Using the fine size 7 block I got from Fedora, I managed to reblock my Royal Stetson Vitafelt. Not only does the hat have absolutely no taper now, but it's also a size 7 (it was 6-3/4).
You can see before and after photos here:
http://public.fotki.com/havershaw/reblocked_hats/
I promise, it's the same hat.
Somehow I lost some crown height, although I kept the brim exactly the same (I kept where the brim starts in the same spot). The crown was not really all athat tall to begin with. I'll probably put a narrower black ribbon on there.
But the hat is beautiful. The only thing that was sort of crappy was that the sweatband I had was, of course, 6-3/4, so I had to leave a gap at the back of it, as it was now too small for me. Fits great, though!
If you scroll through there, you can also see photos of my precious '54 Cavanagh which I put on the block this morning. It was tapered worse than the VitaFelt, and wouldn't hold a bash (the felt is a super thin and floppy summerweight). Hopefully, it'll be much improved when it gets off the block. As you might recall, the Cavanagh had a hole in the crown where the front pinch had been. Originally, I was only going to put it on the block just up to the hole, so that the hole wouldn't get stretched. But while I was doing it, I noticed I accidentally got it past there, with no ill effects, so I just put the hat all the way on the block. I think the bottom of the hat may have been heavily stretched at one point, as the bottom of the crown still doesn't really stick to the block. hope it shrinks to there a little better. Maybe if I put the new ribbon on really tight, it'll help to keep that in shape.
Man, I love reblocking hats.
You can see before and after photos here:
http://public.fotki.com/havershaw/reblocked_hats/
I promise, it's the same hat.
Somehow I lost some crown height, although I kept the brim exactly the same (I kept where the brim starts in the same spot). The crown was not really all athat tall to begin with. I'll probably put a narrower black ribbon on there.
But the hat is beautiful. The only thing that was sort of crappy was that the sweatband I had was, of course, 6-3/4, so I had to leave a gap at the back of it, as it was now too small for me. Fits great, though!
If you scroll through there, you can also see photos of my precious '54 Cavanagh which I put on the block this morning. It was tapered worse than the VitaFelt, and wouldn't hold a bash (the felt is a super thin and floppy summerweight). Hopefully, it'll be much improved when it gets off the block. As you might recall, the Cavanagh had a hole in the crown where the front pinch had been. Originally, I was only going to put it on the block just up to the hole, so that the hole wouldn't get stretched. But while I was doing it, I noticed I accidentally got it past there, with no ill effects, so I just put the hat all the way on the block. I think the bottom of the hat may have been heavily stretched at one point, as the bottom of the crown still doesn't really stick to the block. hope it shrinks to there a little better. Maybe if I put the new ribbon on really tight, it'll help to keep that in shape.
Man, I love reblocking hats.
