Well, I've wanted to do this for a while now but have always resisted the impulse. A few evenings ago, a wild impulse took over and a decided to take the plunge. I've owned this vintage fedora for many years now and always thought it would make a lovely Indy fedora. I have one regret in all of this and that is that I did not take progress photos as I went.
So to set the stage I'll start by telling you this lid originally had a very thin green ribbon on it and the brim was bound in the same. I'll take some photos of the trimmings later. So, after removing the bound edge and ribbon now all I needed was the appropriate replacement. I remembered that years before I had replaced a ribbon on a Federation I used to own and had kept it's original ribbon. Finding it rather easily I began the hand sewing process. Thankfully no blood was spilled. 
So, without further delay here are some photos of the hat as it is today.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/ ... G_5177.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/ ... G_5178.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/ ... G_5179.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/ ... G_5180.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sorry, unless the trimmings and sweatband are literally falling apart, I have to admit that I prefer to leave vintage fedoras in good condition in their original state as they are harder to find and more expensive to score as time goes by. But it's your hat and only my opinion...
