I picked up a couple of WWI officer's uniforms today and they both came with a visor cap. The caps look pretty good with the exception of the one that has the bill falling off of it. Does anyone have any advice on repairing it? It will need to be resewn and I think I can do it without any issues. Unfortunately I will not have it in hand until later next week and I can give a better firsthand report once I have it. Any advice is appreciated.

 

 

Thanks in advance,

Mike

This may sound crazy but over the years I have repaied several detached visors using a product called "Liquid Stitch" Looks like and is the same consistency as Elmers Glue. Hasn't failed me yet.

You might contact Pete Williams of Society Brand Cap Company and get his advice (he makes hats) before doing anything.

Take it to a tailor or seamstress and have it sewn on properly, should not be more than 10-15 bucks.

I have repaired many visor hat, both US and German. If you take your time and do it right you can hardly tell.

I've looked the picture over and it looks like it came unstitched. At least that's what I'm hoping instead of the stitches being pulled through the visor. I appreciate all of the advice and I will see what Mr. Williams has to say about it as well. If anyone has anything to add to this, please do.

 

Thanks again,

Mike

I took the advice of MattS a while back and contacted Pete Williams of Society Brand Hat Co. and I am honestly glad I did. Since the visor had not been torn and only the thread in the stitching itself had failed, it was able to be repaired with amazing results. I had attempted to do the repair myself and had removed the stitching for the sweatband just behind the visor. Upon doing so, I discovered the hat itself is contract dated June of 1915 and you can probably imagine what happened next. The entire sweatband basically came out as the thread and leather were not as strong as one would hope. So I carefully removed the remaining stitching and let Mr. Williams know that I would like to request his services and leave this to a professional, which I should of done to begin with. This process took some time as any quality work should and I got the hat back Saturday. Thanks to Pete's effort, another piece of history was returned to its former glory and is now proudly displayed in my war room. If anyone has a visor cap that needs to be saved, I highly recommend contacting Pete at Society Brand Hat Co. I will post a link to his website below and you can see the amazing work that was done on this very hat.

 

Thanks,

Michael

 

http://wwiiflightwear.com/custom-cap-work/

 

Here are a few of my Before and After photos.

 

How it was received

 

 

The detached visor and the chinstrap with the screwback buttons removed

 

 

The contract stamping on the sweatband

 

 

The owner's message "YOU DAM FOOL THIS AIN"T YOUR HAT"

 

 

After the repair

 

 

On display with the chinstrap and buttons replaced and an added period hat badge. The soldiers initials are written on the chinstrap.

 

Turned out great.

Very cool, nice job getting it restored.

Looks fantastic, Pete does good work!

Beautiful. Good call.

Thanks for the shout-out, mitter2k1. I had a fun time examining and repairing this cap, and I'm very happy a piece of history is preserved for future generations to enjoy.

No problem. Quality work is worth the recognition.