Budget Fedora
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:52 am
In another post I mentioned I was on a budget and was going to see what could be done with a wool felt Dorfman Pacific fedora I got off Amazon for £30.
Out of the box the hat is stiff as cardboard and though the factory blocking is very nice it has no character.
The process of re-shaping it by hand will naturally be less even and gives a subtle 'well travelled' look. Incidentally it makes the hat a great deal softer, crushable in fact, and more comfortable to wear.
I also said I didn't want an exact Indy replica but something 'Indyesque' that suited me. Having said that, I think what I came up with is pretty close.
Well here's a step by step guide to forming all the trademark quirks, as promised.
It seems like a lot of steps but I have left out nothing and given the reasons for each step.
This wouldn't be the first hat I altered. Everything I learned from many hats I have owned and personalised has gone into this.
Expect this to take a whole day. It helps a lot to have reference stills from the films printed out or on your computer screen. There are good ones on the Indygear main site.
THE CROWN
The hatband is sewn to the back of the bow, remove the band but you can leave the bow to help reposition the band later.
With cold water, really soak the hat and 'knead' it hard. Then push up the crown to remove the sharp factory creases. Don't be afraid to be rough, wool felt will take it. You won't be able to remove all traces of the factory blocking - yet.
While the felt is swelling, put the kettle on! Make yourself a cuppa and use the steaming kettle for the next step.
If you don't have a stovetop kettle find a saucepan with a close fitting lid that has steam holes in the lid's side. Or, drill a small hole (2mm say) in the rim of a hole-less lid so it will make a jet of steam that comes out horizontal - it's easier to work with. Put the lid on and put something heavy on top. Bring it up to a simmer.
The cold soaking you gave the hat protects it from heat damage so it must be worked while wet. Don't rush, it will take a day to dry at least, and you can always re-wet it as you go.
In the steam, remove any creases and uneven bumps, pushing the creases out from inside as you go.
Switch off the heat for now.
Now we start putting the Indy styling in the wet hat.
The aim is to stretch the top of the crown wider to get that 'stovepipe' look of a 30's unblocked hat.
Find something tall, rigid and cylindrical (or at least with a circular top) with a circumference a little smaller than your head's. This will be your former. I just happened to have my home-made 'grail' that was perfect when turned upside down.
Place the hat over the former, grip the brim firmly and start to push down with a rocking motion. Turn the hat and repeat. Take it steady but firm, it may take a while. As you go this will squeeze water out of the crown so re-wet it from time to time to keep it pliable.
Stand the hat on something that will help it keep the new shape.
Clamp a band of material, or tie a string tightly where the brim meets the crown. Put the knot at the front where the crease will be anyway. This keeps the angle between brim and crown sharp and stops the hat's size stretching while it 'settles in'. Making this tight also aids the formation of the deep dents either side of the front crease.
Wait until the hat is still wet but no longer so much that it drips.
Put a sharp, straight crease up the front starting from the top of the ribbon. The tight string may buckle the front a little on either side of this crease; this is a good thing.
From the top of that crease put a sharp crease in either side. Together they go nearly a third the circumference of the crown. From the top these creases should look dead straight and symmetrical and make a 70-ish degree angle between them. From the front they should make a very, very shallow 'V'.
To put the centre dent in the top of the crown, put the edge of your hand, karate-chop style, along the hat and press the crown up and around your hand from the inside. Aim to make the back of the crown lower than the front. Press the crease quite sharp from the inside.
This should make a tiny horizontal crease at the back of the crown, pinch that crease tighter.
If this has made the hat too tapered, put your hands inside the sides and push them out to flatten the top and spread the sides apart. Press the top of the crown slightly to aid this.
As you change one thing it will affect others so tweak all the above creases until you are content.
THE BRIM
Place the hat on a flat surface and work around the brim pressing down nearest the tight string. This will sharpen the angle between brim to crown further and stretch the brim a bit flatter before you start forming it.
Starting at the back, place your fingertips about halfway from the edge and stretch the felt nearest the hatband at the same time as you curl the brim up.
Repeat this round the brim BUT move your finger tips a little closer to the edge of the brim as you go. You are aiming to taper the upward curl to nothing - just as it comes parallel on either side of the front crease.
This gives you a fairly flat front brim, which you should turn down.
Go over the whole hat making final adjustments.
Make a cuppa [can you tell I'm English?] top up the steamer with the excess water and bring it up to a good boil - you want quite a jet of steam now.
One at a time, get the creases almost too hot to touch and pinch them really sharp. Remove the crease from the steam and keep working on each crease until it is cold again.
Steam the whole hat in small sections to fine-tune the bashes and bulges.
If it's just glued in, the lining may have come loose by now, don't panic. Remove it for now.
All the steaming will also have raised the nap of the felt. You want to make your hat really smooth and to shed rain well. Envelop it in gentle steam to get beads of condensation on it. Use a soft brush to brush the fibres flat. They should radiate away from the top-front of the crown, down the sides and out toward the edge of the brim. Repeat this with your fingertips to really smooth the felt. The hat will catch the light more authentically too.
Stand the hat on a shelf or box to dry so the front of the brim hangs free.
Sew the ribbon back on if you removed it.
THE LINING
If the lining has a plastic sheet protecting the logo it will make you sweat. Pinch the lining and plastic on opposite sides to pull them apart then carefully cut the plastic away close to the seam. From preference I left the lining out, it lets the hat breath more.
When the hat is dry you can flip the leather sweatband out and hand stitch the lining back in. At the same time you can sew through the hatband to fix it more firmly in place. Use very small stitches and don't pull them tight.
The final hat looks like this though the photos do not do the brushed texture justice.
Finally all this soaking may have shrunk the leather sweatband. If so, carefully wet JUST the sweatband and put the hat on as normal until it dries. Expect a headache or at least a brown band round your head!
Now make yourself another cuppa, or go, properly clad, for a stiff drink at the Raven.
Happy adventuring,
Enigmata Wood
P.S. While you are looking at the fedora please look at my other handicrafts on the same site, feedback is always welcome through the Feedback link. Many thanks.
Out of the box the hat is stiff as cardboard and though the factory blocking is very nice it has no character.
The process of re-shaping it by hand will naturally be less even and gives a subtle 'well travelled' look. Incidentally it makes the hat a great deal softer, crushable in fact, and more comfortable to wear.
I also said I didn't want an exact Indy replica but something 'Indyesque' that suited me. Having said that, I think what I came up with is pretty close.
Well here's a step by step guide to forming all the trademark quirks, as promised.
It seems like a lot of steps but I have left out nothing and given the reasons for each step.
This wouldn't be the first hat I altered. Everything I learned from many hats I have owned and personalised has gone into this.
Expect this to take a whole day. It helps a lot to have reference stills from the films printed out or on your computer screen. There are good ones on the Indygear main site.
THE CROWN
The hatband is sewn to the back of the bow, remove the band but you can leave the bow to help reposition the band later.
With cold water, really soak the hat and 'knead' it hard. Then push up the crown to remove the sharp factory creases. Don't be afraid to be rough, wool felt will take it. You won't be able to remove all traces of the factory blocking - yet.
While the felt is swelling, put the kettle on! Make yourself a cuppa and use the steaming kettle for the next step.
If you don't have a stovetop kettle find a saucepan with a close fitting lid that has steam holes in the lid's side. Or, drill a small hole (2mm say) in the rim of a hole-less lid so it will make a jet of steam that comes out horizontal - it's easier to work with. Put the lid on and put something heavy on top. Bring it up to a simmer.
The cold soaking you gave the hat protects it from heat damage so it must be worked while wet. Don't rush, it will take a day to dry at least, and you can always re-wet it as you go.
In the steam, remove any creases and uneven bumps, pushing the creases out from inside as you go.
Switch off the heat for now.
Now we start putting the Indy styling in the wet hat.
The aim is to stretch the top of the crown wider to get that 'stovepipe' look of a 30's unblocked hat.
Find something tall, rigid and cylindrical (or at least with a circular top) with a circumference a little smaller than your head's. This will be your former. I just happened to have my home-made 'grail' that was perfect when turned upside down.
Place the hat over the former, grip the brim firmly and start to push down with a rocking motion. Turn the hat and repeat. Take it steady but firm, it may take a while. As you go this will squeeze water out of the crown so re-wet it from time to time to keep it pliable.
Stand the hat on something that will help it keep the new shape.
Clamp a band of material, or tie a string tightly where the brim meets the crown. Put the knot at the front where the crease will be anyway. This keeps the angle between brim and crown sharp and stops the hat's size stretching while it 'settles in'. Making this tight also aids the formation of the deep dents either side of the front crease.
Wait until the hat is still wet but no longer so much that it drips.
Put a sharp, straight crease up the front starting from the top of the ribbon. The tight string may buckle the front a little on either side of this crease; this is a good thing.
From the top of that crease put a sharp crease in either side. Together they go nearly a third the circumference of the crown. From the top these creases should look dead straight and symmetrical and make a 70-ish degree angle between them. From the front they should make a very, very shallow 'V'.
To put the centre dent in the top of the crown, put the edge of your hand, karate-chop style, along the hat and press the crown up and around your hand from the inside. Aim to make the back of the crown lower than the front. Press the crease quite sharp from the inside.
This should make a tiny horizontal crease at the back of the crown, pinch that crease tighter.
If this has made the hat too tapered, put your hands inside the sides and push them out to flatten the top and spread the sides apart. Press the top of the crown slightly to aid this.
As you change one thing it will affect others so tweak all the above creases until you are content.
THE BRIM
Place the hat on a flat surface and work around the brim pressing down nearest the tight string. This will sharpen the angle between brim to crown further and stretch the brim a bit flatter before you start forming it.
Starting at the back, place your fingertips about halfway from the edge and stretch the felt nearest the hatband at the same time as you curl the brim up.
Repeat this round the brim BUT move your finger tips a little closer to the edge of the brim as you go. You are aiming to taper the upward curl to nothing - just as it comes parallel on either side of the front crease.
This gives you a fairly flat front brim, which you should turn down.
Go over the whole hat making final adjustments.
Make a cuppa [can you tell I'm English?] top up the steamer with the excess water and bring it up to a good boil - you want quite a jet of steam now.
One at a time, get the creases almost too hot to touch and pinch them really sharp. Remove the crease from the steam and keep working on each crease until it is cold again.
Steam the whole hat in small sections to fine-tune the bashes and bulges.
If it's just glued in, the lining may have come loose by now, don't panic. Remove it for now.
All the steaming will also have raised the nap of the felt. You want to make your hat really smooth and to shed rain well. Envelop it in gentle steam to get beads of condensation on it. Use a soft brush to brush the fibres flat. They should radiate away from the top-front of the crown, down the sides and out toward the edge of the brim. Repeat this with your fingertips to really smooth the felt. The hat will catch the light more authentically too.
Stand the hat on a shelf or box to dry so the front of the brim hangs free.
Sew the ribbon back on if you removed it.
THE LINING
If the lining has a plastic sheet protecting the logo it will make you sweat. Pinch the lining and plastic on opposite sides to pull them apart then carefully cut the plastic away close to the seam. From preference I left the lining out, it lets the hat breath more.
When the hat is dry you can flip the leather sweatband out and hand stitch the lining back in. At the same time you can sew through the hatband to fix it more firmly in place. Use very small stitches and don't pull them tight.
The final hat looks like this though the photos do not do the brushed texture justice.
Finally all this soaking may have shrunk the leather sweatband. If so, carefully wet JUST the sweatband and put the hat on as normal until it dries. Expect a headache or at least a brown band round your head!
Now make yourself another cuppa, or go, properly clad, for a stiff drink at the Raven.
Happy adventuring,
Enigmata Wood
P.S. While you are looking at the fedora please look at my other handicrafts on the same site, feedback is always welcome through the Feedback link. Many thanks.
