Dyeing Hats

[Meglos]

Hi,
I'm not sure if this sort of thread is appropriate here but I thought I'd put a query to you guys in case someone has an answer. I'm a Doctor Who fan and I'd really like to create a replica of Tom Baker's burgundy hat as worn in his last season in 1981. As I understand it the story goes that the costume designer bought the hat from Herbert Johnson and it had been custom dyed to the colour she wanted. I've managed to get hold of one or two good condition vintage Herbert Johnson hats, with the plush/velour finish of the Doctor Who hats, and I was thinking of attempting to dye one to a burgundy colour. I've no idea if its possible but it could make a fun little project. The hat I'm wanting to dye doesn't actually fit me - its much smaller than my size, but it'd be nice to have anyway as a display prop. As far as modifying the hat I think I'd go as far as to remove the liner during the dyeing process with the intention of reattaching it. I could even in theory have the ribbon replaced by a milliner in London (Bates' offer a service). The only part of the hat therefore that could be ruined in theory would be the leather sweatband, but I'm sure this wouldn't be too damaged, maybe discoloured. So I guess my question is, can it be done? has anyone ever heard of or had any experience in dyeing a hat?




Thanks

[Dalexs]

Dying a hat... I'm sure we've been down this road before...

Short answer... Don't do it! Not worth the trouble. Results are not guaranteed. (Ok, not so short.)

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Dakota Ellison and Steve Delk, and maybe VP have tried in the past. I may have possibly done it on one of my Burlington Coat factory hats as an experiment.

Hat colors are usually achieved during the actually felt making process. The color permeates the felt thru and thru.
By the time you get the hat, the felt is usually too dense to really dye it thoroughly.

RIT dye would be the way to, unless you can find powder based dyes (which is another method of coloring felt.)

Problem with RIT is that you need to soak hat in HOT water... felt and hot water don't really mix.
If it doesn't shrink to the size of a raisin, you might be able to block it out to a reasonable size for display.

An getting the liquid RIT to really saturate the felt to make a difference is very difficult.

I would try to find a throwaway hat you can trash as an experiment first, before doing it a vintage HJ.



Dalexs