If you want to start wearing a cowboy hat for aesthetic or practical reasons, you will need to shape it.Depending on the material your hat is made from, the method for shaping depends.A wire in the brim of a straw hat can be bent and shaped, but other types of hats need more work.Palm leaf cowboy hats can be soaked and shaped if they are steamed.
Step 1: You should decide on the shape of the brim.
Many felt cowboy hats are made with flat brims so you can make your own.To complement the shape of your face, you can shape your hat based on Aesthetics alone.The higher you bend the edges of your hat, the narrower your face is.The edges should not be folded up far if you have a rounder face.
Step 2: You can shape your head according to the event.
The shape of your hat will be influenced by the event you plan to participate in.There is a requirement for riders in showmanship and horsemanship to have a head that Curls up on both sides.Competitors often have a flatter brim and are less strict about their hat shape.
Step 3: There is a shaping wire in the brim.
It's inexpensive, light-weight wool felt if your felt hat has a wire sewn in the edge of the brim.It's not intended to shape over steam.The wire will help hold the shape.There is a strange appearance to steamed wool felt.
Step 4: The water should steam.
You can use a large pot or a kettle.While you wait for the water to boil, get a pair of gloves or kitchen tongs.During the shaping process, the brim of your hat will get hot, and you don't want to burn your hands.When working around boiling water, make sure to put safety first.
Step 5: Carefully hold the brim of the hat over steam.
Pick a section of the felt and hold it over the steam from the boiling water until it feels better.The section of the brim is ready to be shaped.Keep the felt soft by working with one section at a time.The crown-side of the brim should be facing the steam.The leather sweatband will be permanently damaged if you steam the hat brim from the underside.Excess heat and humidity will cause it to shrink.You would need to pay a professional to remove and replace the sweatband if you damage the interior of the hat.
Step 6: The portion of the brim that is steamed should be shape.
To bend the steamed portion of the brim, use your fingers.If you want a gentle roll, hold the brim with your fingers on the upper side and your thumb at the bottom.Press the steamed brim against your stomach, crown out, and use both hands to bend the brim outward.When shaping a light colored felt cowboy hat, wear latex or vinyl gloves.
Step 7: The shaped portion of the brim should be cool.
Let the steamed portion of the hat cool and set in position after you have molded it.If you move on to the next part of the hat too soon, you may distort the part you have already shaped.
Step 8: You can shape the next section of the brim.
Once again, steam a portion of the brim, shape it and hold it in place until the felt cools and sets.The next section of the brim should be set first.
Step 9: The hat needs to be on your head.
Press the cowboy hat into its place on your head after you've finished shaping it.This will help the hat mold to the shape of your head and make it fit better.
Step 10: If you want to stiffen the hat, spray it with a hat stiffening spray.
You can mist the molded brim of the hat with a spray.If you have dramatically shaped the sides of the brim, this product will be useful.Western supply stores and online have felt hat stiffening spray.
Step 11: You should feel for the wire.
The wire that is inserted at the edge of the brim is a thin, malleable wire.A shaping wire is used to make cowboy hat brims.The wire can be woven into the straw or covered with a decorative edging.The methods used for other materials will damage the straw, so you won't be able to shape a pre-shaped straw hat without a wire.
Step 12: The brim should be shaped as you want it to be.
If you want the wire to hold the shape you'd like it to, you have to bend it in the hat's brim.Don't be afraid to experiment with different looks, the shaping wire is made to be reshaped more than once.
Step 13: Don't re-shape the crown.
The cowboy hat crowns are pre-shaped.If you want to exaggerate a crease, you don't need to shape the crown.Attempts to alter the crown's shape will damage the hat.Re-blocking a damaged crown should be done by a hat maker.
Step 14: Put water in a large container.
If you fill the container with hot water, it will likely burn your hands, while cold water will make the brim of your palm leaf hat harder to mold.The container should be big enough to hold your entire hat.If you have a large basin in your kitchen, try using your bathtub.
Step 15: The brim needs to be immersed in the water for 30 to 60 seconds.
The immersed section of the hat needs to be softened.You can immerse the whole cowboy hat if your basin is large.You can shape large sections of the brim without pausing.
Step 16: Put on a cowboy hat.
Pull out the basin and shape the brim after the hat has soaked.If you want the brim to be bent in a certain shape, fold it slowly.If you want to change the shape of the hat's crown, you can soak it and shape it as well.If you've had a palm leaf hat for a long time and it's starting to lose its shape, you can use these steps to make a new hat.
Step 17: The shape can be set by drying the hat.
If you don't have time to hold the hat as it dries, put it on a hat stand or wig head and let it dry.After you wear your palm leaf cowboy hat in the rain, you need to repeat the reshaping and drying process.