(HELP NEEDED) How to install a new ribbon

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:34 pm

I don't seem to find anything on previous threads but I would like detailed step-by-step instructions about how to replace a ribbon on a hat.
Is it something I can do by myself? How hard is it? I've never done anything similar.

Please hat experts give me a hand.

Tremolo · Post by **Tremolo** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:41 pm

I haven´t done it but here is a nice page from Dalexs about replacing a ribbon
http://dalexs.whitvani.net/hat/hatpage.html

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:44 pm

Ahh yes! I forgot about that one! Thanks a lot.

I'm still a bit scared about the "tacking" of the ribbon on the felt though.

maboot38 · Post by **maboot38** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:48 pm

I was a little scared at first, but I was just extra observant when taking off my original ribbon, and was able to put the other one on the same way.

I think it is helpful to use a very thin needle so that you don't make huge holes.

whipitgood · Post by **whipitgood** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:56 pm

I had to put one on the day of my party because Baron Hats screwed-up my ribbon twice. It took me about 2 hours, but I think it came out pretty good. I only see one area that needs adjustment, but I'm being overly critical. Threading the needle seemed like the most time consuming part. Just be patient and it should turn out fine.

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 5:00 pm

Thanks a lot guys, precious hints there.
How many stitches did you put exactly? And where? On the film (raiders) hats there seems to be very little. A part on the knot, I think just one other on the other side, am I right?

maboot38 · Post by **maboot38** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 5:03 pm

I tacked my hat in exactly the same places that my old ribbon was. I marked the spots as I took the ribbon off, and tacked in the same place. I'm not sure how many times I went through each tack, but I was definitely generous with the thread. I wanted to make sure that puppy wasn't going anywhere!

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 5:04 pm

LOL I understand

whipitgood · Post by **whipitgood** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 5:11 pm

I have some Fuller's Earth on it now, so I'm having a hard time seeing some of my tacking. It must be pretty good if I can't notice it

I'm thinking I did a total of 14 or 15 tacks. I would say 8 of those were for the bow, two being hidden for the knot. Aside from the bow only three tacks are visible(front, back and right side). It's holding just fine.

BendingOak · Post by **BendingOak** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:25 pm

Erri, it's to bad you live so far away. I would do it for you.

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:45 pm

Too bad indeed my friend!

I love your knots.

BendingOak · Post by **BendingOak** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:13 pm

Erri wrote:Too bad indeed my friend!
I love your knots.

Thank you
I never knew you even looked into my theads.

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:21 pm

To be honest only recently, you might have noticed I haven't been around too much these last months. But what a surprise when I noticed your new hat business. They look very very nice my friend.

Post by **Dalexs** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:19 pm

Erri wrote:Ahh yes! I forgot about that one! Thanks a lot.

I'm still a bit scared about the "tacking" of the ribbon on the felt though.

Erri,

The trick is to use the smallest needle you can find and get thread that matches the closest to the ribbon you're using.

Tack around the ribbons edge binding and penetrate the felt from under the ribbon. If you do it right, you'll never know it is there.

Steady hand and patience are your friends.

Good luck.

Dalexs

maboot38 · Post by **maboot38** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:42 pm

And make sure you keep everything very taught. The ribbon, the bow, the tacks. The secret is taughtness. Taughtness and sobriety

Post by **Dalexs** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:34 pm

maboot38 wrote:And make sure you keep everything very taught. The ribbon, the bow, the tacks. The secret is taughtness. Taughtness and sobriety

Oh I don't know... My NH shirt redye tutorial clearly feartured this:

$\:D/$

maboot38 · Post by **maboot38** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:37 am

I suppose for the shirt, but I still subscribe to the notion that needles and booze don't mix!

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:48 am

Thanks a lot guys, I should take some time to practice and start looking for a thin needle... afterall I had to start learning one day or another, better to start with felt than with flesh

binkmeisterRick · Post by **binkmeisterRick** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 8:38 am

Or you could just use staples.

Seriously, Dalexs is right, you want a small needle for this job. Also keep in mind that you probably won't get it right the first couple of times. Be patient and take your time. And the alcohol is to pour over and sterilize your punctured fingers, as well as to drink to help deaden the pain.

;-)

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 8:40 am

Ahahah thanks Bink, I'll practice a bit on other materials first before passing onto the real stuff.
Thanks for your support guys.

Dutch_jones · Post by **Dutch_jones** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:05 pm

Erri wrote:Ahahah thanks Bink, I'll practice a bit on other materials first before passing onto the real stuff.
Thanks for your support guys.

on which hat are you replacing the ribbon? The adventurer?

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:07 pm

Dutch_jones · Post by **Dutch_jones** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:09 pm

Hmm Interested to see how it goes

please don't forget the pics

serrecuir · Post by **serrecuir** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:24 pm

I've used Dalexs' method several times (and about to do it again tonight on my Christy's) and had great success each time. I try not to put too many tacks at all - 1 on the center piece of the bow, 4 total on the bow (1 on each corner, which also hold the corners of the ribbon in place underneath the bow), and 3 tacks on the hat (1 in the front, 1 on the right side, and 1 in the back - do these low on the ribbon, just above where the ribbon meets the brim). If you do the tacks very small, you'll never know they're there. Good luck!

Kind regards,
Craig

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:43 pm

Thanks Craig! If you're doing it again would you mind perhaps sharing some pictures? It would be really great.
Thanks again

Is the name and the avatar just coincidence?

Dutch_jones wrote:Hmm Interested to see how it goes

please don't forget the pics

LOL I'll try, I hope Craig will post something too. Anyway I should have the material in a week or so, I started asking already so in a week time I'll have (and I already got) a lot of help from more experienced people

serrecuir · Post by **serrecuir** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:53 pm

Erri wrote:Thanks Craig! If you're doing it again would you mind perhaps sharing some pictures? It would be really great.
Thanks again

Is the name and the avatar just coincidence?

Anytime, Erri! Glad I can help. As for my Bond avatar, just coincidence that my name's Craig too (well, at least my first name is)

Here's a pic of my completed ribbon change on my HJ (using Dalexs' tutorial) -

When I redo my Christy's tonight, I'll snap some pics as I go and post them up here.

Kind regards,
Craig

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:10 pm

Looks marvellous

serrecuir · Post by **serrecuir** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:45 pm

Erri wrote:Thanks Craig! If you're doing it again would you mind perhaps sharing some pictures? It would be really great.
Thanks again

Erri,

As promised, I took a few pics during my "ribbon replacement party" last night.

These are from my Christy's fedora. I actually like the ribbon they use, but the tacks were oversized, and the bow was simply a "place holder." It was flat and lifeless with huge tacks. So I just removed the ribbon and bow, ironed it flat, and reapplied it, while tweaking the bow to look more Indy-esque.

The key to a clean ribbon replacement is to gently remove the liner and fold back the sweatband so you can get at the tacks from underneath.

Here's a view of the hat & ribbon after removing the original bow. You can see how big the tacks are and how sloppy it was all applied.

I spent the most time disassemling the original bow, ironing the ribbon flat, then reshaping it (using Dalexs' method) and reapplying it to the hat. Here's the final result -

I hope these pics help!

Kind regards,
Craig

Post by **Dalexs** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:56 pm

Wow, those were some big ###ed tacks.
Much better looking now. Thanks for the images.

At some point on my next hat project, I'll see if I can document a bit the new ribbon install with my newer camera.

Getting decent closeup shots for the details are a real #####.

Steve

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 2:11 pm

This is some scary s**t Craig

You've got a cracker of a bow there!

Thanks infinitely for the pictures, they are a really big help. Ribbon replacement party

that's a good one

Dalexs wrote: At some point on my next hat project, I'll see if I can document a bit the new ribbon install with my newer camera.

That would be indeed interesting to see Dalexs! Please do!

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 4:05 pm

Nowhere near as neat as yours, serrecuir, but this is my (first) result:

I didn't want to make swiss cheese out of the felt so I was a little tight on stitches. I tried to place the least possible. I know it's not a great result but this is what I got. At most I will try again... when I have another free afternoon

Dutch_jones · Post by **Dutch_jones** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 5:00 pm

the middle part of the bow should be further back and a bit more down towards the brim, but not bad for your first try !!

Indiana G · Post by **Indiana G** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 5:13 pm

that's definitely better than my first try......nice work erri...

the force is storng with this one......

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 5:20 pm

LOL G thanks. Anyway I have a brand new ribbon incoming this week, althought I might leave it to the professionals to be installed... well at least untill dalexs will post that video

Indiana G wrote:the force is storng with this one......

and the patience

Most of the time I was like "What the **** am I doing????!!!!"

Dutch_jones wrote:the middle part of the bow should be further back and a bit more down towards the brim, but not bad for your first try !!

I noticed it only too late. I couldn't be bothered cutting the stitches and do them again, I could have but I didn't LOL. But yes I noticed it's not in the exact place. Also I should have ironed the ribbon a bit better.
Thanks for the simpathetic compliments guys

. I don't deny I was exhausted after this job

By the way, it seems that Christy's uses even bigger needles than I do. The regular sawing needle I was using was "loose" into their holes. Just a side note. Partly the reason why the knot is not exactly in place, I was trying to cover those caves left by the previous stitching

serrecuir · Post by **serrecuir** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 1:58 pm

Erri,

I think that's a great first attempt.

I remember the first bow I did, and it looked pretty awful. The great thing is that with every attempt, the bow will get better and better. If you're unhappy with it, cut those stitches loose, and try it again. I'm sure your next attempt will look even better!

Kind regards,
Craig

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 2:15 pm

Thanks Craig, my concern is about the original stitches which left visible holes in the felt. My attempt to cover them was partly the cause of the misplaced ribbon.

serrecuir · Post by **serrecuir** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 4:50 pm

Erri wrote:Thanks Craig, my concern is about the original stitches which left visible holes in the felt. My attempt to cover them was partly the cause of the misplaced ribbon.

I know what you mean. The original stitches left holes the size of finishing nails in my hat.

I brushed the felt slightly to cover them, and it seemed to do the trick. You also may be able to manipulate the material from the underside of the hat to help cover the holes.

Kind regards,
Craig

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:01 pm

very good idea!!! Ok probably I'll re-do the ribbon soon enough then.

Dutch_jones · Post by **Dutch_jones** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 1:29 am

Erri wrote:very good idea!!! Ok probably I'll re-do the ribbon soon enough then.

Cool be sure to post some pics to satisfy the people with the big signs

LOL!

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 3:14 am

ok