Well, I had a wild haired idea today. After looking a recent post regarding the Young Indiana Jones fedora I decided to grab my very much sat aside Keppler and bring it back to life. As many of you know this will be an ongoing process so I will be posting with progress. I hope his isn't blasphemy.
A little back story is required. I purchased this lid sometime in 2003-2004. It's getting harder to remember now haha. At least I think that's right...Anyway I had it for the 2004 Queen Mary Summit. Moving on...I wore the heck out of it. From filming on location in Scotland to countless untold adventures. After a while the old girl began to run out of steam. So I sat her aside for my then new Adventurebilt Raiders. Until now...
The Keppler before dying and original ribbon removed.
I did not know that was even possible. Rit Dye to dye a hat.... Be sure to use the Color Keeper/Fastener stuff to keep it from running it's color in the rain!
Good luck, and keep us updated!
Yes, I experimented with dying hats in my younger days. When I left this morning for work the color was looking spectacular. I hope it turns out well. Thanks for the tip as well! More to come this evening I hope
Just wanted to give a short update right now. I just arrived home and inspected the fedora. It is still in the dry process as of right now however I think the true color is starting to show and I for one think it is looking nice. Sadly the original sweatband did not survive this process. It was in need of replacing anyway. I might need a little help on that down the line from one of you fine hat makers out there. Otherwise, the process is going well thus far. Here is newly taken photo photo of the hat in natural light to show you the color. The crown is right at 5 inches tall FYI.
Now the question is, will this become a Young Indy fedora or a Raiders. Your thoughts thus far? Tune in for the next edition.
Yes sorry for the delay, I've been very busy with work the past couple of weeks. I'll have an update asap. Making my own sweatband, this should be interesting.
I hope the process is going well! Can you give me any advice on how to dye the hat? I have a FED III that I would love a darker, more Raider's color, but I'm afraid that the Hare/Rabbit blend would react poorly to the Dye and heat.
Anything thoughts on the subject would be awesome!
Please post more about this. I'd love to see your project finish. It's giving me hope about my own!
Well first off I need to get back to this thread and the project itself. It's funny how life gets you off track lol. In regards to dye. What I seen in terms of the Keppler is some slight unevenness in the color. Oddly most of this is around the outer edge of the brim. I have a feeling there is some sort of scientific reason behind this. So, now my task is to figure out if rinsing and re-blocking will help to dissipate the darker spots. Long story short Adventure Dog, to dye a fedora is tricky business.
