04/25/2026
I’m back!!!! I’m getting into hat repair, restoration, and customization again, and bringing back . I kicked it off with my friends Justin and Sarah from and their vintage Stetson Gun Club hat.
The hat was in rough shape. It had lost its form, shrunk down, the lining was packed with years of buildup, and the sweatband had basically turned to dust. I sanded everything down to smooth it out, then deep cleaned the felt and thoroughly cleaned the lining until the water finally ran clear. It smelled like ancient cigar smoke at first, and that took a few rounds to get out.
After that I stretched it and reblocked it to get it back to the right shape and size. There was a hole in the front, so I patched it with vintage denim and hand stitched sashiko. The felt at the top of the crown was also wearing thin from being grabbed in the same spot for years, so I reinforced it from the inside to keep it from breaking down any further.
I reshaped the crown to bring it back without overdoing it, and gave the brim a natural curve. I didn’t want it looking like one of those flat, overly clean modern hats. The goal was to keep the original character, style and patina, just cleaned up and made solid again.
Everything on this was done by hand. I sewed in a new leather sweatband using a softer, better quality leather that’s more comfortable and won’t dry out the same way. I hand stitched the lining back in with a traditional cowboy hat basting stitch, closed up the split seam in the back of the sweatband with a vintage brown bow, and finished it with a vintage Stetson pin I’ve been holding onto.
DM me if you need any hat work done. I can handle anything from repair to full refurbishing, or even making a hat completely from scratch. I’ll also have some hats available for purchase soon. Stay tuned!
