Fig. 150. A lingerie hat
Sometimes the mushroom shape is covered with hand-embroidered ruffles, while again a circular piece having the crown cut out is used. The size of hat varies by what fashion dictates, so it is hard to say just how large your linen should be cut. A twenty-two or twenty-four inch circle makes a neat little shape.
After the embroidery has been worked as described in the first part of this chapter, the frame is prepared for mounting it. A wire frame is lighter and more satisfactory than a buckram frame.
The first thing to decide is, how are we going to face the hat? Tucked ruffling, net, dotted swiss, or fine ruffles of Valenciennes lace may be used. Most people prefer to cover the entire frame with cheap, fine lawn before facing or covering the hat.
This is done by placing the hat on the lawn, the brim touching the material, and cutting a circle a trifle larger than the brim. Cut a circle out for the crown and slip the lawn over the frame. If the crown is too large to allow the lawn to be slipped over it a wide bias band of the lawn can be used to cover the brim. The bias strip should be just the depth of the brim. For the crown, cut a circle large enough to cover the top and use a bias band around its sides.
Tack the muslin to the frame by long basting stitches. It will be necessary to pass under the wire when taking a stitch to keep the material in place. The tucked ruffling can be bought by the yard, trimmed with a row of narrow lace. The entire thing is banded. To adjust a ruffling of this sort place the band around the edge of the crown and tack the ruffle in position at short intervals and at the extreme edge of the brim.
Net or dotted Swiss is pretty shirred or corded or even put on plain. A strip three times the length that it would take to go around the brim plain is cut the depth of the brim. This band is cut on the straight of the goods. A shirring string is run on both sides. The strip is placed in position and pinned taking care to distribute the gathers evenly. The shirring string under the crown is pulled up first and the material over-handed to the frame. The gathering thread on the outer edge of the brim is also adjusted like this, only instead of over-hand stitches, fine running stitches are preferable. Then a small heading is made on one side of the strip that is to be shirred. The heading makes a pretty, soft finish at the edge and does not require any great length of time to do. Allow three quarters of an inch, or more, in the depth of your ruffle if it is to have a heading. Turn one edge of the material to the wrong side. The turn should be a little more than a quarter of an inch deep. The gathering thread is run a quarter of an inch from the folded edge of the material. When the thread is pulled up the heading is formed.
If the material is to be corded, baste a narrow round cord like a corset lace inside the material. The cord is placed where it is desired and the material is folded over it as for a tuck. A running thread is worked close to the cord to keep the two pieces of material together. The threads are afterwards drawn up to bring the fulness of the ruffles to fit the outer edge of the hat.
Three rows of cording are quite sufficient on the edge and the other two rows at equal intervals from the outer brim to the crown.