Lone Star Hatters has been in business for 25 years. We
started out in the felt hat renovation business and
progressed to the building of hats. Our specialty is the
ability to "custom fit" a hat to an individual's head.
We are able to do this with an old hat making apparatus
called a "conformer." We put this on our customer's head
and it punches out an outline of the person's head. This
is the first step in making a custom hat. After we have
the customer's head measurement we then decide on color,
crown height, brim width and the trim that will be used
on the hat.
Previously customers needed to
come to our shop or our booth at an equine event in
order to get their heads measured. Today, we have mail
out conformer that we send out to the customers. They
place it on their head and it makes an outline of their
head. Once we receive the conformer back we can
calibrate their head shape and size, and when it is time
to create the custom fit we can use this tracing in the
formillion just the same as if the customer came into
the shop to get their head measured.
The custom head hat stretchers work just like the
regular hat stretchers, only they are made in the
customer’s head shape rather than just plain long or
regular oval. Stretchers are great for customer’s who
don’t have easy access to hatters and or who do not wear
their hats on a regular basis. Stretchers are made out
of wood and have a turn buckle on the inside to expand
or contract back to original shape.
Most of the hats that we build are all beaver. The reason that the
beaver makes such a good hat is that it is the only fur
that interlocks in the felting process. All other furs
stack on top of one another. Therefore, beaver hats have
the capability to withstand the bumps, and knocks that
are associated with wearing a hat around livestock and
work. Beaver hats are also highly water and stain
resistant, again because of the tight interlocking of
the fur.
The first step in making a hat is
"blocking." This is the process of actually creating the
crown of the hat. This is done by putting the rough hat
body on a wooden block. Then it is steamed and ironed
until the desired shape of the crown is achieved. The
hat is then put under a "sand flange," which is a bag of
75 pounds of mason sand. The hat body with the block in
it is inserted in a flange and put under the sand flange
for 14-24 hours. Next the hat body with the block is put
on the crown iron and ironed and sanded until the
desired finish is achieved. The brim is then sanded,
trimmed to the width desired and then fitted for a
sweatband. We sew all of our sweatbands in by hand.
Next the customer's head shape is made by placing the outline made by the
conformer into the "vermillion."
The vermillion is then put into the customer's hat which is steamed and
ironed, put into a flange and then back under the sand
flange again.
The last steps are to sew the
satin liner, which is embroidered with the customer's
name, the ribbon on the sweatband, fit the self band and
three piece buckle set. We usually wait for the customer
to come in before we shape the crown and brim unless we
are shipping the hat. In that case we already have
discussed with the customer how he wants his hat to be
shaped.
Our Western Hats
The Elite: This is a 100% pure
beaver hat that finishes very thin and crisp. We created
this hat to resemble the quality and look of the hats
made in the 1950's and 1960's. We introduced this hat at
the 2004 NCHA Futurity. Hat comes with a custom
embroidered liner, choice of buckle set, and hat can.
The Pure Beaver: 100% pure beaver hat. Hat comes
with a custom embroidered liner, choice of buckle set &
hat can.
Beaver Blend: This is a 75% beaver hat, comes
with custom embroidered liner, choice of buckle set &
hat can.
The 20X: Is a fur felt hat which also comes
with the custom embroidered liner, silver three piece
buckle set & a hat box.
The 10X: Is a fur felt hat, comes with custom
embroidered liner, three piece buckle set & hat box.
Our goal at Lone Star Hatters is to provide a high quality handmade hat
with a custom fit to our customers. We strive to achieve
quality, class, comfort and style while maintaining the
art and honoring the integrity of the handmade hat
industry.
All of our hats are custom fit to the customer's head size and shape.
Available colors are: black, natural, pecan, chocolate,
sahara, buckskin, silverbelly and white. Other colors
are available by request.
Lone Star Western Store
Lone Star Hatters
Western Wear & Tack
Custom Handmade Western Hats
Western Hat Renovation
Jim & Jeanine Proctor
11206 Longshore
Big Spring, Texas