hat help please

[Red Handed Jill]

Ahoy mates! I am planning to make myself a cavalier hat from a sized hat blank...I have never done this before and I was wondering if any of ye have a few pointers fer a first timer? I am ordering the blank from Jas Townsend....just not sure about the finishing and such.....

Thank you for your help!

[Patrick Hand]

I used the Jas. Townsen hat blank for my hat....

I filled the brim with boiling water.... let it soak through, them stretched it over a coffee can to change the shape of the top... (you are soppose to use steam to stretch it..... but I've always had good luck with boiling water....)

I then sewed 1" black ribbon aroung the edges, and made a cotton linning for the hat......

[JoeJacks]

I have always used steam to shape hats. May have to try the boiling water technique.

With steam be patient and shape slowly. You may not get it into shape immediately but work it a little at a time.

[Red Handed Jill]

Thanks for the hints...i know about the steam bit but never thought about boiling water.....Was the ribbon sewn by hand or machine? Hadn't thought about lining, but that's a good idea. The hat is on order and should get here by the weekend...I'll let ya know how it comes out!

[Patrick Hand]

I hand sew the ribbon to the edge of the hat..... using a running stitch.... that way, I can get the ribbon to fit exactly right.... I'm going to change the ribbon from black to yellow. (Foxe had a link to Marines, and well..... going to change the hat band.... 8) )

For the linning, I used some unbleached musslin, made a tube the same circumfrance as the inside of the hat....and about 6" tall. the top edge has a small casing for a cord, and the lower edge is turned under and handsewn to the hat.

[the Royaliste]

A new hat Patrick??..Now you'll hafta make a new green coat!

[JoshuaRed]

Anyone tack their hat up with black thread instead of steaming? How about tacking it with thread, then steam, and when dry, remove the thread? I'm going to simulate tar on the upper surface of my blank, so I'm thinking steam won't be strong enough to hold it up, hence the black thread.

[Diego Santana de la Vega]

Well jill I be of certain thrill 'pon yer choice of as to where's ye found this J. Townshend. grammercy I use water and leaning: i get it wet (soaked) pull the side up ye want to rise and push it up agin a hard object and use a goodly amount of weight to keep it from sliding away from the surface forcing the side to continue up against! mmake sure water won't ruin the surfaces involved in this endeavor ok?

[Red Handed Jill]

Anyone tack their hat up with black thread instead of steaming?

I had to do that for my tricorn....the shape wouldn't hold! Pinned one side and stitched the other two. (not very happy with it, which is why I decided to endevour to construct a cavalier)

i get it wet (soaked) pull the side up ye want to rise and push it up agin a hard object and use a goodly amount of weight to keep it from sliding away from the surface forcing the side to continue up against! mmake sure water won't ruin the surfaces involved in this endeavor ok?

soaked? are you sure? I think I might try that.....My (dearly departed) father built a wet sink in the basement for his darkroom... I have been using it for my dyeing and tinting...should work great!

[Patrick Hand]

You gotta tack or pin the brim up..... steaming.... boiling... or soaking just gives the hat some shape..........

[Katherine "Kat" Adams]

Jill

I design and make hats for sale... you almost have to tack the brim up ... steaming and boiling water techniques are great... but first rain and they are down again... my tacked hats have been in many a rain storm and hold up, however the one that was blocked with steam fell quickly once it got wet. I do use steam or boiling water to shape the hats but tack them to keep the shape.

best of luck with your hat ... and if ya decide to try another let me know.. I may be able to hook you up with one for a better price than Townsend. The company I deal with is pretty good about single orders and last time I purchased was a bit less expensive than Townsend. The hats are also very good quality.

yours aye

Kat

[JoeJacks]

As an alternative to tacking the sides up with thread or hiding the tacking you could use ribbon of the same material at you use to trim the hat. I have seen many tricorns tacked in this fashion with either an X or two sinlge stitches.

[Morgan Swift]

I may be able to hook you up with one for a better price than Townsend. The company I deal with is pretty good about single orders and last time I purchased was a bit less expensive than Townsend. The hats are also very good quality.

*Back after the exploading cpu incident...*

I have been interested for some time in making a hat, so read this with a great deal of interest. I was going to order from J.Townsend myself, but upon reading your post, I figured...nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Is it possible for you to hook me up with your supplier? :)

I have been interested in doing this for some time, but balked at the idea of buying something that would need work, for fear of ruining it. If it cost less I would be less concerned.

If you have a site with your work on it, I would be interested in that too!

Thanks!

Morgan Swift

[Red Handed Jill]

Kat, I may be interested in yer supplier too...jas townsend, although swift on delivery, sent me the wrong size blank...by three inches! I'm hoping to have the replacement very soon as i have a publicity shoot next weekend and REALLY wanted to be wearing my new cavalier!

How do ye trim the edge...do ye use bias tape or grosgrain? I am thinking I want it all black fer now...may add some metalic lace or sumptin later.....

:: pouts in the corner holdin a fist full o' ostrich plumes...thinkin she'll just pin em to her head::

[Patrick Hand]

Katherine "Kat" Adams

Can you get hat blanks with a wider brim than Jas. Townsen... I did a search , and only found one source.... but they have never returned my e-mails.... so I gave up on them.....

On the Jas. Townsend blank I bought, I used boiling water to stretch and reshape the crown (used a coffee can ....) but I still want a bigger hat.... "A realy big hat".......

I've checked out some of the "Felt" pages..... but not sure it I want to make the whole thing.......... (I have made tarpline hats (canvas painted.... but I still want one outta felt...)

[Iron Jack]

Red Handed Jill - Methinks you be a different RHJ than the one that currently be ME cabin mate "Red-Handed Jill", heh (or maybe you be moon-lighting? ). Anyhoo, hope your photoshoot went well!

In the past, I have successfully stretched a small Jas. Townsend hat-blank to me own big-headed size by just squirting 'er down with some warm water and shovin' er on me head for a while. I did this for Richard Brown's "Blackbeard" hat used for the last Buccaneers Ball (Richard has a pretty big noggin too). Worked out fine and I was a bit sorry to part with the hat because it fit ME so well after the soaking.

Hey Patrick (or whomever might know) - Quick hat related question along the same lines: Have you any info. on the waterproofing technique originally used on tarpaulins or felt sailors' hats? I have a felt tricorn that I got from Jeff MacKay that has an oil and wax (?) finish that is waterproof as 'eck and looks quite a lot like the sailor hats that I've seem in museums. It's also very stiff. No tacking required (and it's been rained on!)

Haven't hit MacKay up fer the recipe yet (his website claims it is a secret), but I have a felt topper that I'd like to experiment with turning into a right nice sailors' topper by adding the wax 'n oil finish. Any ideas? Anyone know? What was used before Scotchguard? How were oilskins originally made?

I've done some web searches, but haven't turned up anything promising other than the DrizaBone treatment, which I will probably give a shot next.

[Patrick Hand]

Have you any info. on the waterproofing technique originally used on tarpaulins or felt sailors' hats?

There was a discussion in Capt. Twill about waterproofing......

I just use oil based paint... but that is on canvas hats, someone mentioned somewhere (great help I be sometimes) that they did the same with a felt hat.... but it makes the hat very stiff....

In "Ships and Seamen of the American Revolution" it says...

" A favorite among seamen was the tarplaulin hat made of canvas and waterproofed with paint or tar."

I had paint.... I have NO idea how tar would work.... maybe Capt. Gary would know....

[JoshuaRed]

I recently saw a chap with a nice "tarred" hat. It was a felt blank that he painted with black oil based paint. Looked great! I've got some asphalt coating I'll be experimenting with, along with some rustoleum.

[Iron Jack]

Thankee mates!

Found the thread in Cap'n Twill and it was very helpful. Don't know which method I will use yet , but I would suspect that a base coat of rigging tar finished off with linseed oil to cut down on stickyness would probably be what was readily available to the average sailor, but I'll let ye know how me "sailin' topper" comes along.

By the by, Joshua, I've used the asphalt coating stuff before on my theatrical cannon barrels and it looks good but stays sticky for a loooooong time. Kept getting complaints from me mates of it coming off on their hands while they pushed the cannons in parades and whatnot (pirates be such wimps sometimes). Finally had to give them (the cannons, not me mates) a coat of good ole flat black latex over the asphalt stuff and that seems to have solved the problem.

[Patrick Hand]

I posted a picture of my Pyrate hats.....

https://pyracy.com/gallery/details.php?...631&mode=search

#1. Is a Jas Townson hat blank, that I reblocked (1).

#2. Is a Tarplin (2) hat with plumes

#3. Is a cut down and re-blocked Buccaneer hat.

#4. Another Tarplin hat

#5. Another re-blocked felt hat.

(1) When I re-block a hat, I fill the top of the hat with boiling water, when it soaks through, I then stretch the hat over a coffee can to get teh new shape.

(2) Tarplin hats are made out of canvas, and then painted with semi-gloss oil based paint. they turn out kinda stiff, but don't blow off yer head....

[William Brand]

I would also love to find a huge hat blank or two.

Where can we view your hats?

[Rumba Rue]

I bought a hat blank (at S. Faire) recently (actually found one small enough for my head), and fiddling around with it, it will have to be tacked up to the position I want it.

I don't know about others hat blanks, but there's a kind of wavy edging around the brim that I want to cut to be more appropriate. Other than a pair of sharp scissors and careful cutting I can think of no other way to make the brim more round looking.

I haven't decided yet how I want to decorate it yet, as I haven't had time.

[Patrick Hand]

Other than a pair of sharp scissors and careful cutting

On some (most) hat blanks, you gotta cut the edge off (it's where they nailed it down to form the brim.......) you can then (hand sew) ribbon over the edge to finish if off realy nicely.........

I'm still looking for a very heavy felt blank that has a "huge" brim........I've seen some at Rendezvous that were "almost" fight, but so far no luck.......

[Gentleman of Fortune]

Patrick...

Its hard to find one with a large brim... it seems that there are just a few makers of hat blanks and they all seem to be a similar size. You can stretch and steam it a bit but if you have a great big dome, you can only go so far.

You might want to google "felt Hoods", this is what a hat blank is before its a hat blank.

Or,

You could get some wool roving or butts and hand felt it yourself, then you would have as big of a brim as you want (google wool felting roving) and you should get some good links.

GoF

[Patrick Hand]

I went to some "felt" pages and read how felt is made..... but it would be so much easier to find just the blank...... may have to go the "make it yourself bit" if I want a larger brim tho..........