Stretching...

[Alon]

I know this topic has been covered before and I hate to start a new thread, but since an excellent opportunity just came up, I want to confirm that a pork pie can be stretched up one size (from 7 3/8 to 7 1/2) without any great difficulty by a professional haberdasher?

Does the shape of the hat, a pork pie, make a difference to whether or not it is stretchable?

Thanks for your help, gents!

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Right - one size. Actually, you could get a stretcher (they're only $6-15 - Harbor Freight had some at $6 recently) and do it yourself. Just go slow and easy - and by slow, I don't mean half an hour. Stretch it a little and set it aside for a day or two on the stretcher. Try it on...stretch it a little bit and set it aside for a day or two...

 

[cooncatbob]

Anybody who has more then a few hats should invest in a good stretcher or 2.
Hats get sweaty and shrink up over time and giving them a mild stretch keeps them fitting properly.

 

[Magus]

If you are going up a size...you might want to consider relaxing the ribbon (snip part of the threads and resew it after streching). While the sweatband is leather and will give and strech, the ribbon won't and is sewn in.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I'm in the process of stretching an old western Stetson up 2 sizes!

I have removed the sweatband (and tossed it - will replace at the end), soaked that hat in water overnight and am using a combination of hat-stretcher and a wig head covered in towels to match my head size and shape. So far so good. It's a cheap beater project so I've got nothin' to lose. Oh, and it's a front pinch.

I did snip a couple of the threads holding the ribbon in place but it has been my experience that grosgrain stretches pretty well when wet.

If I leave the sweatband in a hat, before stretching I wipe on Lexol and let it soak in to soften the leather. I have covered the wood on my stretcher with tin foil to keep it from sticking to the treated leather.

For the hats that I stretch without wetting, I use some steam to soften the hat around the break, but I'm careful not to cook the sweatband. This is recommended in "Scientific Hat Finishing and Renovating".

As for porkpies; the closest I have to experience with this is a stretch I did on a western 'gambler' style hat - kind of a Clint Eastwood shaped crown in "Hang Em High". As you might imagine, the stretching process 'ovalizes' the crown some and thus distorts the bash and causes some puckering. I don't mind this on my Stetson but on a dressy porkpie...well, that's up to the owner to decide.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Something hit me today out driving around and this post reminded me. Normally, we put the stretcher in the hat so that it's parallel with the brim. Then we start gently stretching gently, and the hat keeps its round shape in the process...

What I thought about is putting the stretcher so that it's rotated 90 degrees so that it's touching just the front and just the back of the hat - I'm thinking doing that might stretch it to a long oval shape. Since the wooden semi-circular parts of the stretcher are only making contact at the front and back, and not on most of the curved sections, it would seem to me (in my deranged little mind) leaving a hat on it for a period of time, and/or steaming/dampening it and allowing it to cool/dry on the stretcher like that might accomplish putting the hat in a more long oval shape.

Can anyone see any problems with that? I'm thinking about trying it on an old Stetson (cowboy type) I've had for years that's a tad tight front to back but with a thumb-width or more side to side between head and hat.

 

[Magus]

.............I did snip a couple of the threads holding the ribbon in place but it has been my experience that grosgrain stretches pretty well when wet.

This has not been my experience. But...even if it did/does. Where the ribbon is stitched in and the thread holding it will not stretch. Not being argumentitive...juust sharing what has happened with me

M

 

[Magus]

Something hit me today out driving around and this post reminded me. Normally, we put the stretcher in the hat so that it's parallel with the brim. Then we start gently stretching gently, and the hat keeps its round shape in the process...

What I thought about is putting the stretcher so that it's rotated 90 degrees so that it's touching just the front and just the back of the hat - I'm thinking doing that might stretch it to a long oval shape. Since the wooden semi-circular parts of the stretcher are only making contact at the front and back, and not on most of the curved sections, it would seem to me (in my deranged little mind) leaving a hat on it for a period of time, and/or steaming/dampening it and allowing it to cool/dry on the stretcher like that might accomplish putting the hat in a more long oval shape.

Can anyone see any problems with that? I'm thinking about trying it on an old Stetson (cowboy type) I've had for years that's a tad tight front to back but with a thumb-width or more side to side between head and hat.

Ummm.....it works very well...as...thats the way I always use the stretcher. Front and back, never side to side.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Hey Magus; not argumentative at all - good sharing of info. Thanks!

Also, I think the notion Mike is toying with is to actually rotate the stretcher so half of it is up in the crown and the other half is sticking out below - front to back yes but with a 'twist'. I did try this briefly once since I'm a LO but it started to make such an obvious impression of the edge of the stretcher that it didn't seem like the way to go. I have had better luck adding cardboard, like business cards stacked strategically, around the stretcher to make it more oval.

I also have something of a permanent knot on the back of my head (off-center) and I sort of 'conform' my hats with the stretcher and a shoe horn added in there where that head shape occurs.

FYI...