How to Bring New Life to an Old Baseball Cap

After Many years of use it gave out. Here i took it apart and show you the tools i will be using.

- sharp knife i used a head knife.

-straight edge

-square

-wing divider

-pricking irons for makring stitch holes since we will be sewing this by hand

Cut out and 18mmx40mm piece of leather. This will be for the buckle piece.

In the second photo I skive the edges where I will sew later on so its not so thick. The leather I chose is on the thicker side at 7oz

Next we take some gum trag or water and saddle soap and apply to to edges with friction from canvas to get a nice slick look and feel.

This is an optional step and is purely aesthetic

Cut a 18mm wide x 130mm long piece of leather for the strap. Stick it into the hat where the old plastic peice was and mark how deep it needs to go with a scratch awl.

Glue the buckle piece closed with the buckle in place. If you use a contact cement use protection VOC mask.

Next find the correct punch diameter for your buckles prong. Then I used the old plastic pieces existing holes to give me an even spacing. Mark with scratch awl.

OPTIONAL STEP - Crease

Next get your Pricking irons/Stitching Chisels/Fork (Ha!) and mark right under neath the buckle so that it stays in place.

Next we get our thread and wax it with bees wax. I'm using Linen thread and sewing at nine stitches per inch. Then iI i clamp it into my stitching pony and saddle stitch. For help with saddle stitching I recommend purchasing a copy of The Art of Hand Sewing Leather

I decided to line the strap piece to give the backside a finished look as opposed the the rough back of the leather.

Apply glue to both pieces of leather, wait a few minutes for glue to dry then tack together. Make sure you glue the strap to a larger piece of leather then trim the excess off. It is much easier than trying to match to equal pieces of leather perfectly

After the glue is set take your wing dividers and open them to 3.5mm. Then drag them along the edge to mark a ling for you stitching. Then grab your pricking irons and punch holes through the line you marked with your wing divider.

Grab your thread and wax again if using linen thread. Then Saddle stitch.

Put them in the Hat where the old plastic pieces were and just sew right through!

Looks better than original!