Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 November 1893 — HOW TO MAKE HATS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOW TO MAKE HATS.

A FEW SUGGESTIONS TO AMATEUR MILLINERS. If the Hat Is Jut Right the Rest of a Woman's Costume Will Escape Without Serious Scrutiny—lt Is Easy to Trim the Home-Made Article. Have Many Hats. Mew York correspondence:

,HE woman whose hat is just right will escape without serious scrutiny of the rest of her costume. This is a little secret that many a woman has discovered who spends not so very much on her wardrobe, and yet ' has a reputation for dressing. On

many occasions the hat is alt that really shows of the get-up. At the theater, for instance, and on any of the many sitting-down affairs a woman goes in for, it is better to have one gown and three hats than the reverse. You are probably making up your mind that hats cost so much that three hats to one gown is not going to be within any ordinary pocket-book’s reach. Surely not if you get your hats made, but you mustn’t. You must make them yourself, and here are some rules to help you. The amateur’s hat is seldom large enough in the crown, it seldom fits well, and it always has too much on it. Avoid these faults and this one more: The amateur’s hat is insecurely trimmed; I mean the bows wobble, the feathers don’t seem to know their own minds, and the flowers are loose in the wrong place. Now, having been told what not to do, attend to the things you must do. First, to trim a big hat, get it big enough in the crown. Make sure which is the front and which the back, and put a mark to designate the exact front and the exact back. For your first attempt you have selected a felt that does not need wiring about the brim. The fewer irregularities you give the brim

the better. The bend upward just in front that is at present popular is secured by stitching the brim and the crown of the hat together very near the bottom. One stitch taken over and over and the end carefully secured does the work. The rosette or fancy pin put under the brim in such hats against the hair is to cover the stitch. Now decide where you want your bow. Don’t try your hat on; it is not to be tried on till it is all done. Having settled in your mind where the bow will be, make it. Bows are big and many looped, and the loops stand independent and well clear of each other at the base. If your ribbon be light, use white wire; if dark, use black. Tape wire is best because you can stitch through it. Have lots of it all smooth, and straight. Make the first loop of the wire, pass the ribbon over the loop, making it snugly tight, then tie the ribbon and wire round and round at the base with good stout thread. Wind this first loop till it is all solid. Make another loop from the long end of the wire, pass more ribbon over, bind the new loops secure, and fasten the two loops safely together. Allow a little length of wire each time between the loops, so that when all the loops are made they will be bound together to a solid stem of the wire. Neither wire nor ribbon is to be cut till the whole bow is made, and a short piece of the wire should be left to assist in adjusting the bow to the hat. If a feather is to go with the bow, or if several feathers are to be added, now is the time to do it. Feathers at present are made wide at the top and narrow at the base. To the quill should be fastened securely, by winding round and round with

thread or fine wire, a stout wire at least a finger’s length, turned into a loop. The feathers must each stand clear of the loops. This effect is accomplished by securing the wire loop of the feathers to the stem of your bow and leaving a wee bit of the wire clear above the binding by which you fasten the feathers to the bow. Now you have the whole group that is to go on the hat made and firm ,and the whole cluster has a stem that is part ot itself, and about half an inch long. If your hat is to have a band around the crown, lay your bow aside and attend to the band. Secure it smoothly and firmly. Better use ribbon, for velvet is so hard to make “set.” The bow and feather or feathers are now to be fastened. Decide where it is to be placed. Set it so that the point where loops and feathers spring free of each other shall come about at the top of the hat, for, of course, you have chosen a low-crowned hat. The stem to your bow you fasten securely to the side of the hat crown. Sew over and over the stem, taking a good hold underneath each time. When the sewing is done, there should be no more wobble to the bow or the feathers than as if they and the hat were all made together, and so

secure must the fastening and attaching of loops and feathers and all to each other be that you must now be able to bend single' loops here and there as you like, without injuring the security of the whole in the least. Therefore, in selecting the position for the bow you must also decide upon the angle at which to place it, because that angle cannot be modified onoe the bow is last. Rosettes for beneath the brim in front and against the hair In back must be made firmly and all finished before they are put on. Then they must be applied with exactness and fastened with great care. If the hat was a good size to start with, if you have trimmed it with due consideration for having the front of the hat come in front, if you selected a shape that suits you, and if the hat trimmed in your hand looks simple and ship-shape you may try it on. It is sure to look well. When you call at a swell millinery to select a hat you take one “ready-made," don't you? It is all nonsense to “try on" to' see if the hat is going to be all right. The secret of a pretty theater hat is almost all in having the crown big

enough. To be big enough it must come easily and well down on the sides of the head. A good way to start your theater hat is to tie a band of ribbon very loosely around the head. Slip it off and sew stout wire to the outside of the ribbon circle. Lot the ends of the wire lap over securely. Sew three rows of the wire to the ribbon, each round of wire lapped and tightly finished at the ends. If you mean to wind the wire, so the crown of your little theater hat will be like a twist of ribbon, you must make your foundation circle that much larger around to allow for the twisting of the ribbon. Two rosettes set in iront and a little apart, and a couple of velvet points, faced with a contrasting silk and spreading to right and left, set right at the back and bound to the crown by a knot of velvet, make a pretty head-rig. Or you may set a little mercury wing on each side of the circle, and have a Jeweled buckle and a tiny aigrette just in front. There are endless varieties, all pretty, and the main rule is make the crown big enough, let it be secure, and make your dows before you put them on. Spangles are a great deal used just now. Felt hats have a row of spangles around the edge. These are mounted on a narrow beading of jet and lap over each other. Toques are often bordered with spangles; Dut in their case the spangles are mounted in a stiff band set vertically on the edge. Charming models appear with full crown of scarlet or fuchsia red velvet, encircled in this way. The trimming may be a cluster of black satin roses with jet hearts, or a rosette made of clipped cock's feathers, each feather brightened up with a dashing of jet braiding about the edge. In both cases a couple of quill feathers may be added or a pair of handsome jet pins. There is a wide range of variety in the five hats sketched. First there ia

a small stringlcss bonnet having its pointed jet crown set on narrow bands of brown beaver. It is set off by a black military aigrette, shot with mauve pink shading to pale pink. Next comes a child’s model made in light brown felt with bow and long strings of rcse-colored satin ribbon. The third example is a theater hat composed of rose-colored geraniums and trimmed in front with three black velvet bows. A carriage hat in pale beige felt follows, the brim slashed picturesquely, as is now so much the vogue, and edged with black ostrich feathers and ecru guipure. It is trimmed with black ostrich tips, held in place by a large velvet rosette, and smaller rosettes are put inside at the base of the cuts. The last specimen is a pretty modification of the harlequin hat and has the brim cut into points, each point being bent slightly upward. Made of Havana brown felt and trimmed, with two black feathers, set near the'edge, it becomes a very serviceable hat. Instructions have not been given for the making of each of these widely differing models, and, indeed, the trimming of some of them would be all the amateur should attempt. But if you will once try to trim or make your own headwear, you will be bo surprised and pleased by your success that your courage will rise till you feel equal to anything. It is mostly a matter of courage. Are you brave enough to go buy your material and begin? Copyright, 1893.

EASY TO TRIM.

MIGHT AS WELL BE HOME-MADE.

'TWILL TEST YOUR SKILL.

ANOTHER EASY ONE.