Any miliners out there ? I need to make my hat smaller !!!

DSmiffy

Hi there, anybody out there with milinery experience? I have just bought a hat to wear at a race day and as I have a bit of a pin head, it is a little too big. Does anyone know of a way I can make it smaller? any tricks of the trade that I can do myself, cheaply ?
Thanks

Queenie

What material is it made of?

Which style is it?

Js_Other_Half

You can get little 'cushions' of fabric that velcro inside hat. Most big department stores and haberdashers should have them.(I can't remember the proper name of them though...)

DSmiffy

Queenie wrote:

What material is it made of?

Which style is it?

It was from Wallis it is a small brimmed hat with a tall, slanted crown, it's plum and it states it is made of "natural fibres" but it actually looks like a kind of woven material, made to like like straw, coloured and coated with something to make it a little shiny and stiff.
Thanks,

Savvy_Sue

Js_Other_Half wrote:

You can get little 'cushions' of fabric that velcro inside hat. Most big department stores and haberdashers should have them.(I can't remember the proper name of them though...)

I got some with my bike helmet, but that's rather an expensive way to go ...

Depends how much too big it is. Some hats have a ribbon inside the crown: if you can sew or stick another one then this will reduce the circumference slightly. You need a good thick ribbon: like Petersham but not quite as stiff. If that's not enough then you could put a bit of wadding inside the ribbon.

Can you find and use a hatpin? That may also help ... but may depend on both the hat and your hairstyle.

Poppy9

You could do what my sister does with her bra's - put in those chicken fillet things :rotfl:

Else you could sew a bit of velcro into the had and tape a few pieces to your head. Better than hat pins :rotfl:

Sorry no decent answers for you. I have the opposite problem as my head is rather large and hats get stuck on top like a pimple.

Js_Other_Half

The hat pads I've seen are between £3 and £4...

Bendybops19

I think the best option is what Js_Other_Half suggested, the little cushions of fabric. It may cost a little bit, but its better and cheaper than a new hat isnt it? Or maybe you could buy some thick sturdy fabric and sew a new inside rim on, maybe fold the material a few times to make it thicker.
£3 or £4 for the pads isnt too bad is it? Or is that each?! Make your own! Thats always an option!

Allexie

Do you have any draught excluder handy...the sort that comes in a long strip on a roll??? Stick a few bits between the crown ribbon and the hat, (or even all the way round if it's very big)