Have a hat that’s a little bit big? Touching your ears uncomfortably or irritatingly wiggly? For any hat with a sweatband (a cloth, ribbon, or leather strip on the inside of the hat) a spacer, sometimes called a hat reducer tape or hat reducer strip, will give you that perfect fit.
We use two types of spacers here at Brim: felt and cork. Both types are easy to install by fit under the sweatband. There’s no need for tape or glue because the space between the sweatband and the hat is a kind of pocket (an interesting aside here – I once had a customer leave a hat with me to put a new ribbon on the outside of the hat. When I set to sewing, I discovered that he’d left a couple of twenties in the sweatband. Thus, I learned that the pocket between the sweatband and the hat makes for a good place to stash cash). We include a the appropriate type with every order of a brimmed hat, unless the hat has a built-in size adjuster, but if you need more you can purchase them here.
The felt spacers are a long strip of polyfelt that fits all the way around the hat and works best on hats with a cloth or ribbon sweatband. The cork type is a curved piece of cork that’s about eight inches long and works best on hats with a leather or faux leather sweatband. With both types of spacers, one piece typically reduces the hat by 1/8 (one fitted hat size) or half of an SML size.
On to installing.
HOW TO USE FELT SPACERS
Flip up the sweatband on the inside of the hat, put the spacer against the inside of the hat at the edge of the sweatband. Once it’s in place, flip the sweatband back in place. The strip should be between the sweatband and the hat. Gravity and friction will hold it in place.
Still too big? Add the second spacer over the first one. It’s often easier to take them both out, stack them on top of each other and reinstall.
Too tight? Cut some length off of the strip and reinsert. Still too tight? Cut more off until you find just the right amount.
Gapping at the sides? Cut the strip in half, then fold each half in half. Flip up the sweatband and place one folded spacer on each side of the hat. Once they’re in place, flip the sweatband back in place. Layer or trim as necessary.
Gapping at the front and back? Same idea as the gapping at the sides solution. Cut the strip in half, then fold each half in half. Flip up the sweatband and one folded spacer at the back and one at the front. Once they’re in place, flip the sweatband back in place. Layer or trim as necessary.
HOW TO USE CORK SPACERS
Flip up the sweatband on the inside of the hat, put the spacer against the inside of the hat where the hat and the sweatband meet. Once it’s in place, flip the sweatband back into place. The strip should be between the sweatband and the hat. Gravity and friction will hold it in place.
Still too big? Add the second spacer over the first one. It’s often easier to take them both out, stack them on top of each other and reinstall.
Too tight now? Cut some length off of the spacer and reinsert. Still too tight? Cut more off until you find just the right amount.
Gapping at the sides? Put a spacer on each side of the hat. Once they’re in place, flip the sweatband back in place. Layer or trim as necessary.
Gapping at the front and back? Put a spacer at the back of the hat and one at the front. Once they’re in place, flip the sweatband back in place. Layer or trim as necessary.
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