There is one article which proves to be most delightful and interesting to make (that is, to the girls) a doll's hat ([Figure 205]).
I think that nearly every little girl knows how to braid raffia and after you have learned how to sew this braid together you can make any size or shape in hats.
Braid some raffia, say about two or three yards. Have several loose strands and a needle and scissors.
Fig. 205. A doll's braided hat
Just as in making large hats we begin with the centre of the crown. A needle is threaded with a fine strand of raffia and the work is begun by winding the end several times with the end of the strand threading the needle.
A coil is then started with the edge of the braid up, not the face, and it is sewed through at least two braids at a time, in stitches which run in the direction of the braid. The needle is put in slanting down from right to left and up in the opposite direction. The crown is coiled round and round until it is about two or two and a half inches large. The coil is then brought round with the upper edge just below the centre of the last row. The following rows are sewed in the same way until the crown is completed or high enough to suit you. Have care in sewing the braid so as to show as little of the stitches as possible. The brim is made by flattening out the braid and sewing it so that it overlaps the centre of the braid of each preceding row.
When the brim is wide enough one or two rows are sewed more tightly than the others and the end of the braid is sewed under the brim very flatly. Now the hat is ready to be trimmed.
I would like to tell a little about the handles of baskets in this chapter. In most of the baskets already described a cover has been made. Some people would rather have a handle to the basket, so let us see if we cannot learn how to make some handles. The twisted handle of rattan is made by using one spoke of rattan of suitable length, and a weaver. A knitting needle or something similar will be necessary for the work.