Looking for a Felt Miracle Worker

[Johnnysan]

A Freudian slip, perhaps?

Given what happened to this poor thing, a bandolier of shot glasses and a bottle of Cuervo might be just the thing!

 

[K.D. Lightner]

See:

http://www.mrsdewsonhats.com/mens/cervo/cheech.jpg

That's Cheech Marin in a Cervo.

karol

 

[jamespowers]

JP: Are you sure about Cuervo? Any hats they make are likely to be Mexican style sombreros and come with a bandolier of shot glasses. I hear Cervo makes nice hats, though

Hmmm... Check the original message. I don't see any mistake.

Regards to all,

J

 

[nebber]

On Joseph’s suggestion I called Parkway dry cleaning and they actually send out hat repairs to American Hatters, a guy named Vincent Carbelli. I called him asked for his email, and was encouraged--he dubs himself in his email address “the hat doctor.� Alas, I sent him a picture and he declared it absolutely deceased... this, of course, being the prevailing opinion all around, even if my denial still isn’t allowing full acceptance of this quite yet. He offered to make a duplicate for $250.

I read the link about Cervos and I knew what I had was good, but I didn’t realize THAT good. That article does list the store I bought it from... glad to hear it’s still around. When I bought my hat-baby in Italian lire 7 years ago, it worked out to about $35. That article says they are now going for $200-$385. Holy sticker shock, batman. Stupid valuation of European currency brought about by improved economy and the unified euro, grumble mutter grumble. I can’t justify that when I still have one other perfectly good Cervo, albeit in a color I’m not too fancy on at present. Even if I tried to get a new gray one, the odds would be against me finding the same model again ... the hat doesn’t have any model number/name printed on it, and, besides, if I called the store, I’d have to contend with my Italian vocab being limited to about 9 words. When I got my baby, it was basically bought after a series of hand gestures and scribbling down of numbers.

So, Option 1 is shell the $100-$150 and see what Miss Gilda can do to it. I’m seriously considering this. I can’t burn it or throw it out, and having it around in it’s present state makes me want to cry. Even though I like the earlier suggestion to take the salvageable felt and make it something else keepsake, I couldn’t take scissors to my baby. To me, that would be like making a throw pillow out of your favorite kitten. So if she can at least get it so it resembles a whole hat again, even with stitches and all, I can know I did all I could for my precious, and if she ends up being a miracle worker and it is wearable again, happy days.

Option 2 is move on. Waaah. It would make it easier if my other Cervo was the same color. Has anyone successfully had a hat dyed with good results? I’d be trying to go from dark brown to dark gray.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Duct tape!

 

[Johnnysan]

Nebber,

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the subject of responsibility. Your sister's dog ate your hat in your house. Seems to me that sis owes you a replacement Cervo as payment and apology in full. Time to see if character runs in the family...

 

[K.D. Lightner]

OK, so I get rather empathetic with folks who have had a great loss. I woke up at 4 this morning trying to figure out what else could be done to save nebber's beloved hat.

The guys here on the lounge would know the answer to this. Can anyone ever recyle fur felt bodies? I know enough about the process to know that at some point, the fur felt is probably put in a vat of goo or water or something and then it melds together, dries and is cut is square patches to be use to make a hat.

If one knew someone who could make these fur felt bodies, could not an individual beloved hat be put into this process and be resurrected? Maybe add a little fur felt scrap to make up for the material lost?

I doubt nebber would want to to that to his hat, but would it be possible if one had the resources/money/desire? Or am I reading too much sci-fi stories?

karol

 

[IndianaGuybrush]

I think it's too late. I feel your pain my friend, but we all have situations in life where we have to deal with a great loss. What defines our character is how we deal with it. Accept it, move on, and try not to harbor any resentment against your sister or her dog. You can't be angry at a dog for being a dog, anymore than you can be angry at a peanut for being a peanut. Wear the other Cervo, not as a replacement, but as an altogether new hat. You might not ever feel the same way about it as you did your first, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

I know a great trainer in Texas!

 

[Panamabob]

I'll chip in $5.00 for a sympathy hat!

 

[Harry Marlowe]

I understand your love for your favorite hat. It's almost as bad as losing a good woman. But like any love affair gone bad, you have to move on.

Maybe you might want to check out the "felt dames" at this place:

http://www.millerhats.com/default.htm

I started a new love affair with a fine J.B. Stetson straw fedora I purchased for $100 for the summer.

You might want to call these guys and see if they will reproduce your hat. Who knows, they may do custom work.

 

[Marc]

Just a suggestion here, but I'd contact a felter like for example Winchester and ask them, if it wouldn't be possible to have some new felt "built" into the hat. They'd probably refuse it, but then again, if one would offer them enough, they might give it a try.

They could (perhaps) cover the parts of the hat that don't need new felt with a plastic bag or such and then felt some new felt into the hole. Finally the whole hat would need to be dyed again, but it would still be your hat.

I also know of a hatter who can make raw bodies out of fur "by hand" / with a felters bow like they did back then here in Europe. If you'd be interested, I could contact him and ask if it's possible or not.

Regards,

Marc

 

[Biltmore Bob]

I don't agree, that's just too many hoops to jump through. It's just a hat for crying out loud...get a new one. I have some sentamental stuff too, but it's just stuff. It ain't alive or anything, get a new one, or two. Don't go crazy trying to figure out how to fix it.

 

[Flyboy]

Replacement felt

With the large missing piece, it's clear some new felt will have to be added. Felt being made from fur, there's a clear answer to the problem:

Shave the dog.

 

[badhatter]

LOL....I was just thinking the same thing while reading this thread. Shave the dog...Love it.

I like the idea of shooting the dog but you will have to live with that the rest of your life and you still won't have the hat. Things come and go and unfortunately we get attached to things which in the end it not a good idea.
Hats can be like women, if you lose one, get another one, the first one then becomes a fond memory.