Help shapping my hat

[Caber]

I just got my Black Magnoli HJ and it has that shipped look . You know what im talking about . The front of the brim is sticking straight out instead of downword. The flip in the back is alittle off set and flipped alittle to much.
How do i fix my hat ? Can one of you run me through it real quick.

Also I have a slinder, long, face . Will the ROTLA pinch be the best pinch to go with?

Caber

[jlee562]

So, it's still open crown?

Check the Penman video tutorial, stickied at the top of the forum

[Local Land Surveyor]

Hey ,
The front brim shouldn't be too hard to fix. Once you have the hat on your head, just place your thumbs under the brim, fingers on top, pulldown to the floor with your fingers while pushing lightly up with your thumbs. Start at the brim break and work out the the edge. repeat this along the front of the brim from left to right. This should put curl in the front.
Are you going to turn the hat?
Parhaps a pic of the hat would also help us with suggestions.

LLS

[Caber]

NO its already bean bashed.

So I dont need to use steem or anything ?

Ill will try to put a Pic to night

Caber

[Local Land Surveyor]

So I dont need to use steem or anything ?

I would try it without steam. It should conform with finger work. If it is stubborn, which I doubt the Magnoli is, you might need to try a little steam. PM me if it gets to that point before trying steam.

LLS

[Caber]

here are some Pics

[imghttp://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28/Caber666/8007.jpg][/img]http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... 6/8008.jpg
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... 6/8006.jpg
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... 6/8005.jpg
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... 6/8009.jpg
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... 6/8010.jpg
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... 6/8011.jpg

[Caber]

Ok so as you can see the sides are very uneven. Also the back has alittle to much flip. How do i fix these problems ?
Caber

[BendingOak]

Here this might help out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozJKQVCgeZ4


Can we see a pic of you wearing the hat?

[Caber]

Yes sir I can but I was going to wate till I got it looken nice and then make a Whole new thread for that

[BendingOak]

Yes sir I can but I was going to wate till I got it looken nice and then make a Whole new thread for that

It would better help me, help you.

[Caber]

Ok ill put some on here to marrow

[Caber]

Here are some pictures of me with my hat . There are two things I notice. when you look at my hat from the front , you notice that the cornors of my brim tend to be either straight or slanted downwards instead of slightly flipped up. Also when you look at the back of my hat you can tell that the flip on the back is flipped alittle to much and that it's off to one side . Also I dont know if you can see but there is a little hump where the frunt of the brim starts to turn down. Ive tried to get it flat but it wont stay. Its very slight but i think it the reason i cant get the ends to slightly turn up
Caber
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... 6/8001.jpg
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... 8008-1.jpg
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... 8007-1.jpg
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... 8005-1.jpg
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28/Caber666/8.jpg
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... 6/8003.jpg
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv28 ... 6/8001.jpg

[DR Ulloa]

The hat looks fine. Its a very nice looking hat too. All you need to do is handle the hat and play with the brim every time you put it on.

Dave

[Fedora]

Also I dont know if you can see but there is a little hump where the frunt of the brim starts to turn down.

That same thing is on the Raiders film hat. It comes from the brim flange. We call it a bird's beak, for some reason.

Also, the hat was turned slightly, ala Raiders, and this is causing the brim to be uneven(in curl) in the back. All of that can be worked out, using just a little steam on the back and sides of the brim. When you turn a hat, you get stuff like this, but most folks learn over time, how to make it look right, that is, the back to become more relaxed from the curl the flange put into the brim.

If yiou steam the brim, do it from the top side, and not the bottom. That is, keep steam OUT of the insiide of the hat.

Keep the birds beak though, it is film accurate. But it too ,with time and wear, relax and become straighter.

Being a new hat wearer, you are nervous about tweaking. And you are not alone. Many of us went through that. Play with the brim, and have fun doing it. You won't hurt the hat.

Sure looks better than the way it looked when you sent it back to me last week.




The box was crushed enroute to Caleb, and he did not know how to punch it out to open crown and recrease it, so he sent it back. He also wanted gray ribbon instead of the stock black. I had to use my personal vintage stock iron colored ribbon on it, as this was as close as I had to gray(his preference)

Looks like reinforcing the box got it there in much better shape, the second time around!

Once you learn those creasing skills, you will become an old hand at at. And learn you will. The time will come when something happens to the hat, and you will have to recrease it. Especially on this older soft HJ felt. (although I did add just a tiny bit of stiffener to the crown upon its return since I knew you were a newbie with hats. But the brim has stiffener already in it, so steam will help there. The turn does funny things to the brim, like your rear of the hat shots show. This is normal. The curl just needs to be relaxed, which will actually happen with wear, and handling the brim. Or you can speed it up using steam and your fingers to work it out.

Don't be intimidated, just don't steam the crown very much, which you should not have to do anyways, due to the softeness of this felt. Best of luck! Fedora

[Caber]

Yes sir it does look allot better this time around. And the Irion ribbon on this hat Is amazing . Its exactly what i was looking for . The whole hat is beautiful. You did a AWESOME job.


I am a little timid to mess with my hat. I’m afraid ill put a crease some where it shouldent be and wont be able to get it out.

If I use steem , how do I make the flip even. do I use the edge of a table or somthing like that ?

[Fedora]

Just steam the brim and use your fingers and hand to get out what you don't want, or to add what you want. Hold the brim in place, until the steam dries. You might have to do this a couple of times.

That ribbon is real vintage stock. They don't make that pattern anymore. And the rayon in it, is the old kind, that was based on wood. They don't make it like that anymore either. So, rare stuff there. From my own private stock.

I ran across a huge assortment of vintage ribbon a few years ago, and bought as much as my bank account could stand. Of course, being what it was, and extinct, it was VERY expensive. I think Art Fawcett bought ALOT of it, in now obsolete colors and patterns. I loved the iron color and bought quite a bit of that color, since it was 1 1/2 inches in width. Most of it, I have sealed and packed up. This color, iron goes really well with a mid gray, and charcoal gray too. Fedora

[Caber]

Ok ill give it a go.

I have an irion that shoots out steem ill use it . Is there such a thing as steeming to much or to offten? or can I use steem every time i want to shape my brim?
Caber