Howdy. What have yall done to secure a hat band on a felt hat? I took off the ribbon band that came stitched on to my hat and want to replace it with a leather band I had on an old hat. The leather band fit the old had just right and was snug enough to stay in place, but the Catalina is slightly bigger and is between buckle holes on the band. One notch is a perfect fit but not snug enough to hold it in place if my hat is upside down, and the next notch down is a bit too tight and I'm afraid it might crimp up the hat. Probably a dumb question, but any ideas?

BrazosDog02 said:

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Someone paid a premium money for a product, I expect immediate and premium support for it.

Call Catalena, ask them, have them help you with your issue. I wouldn't do jack squat to it unless I had their blessing.

Or just poke a new hole in the hat band.

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This.

Or punch a new hole in the hat band that is in between the two that don't work.

Thanks Brazos. I'd take it over to Catalena and ask them to do it, but I unfortunately live out of state now and don't make it to Bryan very often. I actually ordered the hat in 2021 and because of supply chain issues it wasn't ready until sometime in 2022 after I had moved to Virginia. I was able to go by the store and pick it up in 2023 but it's been in the box since then sadly.

I am back in Texas country for Thanksgiving and brought the hat with me, so maybe I'll take it by another shop in the San Antonio area while I'm here to see if they can stitch it on. If not I'll try punching a hole in the band to make it a bit tighter. It is a nice hat so I don't want to screw it up with a spot of hot glue like I've seen done in the past!

Give Herbs Hat shop a call.

I'm not sure Herb's has anyone in there that will do that anymore. Last time i was in there, the help had thinned down to just the one sister.

Maybe Paris hatters downtown?

I'll give them a call but after asking around I think it's unlikely I'll be able to get it done before heading south tomorrow evening.

I did call Catelena and they recommended stitching it in. They'd be happy to do it, I just can't make my way over to Bryan this trip. Might just go with the new hole approach for now. If only I hadn't left my awl back in VA…

ETA: I do have a sewing kit and may try to put a few stitches on it and just follow the seam stitching that is already there.

1990Hullaballoo said:

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I'm not sure Herb's has anyone in there that will do that anymore. Last time i was in there, the help had thinned down to just the one sister.

Maybe Paris hatters downtown?

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Will NEVER go back to Paris Hatters. Terrible experience there from the owners. The guy that did the shaping hot glued the leather hat band on and i didn't care for that all. But yeah the owners were just incredibly rude.

I bought a Stetson felt hat from Shudde Bros Hatters at The Brookwood Community in Brookshire last year.
I chose band to replace the original band it came with and Mr Shudde simply dabbed some glue on various spots around the band and I was good to go.

The Brookwood Community is a nonprofit (501(c)3) residential facility and vocational program for adults with disabilities. Good cause, good people.

1990Hullaballoo said:

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I'm not sure Herb's has anyone in there that will do that anymore. Last time i was in there, the help had thinned down to just the one sister.

Maybe Paris hatters downtown?

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Dang, really? That kinda sucks. I need an old hat reblocked and a new band in it. It's not an overly expensive hat but it is a family passed down hat. I'll swing by and see what they have to say. I do know that someone passed away and it was as you said....kinda thin on the staff. Man, if you can't get a good hat made or fixed in SA we're in bad shape, Texas.

Yes sir, Captain Richard King, Abe Blocker and Shanghai Pierce and the rest of the cattle drive owners would not like what they see if they were to take a stroll through the streets of old San Antone now.

These two rascals wouldn't cotton to it neither.

On a similar topic. I have an old felt hat that was my grandfather's. He had a considerably larger head than me. Can a felt hat be resized smaller? Not a cowboy hat, looks more like an Indiana Jones style hat.

I went ahead and stopped by today. They would not re-block, put in a hat band, or do any sewing of hat bands. I was told they had all of those services shut down because of rodeo. That doesn't quite make sense to me, but that's what they said. Services like that don't open back up until March. So you probably don't need to waste your time to stop the time for that.

I guess right now they are just focused on selling $1500 hats and shaping. Get in get out that kind of thing. I get that as well though.