Can a fel fedora be uniformly shrunk?

[PHArchivist]

I've discussed the leather head-band shrinking method with a couple of you...

But if you lightly misted the entire hat, or allowed it to sit in a steam-filled room, then used a hair dryer (or other form of heat) to dry, can the hat as a whole be shrunk just a bit overall? In a uniform manner?

 

[Darth Mule]

It can't. The hat would shrink a little with lots of steam, but not uniformly. The felt has been pushed and forced into a certain shape and all the different areas of the hat have not necessarily had the same amount of force applied to them, therefore would react differently to an attempted shrinkage. If it's too big, you can pad the inside by putting weatherstripping underneath the sweatband. We do this often in theatre.

 

[jts1031]

Actual beaver or rabbit pelt halts can be shrunk by getting them wet and then placing them on a lampshade. Yes, the light turned on. But it's not a science and no guarantee you'll end up with uniform shrinkage. Felt and wool are not even close to as dense as actual pelt hats, so you'll end up with something that looks more like a beret, very lop-sided...