My third attempt at a Montecristi

[Marc]

Hey gang,

last week (Wednesday) I was invited for a talk show on a local German TV station and while I was thinking about what to wear, the idea of just wearing a pair of jeans with a fine Montecristi came to mind. That when - somewhere in the back of my head - a voice mentioned, that I don't HAVE a Montecristi. NONE. Neither a fine one, nor a shabby one, nor any straw hat at all.

So I figured this might be the time to make one - which would be a good chance to learn some new skills as well. Since the show was planned for to tomorrow, I better got moving real fast. So, I ordered a good Montecristi rawbody and had it FedEx'd to me. When I received it yesterday, it look like this:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e132/ ... CN1439.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e132/ ... CN1438.jpg

So... being rather nervous about how it would turn out (one has to pull it 100% straight on the block, as there just is no wide brim that can be cut to size later) I started to scratch my head on how the hat should look when done. I thought that a CS Fedora in straw would be a nice idea - perhaps with a navy blue ribbon - wo that's what I went for.

Well, I managed to convert some of the brim into crown and I even got that ever curling brim flattened out after lots and lots of work.

This morning I pulled it off the block, creased it and started to put the sweatband in as soon as I got back from work...

I can HARDLY describe how un-pleased I am with how it turned out so for. This might not be the common "uh, look at me, I can make so nice hats"-post, but it's part of the hatmaking too and I thought I'd share nontheless.

This it what it looks like right now, with the temporary sweatband stitching holding the sweatband in place.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e132/ ... CN1440.jpg

I'll now take it apart again and reblock it. Perhaps I can figure out a way to make something worth wearing yet.

Regards,

Marc

[VP]

Could be worse. If it's a size 59 I'll gladly destroy it personally.

[gwyddion]

It doesn't look that bad for a first try

I can't really see if the brim is even or not though, and I off course am an absolute non-hatter, so my opinion is probably not worth a dang thing

Regards, Geert

[BendingOak]

Most people would say " don't be so hard on yourself " but you and I are different. We would say " be real critical " it's the only way to improve in our book. I know you will get it to where your happy with it Marc. I will say this. You temp stitching is more beautiful than any others. They are very even looking.

[Ranger36]

edit

[McFly]

Again,

What's a Montecristi?

Patience! There's always google and wikipedia, if you can't wait.

A Montecristi is a fancier / nicer type of Panama hat. A Panama hat, if you don't know, is like a straw fedora, but the straw is woven together by hand and the straw comes from a particular Central/South American plant (whose name is of no importance right now unless you want to make your own). They make very nice summer hats.

Shane

[Jens]

A "Panama" hat (you know, these straw things ...).

Edit: Oh, McFly beat me ... touché.

[McFly]

Anyway Marc, I think it looks alright - but if you're not happy with it, and there's room to expand your knowledge of hutmaching (Germish! ), then more power to you! You're your best critic, and that's what's made your Adventurebilts such fine hats.

Shane

[albert jones]

Montecristi its a town from Ecuador, the real panama ,its borned on this city.

[DR Ulloa]

Marc, if you aren't happy with it, there has to be a reason for it. From where I am standing, the brim looks fairly uniform the whole way around, but I know there is more to it than that. Keep working on this hat. I want to see what you do with this becuse you are an artist, my friend. Good luck.

Dave

[Fedora]

Marc, I have one here that Indy Mag sent me a LONG time ago and I have been afraid to mess with it much. I own one myself, and experimented on it, before I touched his.

Here is what I have found out about working these palm woven hats. First, I found I had to iron it, on the block, to smooth it down. Then, I had to apply shellac inside the crown to get it to hold the crease well.

These hats don't lend themselves to hand creasing,(at least not to my eye) so you need a tipper and whatever they call the matching piece to really make a nice top crease. And you use steam when you use these tools. I have two different shaped tippers, one is a teardrop, and the other looks like what we see on that old HJ years ago. The one that looked like it was made on the hat blocks with the creases already carved into the block. I think this is the sort of block that is needed to really make these hats shine, and crisp looking.

What I hate about these Montecristis is...don't get caught in the rain with one!! You end up with a noodle of a hat. Water...nope, they don't mix well with this hat.

One would also think, being a type of straw(more or less) that it would be cooler to wear. But, the finely woven ones(more expensive) seem to me to be as hot as a felt hat, as the weave is so tight, the hat does not breath well. The less expensive Cuencas, are cooler to wear, as the weave is not as tight.

I know there are many fans and collectors of these type of hats, but I have discovered that personally, I don't like them. But then, I never saw a straw hat that I did like...

These hats, can be very expensive, depending upon the number of weaves per square inch, or something like that. The only redeeming factor to me is it takes an artist to make a great one, as they are hand woven in Ecuador. I like the idea that the hat is made by hand.

Some hatters specialize in these hats. And I am sure there are trade secrets involved in making a great one. Personally, since I don't like em', I don't care to learn.

I am gonna get Indy Mag's made here as soon as I can, and will post a pic of it as well, if I can find this thread when that time comes. But, I must admit, I still feel intimidated with making the hat. And not much intimidates me. Fedora

[Ranger36]

Again,

What's a Montecristi?

Patience! There's always google and wikipedia, if you can't wait.

Sorry

I'll delete it.

[McFly]

No worries!

Shane

[MustangLoverMex]

Hey Marc.
As you know a high crown eats up the brim, but I think there are rawbody's with longer brims and because this type of hats are woven, if you cut it is going to fall apart (at the edge of the brim, there's a "different" weave). A good solution for this is if you put a grosgrain bound brim edge, it would look nice and "classy".

For the stiffness of the hat use a sponge with white glue mixed up with water after you reblock it, otherwise you'll not be able to handle it.

Anyway... that what I've learned watching my hat-maker. Hope that helps.

Kind Regards,
-Alfonso

[Das Broetchen]

For the stiffness of the hat use a sponge with white glue mixed up with water after you reblock it, otherwise you'll not be able to handle it.

do you have any idea what mix ratio should be used when adding the glue to the water? During reshapement of my montecristi i saw that some of the glue went off into my towel - and so the brim lost a little bit of its stiffness.

[Fedora]

There is actually a concoction that can be mixed up for this type of hat. The ingredients are a trade secret. And it does not break down like glue does(most are water based) once the hat gets damp.

Many of these trade secrets are held close to the vest. I used shellac on my own, and it worked very well, as it is colorless, and does not break down like glue does.

One thing every Montecristi needs to know is there is only ONE way to bleach out a yellowed hat. You have to have a sulphur box, and the burning sulphur bleaches the hat. When I recieved mine, it smelled of sulphur! I doubt many hatters use it today, but according the that old hat book, it is the only way to go. The chemicals weaken the palm straw, and is a fast and dirty way of bleaching. Fedora

[Marc]

Thanks for all the advice. Much of this is in "the book" but what REALLY is a pain in the behind, is to try and get the brim the same width all the way around AFTER you put in a new brim break.

I spent most of the day yesterday and then some more today to just sit down and think. Finally I came up with an idea on how to solve the problem. It's now sitting on the block again to dry (the hat, not the problem... well... ). IF(!) this works out, I might have found a way to put a dim. "cut" into the brim of a panama hat - which I don't think is very common. Of course I'd need another raw- / straw body with a wider brim in order to try this out.

Steve, you're absolutely right about creasing it. However I like the floppyness of this hat, so using shellac would be a shame IMO. If you make the the hat damp, while it's still on the block however, you can crease it VERY easily afterwards. And it'll stay there.

Nice challenge, that's for sure

Regards,

Marc

[Marc]

Well, after my second failure

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e132/ ... CN1448.jpg

I had to bite the bullet and realize, that this just won't make a Fedora type of hat no matter what. Which is a shame, as that is above all the style of hat that I personally like the most. Be it Indy Fedoras or classic Fedoras in general.

When I got the rawbody, it had a 4" crown and a 2 3/4" brim. So the brim was WAY oversized for that crown, which meant I had to turn some of it into crown. I went for a 2 3/8" brim all the way around, as I think that goes best with that crown hight.

So, in order to make something usefull from this (or rather: not to waste my investment ) I decided to go with an Optimo style instead then. Not really my personal cup of tea, but if you can have what you like, you gotta like what you have. So, I got myself a yard of 4mm string that I attached to one of my blocks and pulled the body over it (yet another time).

Then I attached the sweat again and put on some navy blue 1" ribbon:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e132/ ... CN1452.jpg

It was an interesting project for sure and I learned a lot. One day I'll make an Indy Fedora in straw.

Regards,

Marc

[DR Ulloa]

Well, you certainly saved that body. I think it came out great. I would definately wear that hat. Hey, if you don't want it, Marc, I'll take it...seriously.

Dave