Crystal Skull train hat from David Morgan/Akubra Adventurer

[Howard Weinstein]

While I love most Indy hats, I have to say I like the "Crystal Skull" style best. I wanted to do the gray train hat without busting the budget.



I initially got a Moonstone Fed IV. Loved the hat and color -- but frustrated by the brim being too narrow (and I generally prefer slightly wider brims anyway for better sun protection).



Then I stumbled across the fact that David Morgan now offers their sorta-Indy Akubra Adventurer in Moonstone (in addition to mid-brown and black). At around $150, it's $50-$100 less than some of the other nice gray-rabbit felt offerings out there. So I got one. Comes like this. Obvious ribbon replacement needed. Brim measured at 3 x 2 7/8, so a little wider than the actual "Crystal Skull" train hat, but easy enough to trim (though I chose to leave it).



Next, popped the hat onto my #52 wood block (very useful eBay purchase!) to give the crown a little more of the Indy squared-off shape. Then played around with the steam kettle, replaced the gray ribbon with black, and came out with this end result... Not a perfect replica, but I'm pretty happy with it. And for now, I'll keep the wider brim.

[temple_runner]

Nice job! I have always liked that color.

Where did you get the right ribbon?

[Jeremiah]

Awesome color. I have a few vintage fedoras from the 50s in that color.

[Howard Weinstein]

Nice job! I have always liked that color.

Where did you get the right ribbon?

Thanks, Temple runner!

I found a website -- https://www.farmhousefabrics.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; -- that had actual cotton/rayon grosgrain ribbon in various colors and widths, so I bought several yards of black and brown (which wasn't dark enough for true Indy brown, but was useful on non-Indy hats).

I wish I'd bought more -- they seem to be out of black and brown now. Just some wilder and pastel colors. I don't know if they're going to restock, but you can certainly email them and ask. Their shipping was reasonable cost and fast, and they didn't have some huge minimum-yardage order.

[Clipper]

Nice job!

One question. When you say " popped the hat onto my #52 wood block", how much did that entail? Did you have to remove the liner and sweatband and sew them back in? Or did you just wet/steam it real good and pull it down on the block until it dried?

The reason I ask is I'm just wondering how difficult it is to re-block one or two of my hats that have developed a little taper, or even my Akubra where I'd pretty some straighter sides. Not sure if I need to go spend $100 to have Penman hats or elsewhere to a total reblock, or if I can choose a simpler approach. And a #52 block I've heard is a pretty good Indy block too. I am interested in making my own from the photos of the original HJ.

Appreciate any help. And again, nice work!
-Clipper

[Howard Weinstein]

Nice job!

One question. When you say " popped the hat onto my #52 wood block", how much did that entail? Did you have to remove the liner and sweatband and sew them back in? Or did you just wet/steam it real good and pull it down on the block until it dried?

The reason I ask is I'm just wondering how difficult it is to re-block one or two of my hats that have developed a little taper, or even my Akubra where I'd pretty some straighter sides. Not sure if I need to go spend $100 to have Penman hats or elsewhere to a total reblock, or if I can choose a simpler approach. And a #52 block I've heard is a pretty good Indy block too. I am interested in making my own from the photos of the original HJ.

Appreciate any help. And again, nice work!
-Clipper

Thanks, Clipper.

I take out the liner, which is no big deal, since in 6 years of playing with my own hats I've never seen one sewn in. Just glued in a couple of spots. With a professional re-block, the real hatters may indeed take out the sweatbands (I'm not really sure). But since I don't have the skills to do that and re-install it, I just work around the sweatband, and that hasn't caused any problems.

Then I just steam the hat over the block, press it down all around, work out any kinks of previous creases, and leave it on the block overnight. Depending on the hat and the previous crease, I may have to repeat a couple of times.

With this brand-new Adventurer, working on the open crown literally straight out of the shipping box, pretty easy to do. On a hat where I've tried to correct any taper, and I'm then putting it back into the same bash, also pretty easy.

None of my hats are old or beat-up enough to require a professional re-block. In some cases, though, I'm sure that's the way to go. I hope this helps!

[Glenville86]

Great job on the fedora. I have the same DM one but just stock and it is a nice fedora.