Sewing in a Smaller Sweatband?

[drewgarcia618]

So I have a size 59 Screencapped hat in 50-50 Beaver/Rabbit Last Crusade. Brian made a beautiful hat with a 3.5” brim for me, and I do love it (as you can see, I’ve given it a brim more in line with my other hats). While I have many western hats in 59 or 7 3/8 (Stetsons/a Standard Hatworks custom),the block Brian uses is different enough that it’s just little too big.

I’m aware of and have tried putting foam, felt strips, paper towels, and leather into the sweatband. While these are serviceable, I’d like a more permanent solution. I have thought about removing the original leather band, ordering a new sweatband, and then sewing it in. I believe I only need to tighten it by .5 to 1cm. It’s not like I’m going from a 59 to a 54 haha.

Would this accomplish what I need done? Or, do I need to have it rebooked to a smaller size? I’m a teacher by day and tinkerer at heart, so being able to do this affordably and hands on would be ideal. I’d rather not throw $100 at reblocking a hat if I can avoid it.

Pics, if the link will work. If not, I don’t think they’re too important to my dilemma: https://imgur.com/a/gdh4zPU

[IJJTM]

The pictures didn’t work, and I don’t know about resewing the sweatband unless you’d consider yourself fairly proficient in sewing. I’d recommend folding the sweatband in half like they did for some of the original Raider hats.

[drewgarcia618]

The pictures didn’t work, and I don’t know about resewing the sweatband unless you’d consider yourself fairly proficient in sewing. I’d recommend folding the sweatband in half like they did for some of the original Raider hats.

Trying to fix the pictures now

I’m pretty confident in my sewing ability. I do leatherwork as a hobby, have sewn patches onto jackets, repaired waxed canvas bags, etc. I have a speedy stitcher awl I planned on using for this job, if I move forward with it.

[Dalexs]

Sewing in a new band for that small of a difference is not worth it in my book.
I’d go to the lampshade trick.

Not in a position to search this right now, but basically, wet the band down, and put the hat on top of a lampshade (with an incadencant bulb)
And then watch it.

It’s low enough heat to shrink the band very slowly and you pull it off when you get to where you want it.

I’ve done it with a few of my akubras
You should be able to find references by searching.


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[Indiana Jeff]

Early in my custom hat ordering days, I had ordered a hat at 23.25” and upon receipt realized I needed 23”. I sent it back to the hatter and he installed a new sweatband without any other adjustments to the hat. The sizing difference was .635cm so if you opt to change out the sweatband you should be able to do so without a reblock.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[drewgarcia618]

Sewing in a new band for that small of a difference is not worth it in my book.
I’d go to the lampshade trick …
It’s low enough heat to shrink the band very slowly and you pull it off when you get to where you want it.

I’ve tried wetting it and leaving it my truck on a hot day, but that didn’t do much. Does this lamp trick, which I have read about but never tried, work better in your experience?

Early in my custom hat ordering days, I had ordered a hat at 23.25” and upon receipt realized I needed 23”. I sent it back to the hatter and he installed a new sweatband without any other adjustments to the hat. The sizing difference was .635cm so if you opt to change out the sweatband you should be able to do so without a reblock.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

See that was my logic, I think. I figured it wasn’t too much of a difference to affect the hat itself. I’m beginning to think that sewing a new sweat is the last resort (after trying the lamp).

[Dalexs]

Never tried the truck trick, so can’t really say.
The lamp trick definitely works for small adjustments, and I think better than foam.
Just watch it.
I got my original hat from a 60 to just over 59.5 in a very short time

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[Indiana Jeff]

I think that depends on the sweatband too. My hats have shrunk naturally to different degrees from different makers.

I would think the lamp would work better by providing more direct/intense heat than leaving the hat in a car.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[drewgarcia618]

Interestingly, I tried the lamp trick last night and had no luck. I don’t know if the incandescent bulbs I got are too weak, the lampshades are insulating it too much, if the lamps I have are underpowered, or if the sweatband has shrunk as much as it will already? Who knows.

I followed general guidelines: sprayed the sweatband inside and out, placed it over the lamp, let it dry for a few minutes, try on, repeat. I ended up doing this multiple times, with the sweat tucked up as it should and with it flipped out. I think my hat sat on the lamp for over an hour and an half. Any suggestions as to what I may have done wrong?

[Charybdis]

After reading about your dilemma. I say, go ahead and sew in a new sweatband, what do you have to lose?

If for some reason it does not work, then sell the hat and start over by ordering another one!! Good luck!

[Dalexs]

Interestingly, I tried the lamp trick last night and had no luck. I don’t know if the incandescent bulbs I got are too weak, the lampshades are insulating it too much, if the lamps I have are underpowered, or if the sweatband has shrunk as much as it will already? Who knows.

I followed general guidelines: sprayed the sweatband inside and out, placed it over the lamp, let it dry for a few minutes, try on, repeat. I ended up doing this multiple times, with the sweat tucked up as it should and with it flipped out. I think my hat sat on the lamp for over an hour and an half. Any suggestions as to what I may have done wrong?

how bright are the bulbs and you're sure its not an LED lamp?

It may be that bulbs back (in the old days) when we did all this were WAY more inefficient and generated a ton more heat.
And that amount of time should have shown some shrinkage IF the band has the capability of shrinking.

[Indiana Jeff]

“Shrinkage”? Was he in the pool?





Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Dalexs]

Don't make me call HR on you...

“Shrinkage”? Was he in the pool?





Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[drewgarcia618]

how bright are the bulbs and you're sure its not an LED lamp?

It may be that bulbs back (in the old days) when we did all this were WAY more inefficient and generated a ton more heat.
And that amount of time should have shown some shrinkage IF the band has the capability of shrinking.

It is indeed an incandescent bulb, I went out and bought them specifically for this. Tried them on my two lamps to see if it was the lampshade insulating the hat from the heat. I can try a high wattage bulb, from 40W to 60W. However, I don’t know if the band will shrink at all.

Don't make me call HR on you...

“Shrinkage”? Was he in the pool?





Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Dalexs]

It is indeed an incandescent bulb, I went out and bought them specifically for this. Tried them on my two lamps to see if it was the lampshade insulating the hat from the heat. I can try a high wattage bulb, from 40W to 60W. However, I don’t know if the band will shrink at all.

FWIW the lamps I did this on were always 75 watt bulbs.

[drewgarcia618]

Alas, still no luck. Tried again last night and it didn’t do much. I think I’ll try not only a smaller sweatband, but one that’s a slightly thicker leather as well. Etsy has some veg tan cowhide sweats… in theory those should shrink/stretch/conform better than soft chrome tan sheepskin.

I may also make an account on Fedora Lounge and ask there… just to see what some of those folks have to say!

[Illinois_Jones]

Well the other question is... did you pull the reed?

As far as I can remember, Brian uses reeded sweatbands. I know mine from way back when has a reed. That little piece of wire can definitely keep the dimensions of the sweat while it dries or at least keep the shrinkage to a minimum.

[Western New York Indy]

One side note, if you are going to sew in a sweatband, I wouldn’t recommend using any kind of awl to sew the sweatband into the hat. Just a plain old needle would be the best bet.

-WNY Indy

[drewgarcia618]

Well the other question is... did you pull the reed?

As far as I can remember, Brian uses reeded sweatbands. I know mine from way back when has a reed. That little piece of wire can definitely keep the dimensions of the sweat while it dries or at least keep the shrinkage to a minimum.

I’ve never attempted this, and honestly I wouldn’t know what a reeded hat would feel like vs a non-reeded hat. That said, it doesn’t feel like there’s any wire or other reinforcement at the base of the sweat.

One side note, if you are going to sew in a sweatband, I wouldn’t recommend using any kind of awl to sew the sweatband into the hat. Just a plain old needle would be the best bet.

-WNY Indy

I was going to use a smaller sewing machine needle, like in this tutorial from Fedora Lounge: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads ... ion.38010/

Any reason you say just the needle?

[Western New York Indy]

The only reason I would recommend just a needle is to make sure you are sewing between the individual fibers of the felt and not punching a hole through the felt, if that makes any sense. A small needle might be fine though!

-WNY Indy

[drewgarcia618]

The Fedora Lounge suggested a complete reblock since there’d be too much space to “take up”. Interestingly, the user replying to me said that something like what Indiana Jeff had done would be too much of a shortcut.

I think what I’ll do is order a sweatband, cut and sew it to size, and then see how much space there would be between the felt and the sweat. I’ll update y'all along the way!

(Oh I also bought an old hat block on eBay, I’ve been wanting to try making a hat myself… after trying that out I may consider reblocking the hat myself)