Getting a cap to fit

[cavasta]

Hi all

My first post here. I've recently purchased a very stylish Donegal tweed bakerboy cap, size small, from an online retailer. I must have a small head because the cap is a wee bit too large (I can fit my finger comfortably between my head and the inner headband). I can nip about 1cm in round the back and it looks and fits fine - just what I want. My question is:

What's the best way to get this cap to fit? I've been advised to use tap water on the inner headband to shrink it, while someone else has told me the best way is to get it professionally altered by a milliner. Which is the best option and are there any other methods that are worth considering?

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

I would have a Miliner take it in as needed. Shrinking only work's with fur felt hats.

 

[Sam Craig]

Cavasta,
Welcome to the Lounge!

If it is tweed, shrinking is not a good idea. If it worked at all, it would probably not work in a way you'd like, and chances are it just wouldn't work.

A tweed cap should have a seam in the rear that any good seamstress should be able to take up, depending on how much you need taken in.

Or you could just grow your hair out!

Sam

 

[cavasta]

Thanks for the replies. The advice to shrink the cap, using tap water on the headband and allowing it to dry naturally, was provided by the manufacturers themselves!

Sam, you're right: there is a seam at the back. Fortunately for me there's a milliner in my town who provides an alteration service. I'll pay them a visit at the weekend.

 

[Corky]

You might also want to consider scheduling your haircuts less frequently.

 

[Sam Craig]

You know your home climate better than I do ... In Kansas if it rains enough to get the wheat to sprout we're thrilled.

However, I have a Harris Tweed cap and an Irish tweed cap ... all wool, both of them ... and I've worn them in the rain time and again. They have taken on a great softness, the wet does have some affect on them. I think it improves them. But it never altered the way they fit.

Good luck with the milliner this weekend.

Oh, and Happy St. Patty's Day. You're a lot closer to the source than we are. Enjoy a Guinness for those of us stuck on this side of the Pond!

Sam

 

[cavasta]

You know your home climate better than I do ... In Kansas if it rains enough to get the wheat to sprout we're thrilled.

However, I have a Harris Tweed cap and an Irish tweed cap ... all wool, both of them ... and I've worn them in the rain time and again. They have taken on a great softness, the wet does have some affect on them. I think it improves them. But it never altered the way they fit.

Good luck with the milliner this weekend.

Oh, and Happy St. Patty's Day. You're a lot closer to the source than we are. Enjoy a Guinness for those of us stuck on this side of the Pond!

Sam

Top o' the world to ya Sam!

It can (and does!) get pretty wet here in the UK. I'd wondered how the cap would perform if I got caught wearing it in a downpour. My conclusion: it (and I) would get wet!!! I guess you don't make a cap that's unsuitable for wearing outside, on the off chance that it might rain, otherwise no one would buy it. My Donegal tweed bakerboy may not be 100% waterproof but surely occasional exposure to the rain won't make it unwearable. Or will it? From that point of view, perhaps wetting the headband isn't such a bad idea after all...

 

[Feraud]

I've been advised to use tap water on the inner headband to shrink it, while someone else has told me the best way is to get it professionally altered by a milliner.

If the sweatband is made of a cloth-like material, wetting it will have little effect. Have a professional take it in.

To keep a rain soaked cap from shrinking let it dry naturally. Do not put it on a radiator! Wool can take a soaking but the heat will make it shrink.