Armed with a glue gun, double-sided tape, hatbands from Panama Hats Direct, and a pocketknife, I have added new hatbands to most of my hats. I'll start with my Akubra hats.

I changed out the hatband for my Akubra Dark Brown Fed IV for a black one to match the "Indiana Jones" style more accurately. The hat band used here was left over from my order from Panamahatcollection.com 8 months ago. An interesting story here: I initially ordered additional hatbands from Panamahatcollection.com for this project recently. However, the order did not ship for over two weeks. I contacted them multiple times, with no response. The last time I contacted them I told them I would file a Paypal dispute if I did not hear from them. They responded by issuing a refund (with no message). So, I invested the money in hatbands by Panama Hats Direct sold by Amazon. Here is my Akubra Stylemaster Loden with a black hatband from the latter retailer:

My only comment on the new hatband is that I would have preferred a wider bow. I performed the same operation on my Federation Navy and Carbon Grey Stylemasters.

I like the fact that the Federation Navy modification resembles the colors of the Australian flag. I also intended for the Carbon Grey modification to provide a lighter contrast to the dark grey felt.

I also managed to obtain an Akubra Fed IV in Tawny Fawn and a Stetson Asher/Inwood in Tawny. I changed out the Fed IV band, but left the Asher band intact. From these pictures, you can see the differences in the Tawny felt colors between the two brands.

Here's a hat that I received today, a Stetson Stratoliner Special Edition in True Blue. I placed a dark brown hatband over the original thin band, and re-arranged the pin. I also transplanted the pin from my Stetson Lassiter to the Stratoliner.

Here's a closeup of the pin arrangement:

Now for my straw hat collection. The first hat on the list is the JJ Hat Center Capri. I spent many steaming iterations on this hat to get the crown height right. This hat was originally shipped with a center crease. The hatband was left as is.

The next straw hat is my Stetson Aficionado. I steamed the teardrop crown to remove the line from the middle of the teardrop.

I also changed the band for a leftover brown band from Panamahatcollection.com.

Now, for the last straw hat, I transplanted the brown hat band from my Stetson Lassiter to a Scala Panama Straw Boater. I specifically chose this hat band due to its wide bow.

An interesting story about this boater: I ordered this boater, along with a $10 hat box, from Delmonico Hatter during their season end sale. To my surprise when the package arrived, I opened the inner hat box to find nothing inside. I called up Delmonico, who informed me that the boater was being delivered separate directly from Dorfman Pacific. They apologized for not placing a notice inside the box. I've placed other orders from Delmonico, so I can say that this was probably a fluke occurrence.

Consequently, with all of the pin and band transplanting, the Stetson Lassiter has become the "Charlie Brown Tree" of my collection.

I am currently on the fence about which color band to add to it.

Overall, let me know what your opinions are about my hat modifications. All of the hatbands that I replaced are only secured with double-sided tape, and can be interchanged. Only the end of the band is glued to the bow. As a final note, I can say that it is all right to wear a straw hat past Felt Hat Day, as long as you are just working on it.

 

[belfastboy]

Good on you for taking this on. They look good. One suggestion is that you 'swirl' the ribbons with an iron to get the bend. By doing this you will get a much tighter fit with the ribbon against the hat. This is even more important when working with a hat with a taper and you can avoid the gaps and get a more finished looking end product.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

In this thread, I will be posting my year-end hat modifications for basically my entire hat collection. If this thread needs to be moved, please do so. Armed with a glue gun, double-sided tape, hatbands from Panama Hats Direct, and a pocketknife, I have added new hatbands to most of my hats. I'll start with my Akubra hats.

I changed out the hatband for my Akubra Dark Brown Fed IV for a black one to match the "Indiana Jones" style more accurately. The hat band used here was left over from my order from Panamahatcollection.com 8 months ago. An interesting story here: I initially ordered additional hatbands from Panamahatcollection.com for this project recently. However, the order did not ship for over two weeks. I contacted them multiple times, with no response. The last time I contacted them I told them I would file a Paypal dispute if I did not hear from them. They responded by issuing a refund (with no message). So, I invested the money in hatbands by Panama Hats Direct sold by Amazon. Here is my Akubra Stylemaster Loden with a black hatband from the latter retailer:

My only comment on the new hatband is that I would have preferred a wider bow. I performed the same operation on my Federation Navy and Carbon Grey Stylemasters.

I like the fact that the Federation Navy modification resembles the colors of the Australian flag. I also intended for the Carbon Grey modification to provide a lighter contrast to the dark grey felt.

I also managed to obtain an Akubra Fed IV in Tawny Fawn and a Stetson Asher/Inwood in Tawny. I changed out the Fed IV band, but left the Asher band intact. From these pictures, you can see the differences in the Tawny felt colors between the two brands.

Here's a hat that I received today, a Stetson Stratoliner Special Edition in True Blue. I placed a dark brown hatband over the original thin band, and re-arranged the pin. I also transplanted the pin from my Stetson Lassiter to the Stratoliner.

Here's a closeup of the pin arrangement:

Now for my straw hat collection. The first hat on the list is the JJ Hat Center Capri. I spent many steaming iterations on this hat to get the crown height right. This hat was originally shipped with a center crease. The hatband was left as is.

The next straw hat is my Stetson Aficionado. I steamed the teardrop crown to remove the line from the middle of the teardrop.

I also changed the band for a leftover brown band from Panamahatcollection.com.

Now, for the last straw hat, I transplanted the brown hat band from my Stetson Lassiter to a Scala Panama Straw Boater. I specifically chose this hat band due to its wide bow.

An interesting story about this boater: I ordered this boater, along with a $10 hat box, from Delmonico Hatter during their season end sale. To my surprise when the package arrived, I opened the inner hat box to find nothing inside. I called up Delmonico, who informed me that the boater was being delivered separate directly from Dorfman Pacific. They apologized for not placing a notice inside the box. I've placed other orders from Delmonico, so I can say that this was probably a fluke occurrence.

Consequently, with all of the pin and band transplanting, the Stetson Lassiter has become the "Charlie Brown Tree" of my collection.

I am currently on the fence about which color band to add to it.

Overall, let me know what your opinions are about my hat modifications. All of the hatbands that I replaced are only secured with double-sided tape, and can be interchanged. Only the end of the band is glued to the bow. As a final note, I can say that it is all right to wear a straw hat past Felt Hat Day, as long as you are just working on it.

Here’s what swirling looks like:

 

[FedoraRedHat]

Good on you for taking this on. They look good. One suggestion is that you 'swirl' the ribbons with an iron to get the bend. By doing this you will get a much tighter fit with the ribbon against the hat. This is even more important when working with a hat with a taper and you can avoid the gaps and get a more finished looking end product.

Here’s what swirling looks like:

Thanks for the tips on swirling. I actually have more of a problem with creases in the hatbands. The Panama Hats Direct bands arrived folded, so I have to steam the creases out after applying the hatband.

 

[FedoraRedHat]

Just wanted to post an update on my hatband modifications. I recently ordered some 1 1/2 inch grosgrain ribbon from Amazon to create some interchangeable hatbands. Here are the results:

Akubra Stylemaster Carbon Grey (White Ribbon, Single Bow):

Akubra Stylemaster Federation Navy (Silver Ribbon, Single Bow):

Akubra Stylemaster Loden (Black Ribbon, Single Bow):

Stetson Stratoliner Special Edition True Blue (Brown Ribbon, Single Bow):

Akubra Federation IV Tawny Fawn (Brown Ribbon, Double Bow):

Akubra Federation IV Dark Brown (Black Ribbon, Double Bow):