Tag Archives: mens

1930s cap construction

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This cap dates from sometime in the late 1930s through mid 1940s. It is an inexpensive workwear one, with cheap imitation leather sweatband, cracked all to hell from years of sitting in the back room of a shop.

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Because of the condition and small size, I have taken it apart to make a pattern from it. By sometime in the summer, expect to see reproductions based on this 1930s cap for sale. I’m working on other patterns as well, including a one piece, eight dart type cap, also based on a 1930s original.

In keeping with the original $0.50 price of this cap, the brim is made of the finest material- heavy cardboard.
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The eight panels taken apart. The pattern is cut from the material with very little waste.
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The eight panels are sewn together to create the top of the cap. As this is an unlined cap, seam tape is sewn over all the seams for a neater look. The last piece of seam tape is double the length and goes over top all the other pieces, hiding all their edges. A cloth covered button is riveted at the center of the cap, where the eight panels meet. The bottom edge is folded over and sewn with a piece of interfacing to stiffen the opening of the cap.
The brim, in this case cardboard, in other cases rubber or leather, is covered in fabric with a trailing edge. That edge is sewn to the inside of the cap’s opening, and the brim is flipped out. Finally, a sweatband is installed, covering the rough edge of the brim.

Help Washington DC vintage shops

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Remember that old high school wardrobe you sold to Meeps? The beat up Styx record that Joint Custody took off your hands? That copy of George Orwell’s “1984” you sold to Idle Time Books? Well, MPD wants to know about it.

On April 4, officials with the DC Office of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) raided a number of Adams Morgan and U Street-area businesses that sell vintage and used goods, threatening them with fines and closure for operating without a secondhand business license. This license is intended to regulate pawn shops, to safeguard against the selling of stolen goods.

The regulations would require shops like Meeps, Idle Time Books, GoodWood, and Miss Pixies — as well as all the record stores in town — to submit to MPD’s pawn unit a detailed list of goods acquired each time they make a purchase. Additionally, MPD wants the stores to hold items for 15 days for police inspection before they can be sold. These requirements introduce a regulatory load which helps no one and threatens the existence of the small businesses that make DC unique.

DC’s secondhand business regulations are outdated, unnecessarily burdensome, and overly broad. A lawyer working with DC’s small business community has proposed amendments to the regulations that would bring them up to date and carve out exemptions for the businesses described above.

Please add your name to this petition to request that the City Council pass emergency legislation that would provide 90 days of relief and time to establish a permanent exemption for businesses that sell used and vintage goods. It’s vital that this happen to re-establish a sense of trust between local government and the businesses that drive our local economy.

https://www.change.org/petitions/dc-city-council-stop-treating-record-stores-and-vintage-stores-like-pawn-shops

Reindeer Jacket

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I wish I knew more about this jacket. All I know is that it was made by a furrier in California. The cut is a bit unusual, with a square bottom and high button stance- and overall the detailing is unusual enough to make it difficult to date. The tag in it is of an old style, but that wouldn’t be uncommon for a furrier or custom tailor. And then there’s the fabric- it really stands out in a crowd. Reindeer and birds. Thick tapestry-type material. Again, very unusual and exotic. But I can’t put my finger on where it’s from. Nordic? South American? Like the Nudie Suit jacket, this isn’t one that comes out all that often, but when it does, it makes a statement.
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