How to Replace a Leather Sweatband in a Hat: Step by Step

A cracked, salt-stained or torn sweatband is the most common reason a good hat stops being worn. The felt is fine, the shape is fine, but the band inside feels rough on the forehead. Replacing it is a bench job that takes an afternoon and a few simple tools. Here is how we do it.

What you need

A new leather sweatband, regular or full grain; every band we sell is reeded, with a synthetic wire sewn into the edge. A seam ripper or small sharp blade. A tape measure. A strong needle and waxed or polyester thread in a colour close to the leather. Pins or small clips. A sweatband ferrule to join the two ends of the wire. A small hat bow to hide the join, optional but neat.

Step 1: Take the old band out

Turn the hat over and find the stitches holding the band to the crown. Cut them one by one with the seam ripper, working from the back of the hat forward, and lift the band away. Do not pull; old thread can tear felt. Keep the old band beside you, it is the pattern for the new one.

Step 2: Measure the crown

Run the tape around the inside of the crown at the base, exactly where the band sat. Write the figure down. If the hat has a size label check it against the measurement; hats shrink and labels lie. Our hat size chart converts inches or centimetres to the US hat size if you need it for ordering.

Step 3: Cut the band to length

Lay the new sweatband flat and mark the crown measurement plus a seam allowance of about half an inch at each end. Cut square across with a sharp blade. On a reeded band, leave the wire a little longer than the leather at each end so the two ends can meet inside the ferrule. If you would rather skip this step, order a sweatband sewn to size and it arrives already joined at the right length.

Step 4: Join the ends

Bring the two ends together, leather sides facing, and stitch across with a short, tight seam. Open the seam flat and press it with a thumbnail. On a reeded band, push both ends of the reed into one sweatband ferrule so the wire is joined and cannot poke through. The join goes at the centre back of the hat.

Step 5: Position and pin

Slip the band into the crown with the reeded, finished edge toward the brim and the raw top edge toward the tip. The band is sewn in "upside down", then folded back on itself, so the stitching ends up hidden under the fold. Pin or clip the band at the back, front and both sides first, then fill in between, keeping the edge an even distance from the brim all the way round.

Step 6: Stitch it in

Sew through the leather and the felt with a small running or whip stitch, following the line of the old stitch holes if you can see them. Keep the tension even so the crown does not pucker. Work all the way round, tie off at the back and trim the thread.

Step 7: Fold, bow and finish

Fold the band down into the crown so the smooth face is against the head and the stitch line disappears inside the fold. Steam lightly if the leather resists. Sew the hat bow over the join at the back. Add or replace the satin hat liner if the crown lining is worn, and the hat is ready to wear.

Common problems

Band too short: measure twice and remember the seam allowance. Puckering: stitches too tight or too far apart. Band curling away from the felt: it was sewn in the right way up instead of upside down and folded. Rough join: the reed ends were not joined in a ferrule.

Supplies

Reeded leather sweatbands, regular and full grain, in stock and XXXL lengths, sewn-to-size on request, plus ferrules, bows and woven size labels are all in the sweatband section of the shop, by the piece or in bulk for hat makers and repair shops.. We have been fitting replacement bands into other people's hats for five years on Etsy, and the 2,500-plus reviews there, 4.9 stars on average, tell the story better than we can. Western hats have their own quirks here, so if that is what you are working on, start with our guide to cowboy hat sweatband replacement. If the band you are taking out is cloth rather than leather, read our comparison of a leather sweatband vs a fabric sweatband first.

Cowboy hat sweatband replacement

A cowboy hat lives a harder life than any dress hat: sun, sweat, dust and a hundred days a year on a head. The sweatband takes most of it, so a cracked, salt stained or stretched band is the usual reason a good western hat ends up on a shelf. The felt is fine; the band is not. The bench method above is the same, but a few things are worth knowing before you order.

Our stock band is about 25 inches (63.5 cm) long, 1.75 inches (4.2 cm) wide and 1.2 mm thick, which covers hat sizes from 6 7/8 up to about 7 5/8 once the ends are cut and joined. Bigger heads take the XXXL band at 26.4 to 26.77 inches (67 to 68 cm), which covers size 7 3/4 and 8. Every band is reeded, so a synthetic wire sewn into the edge keeps it firm, lets it bell outward so the hat sits comfortably, and keeps the stitching off the forehead.

For colour on a western felt, black is the standard choice for hat makers and restorers because it pairs with every felt and every liner. Chestnut suits brown, camel and olive felts and blends in behind almost any liner. Red is the classic inside a black or grey hat, and it is the softest leather we carry.

If you would rather not cut and join, order the band sewn to size: tell us the hat size, it arrives closed to that size with the seam at the back, and it drops straight into the crown. Repair counters use them because they save about twenty minutes at the bench.

Repair or replace?

Before you cut anything out, decide whether the band can be saved. Cracks and tears are not the same problem. A small tear at the stitch line on an otherwise supple band can be resewn: lift the ribbon if it covers the bandline, put a few locking stitches through the existing holes either side of the tear, and tack the ribbon back down. Cotton thread run through beeswax holds best. A seam that has opened at the back is fixed the same way, and a loose reed end can be pushed back into its ferrule. If the leather is still soft and the tear is short, that is an evening of work and the hat is back in service.

A band that has cracked along the fold is different. It has lost the fibre structure that made it leather, and stitching across a crack only moves the break an inch along. The same goes for a band gone hard and salt stained through, one that has stretched so the hat drops over the ears, or one that has rotted at the back seam. The leather is finished, and a new band costs less than an hour of anyone's time. Replace it.

Why sweatbands crack in the first place

Leather in a hat lives in the worst conditions in the wardrobe: soaked with sweat during the day, dried hard against a warm forehead, then folded and unfolded every time the hat goes on. Salt draws the moisture out of the leather and stiffens it, and a stiff band cracks along the fold line where it turns up into the crown. Tears usually start at the stitch holes, where the needle already weakened the leather, or at the back seam. A band sewn into a hat slightly too small for it puckers, and a puckered band cracks sooner.

Bench detail: the parts people get wrong

Measure the head, not the label. Felt shrinks and labels lie. Run the tape around the head where the hat sits, and cut the band so it is a touch loose, about an eighth of an inch, because a leather sweat tightens as it breaks in. Measure along the bottom edge of the leather, not along the reed. If the hat has lost its band, run the tape around the inside of the crown where the old one sat, just above the brim, and use that figure.

Cut the ends at the crown angle. Most crowns taper a little, so a band cut square at both ends will fight the felt. Cut one end at a slight angle matching the taper, keep the offcut as a template, and cut the other end to match. Before cutting, pull the reed back from the end so the scissors go through leather and tape only, never the wire; trim the reed last, leaving it about half an inch longer than the tape so the ends can meet.

Joining the ends properly. Squeeze the middle of the ferrule very slightly with pliers, just enough that the reed cannot slide straight through. Push the ferrule onto one end of the reed and seat it half way into the tape. Tie doubled, waxed thread to the tape just above the reed, bring the two ends of the band together, push the free end of the reed into the ferrule, and stitch back and forth through the tape a few times, pulling tight so the ends draw together with no gap. One ferrule joins the two ends of the wire. Then stitch the leather itself edge to edge with a leather needle; a scrap of wood under the seam and a small nail to start the holes makes this easy.

Check the fit before you sew a single stitch. Slip the joined band into the crown with the reeded edge toward the brim. It should sit in with a little friction and no puckering. If it is too tight, do not force it: a band sewn into a hat that is too small will pucker for the life of the hat. Stretch the felt at the base with a hat stretcher, or reblock it, until the band drops in. If the crown is a shade too big, the felt can be shrunk a touch with a light mist of water and a hair dryer on low.

Stitch through the tape, not the leather. Take the needle through the felt at an angle so every stitch on the outside of the crown comes out above the line where the ribbon sits; a stitch that falls below the ribbon line will show on the finished hat. If the hat still has its ribbon, cut the few binding stitches at the bandline, lift it out of the way, and tack it back down when you are done.

Take up the slack before you tie off. Go round the crown with a blunt tool such as a letter opener and pull each stitch outward, inside and out. Even a carefully sewn band has an inch or two of slack in it, and this step is what makes the band lie flat.

Making the new band last

Wipe the band with a barely damp cloth after a sweaty day and let the hat dry crown up, away from heat. Never leave a wet hat in a hot car. A leather band moulds to the head in the first week or two, so cut it a touch loose rather than tight and it will stay supple for years instead of cracking in one summer.

If you are learning the stitch, practise on our leather sweatband seconds: real reeded bands with small marks, sold below cost. Better to make your first join on one of those than on the band you meant to keep.