This backstitching formed a perfect “lock,” and, although for the purpose of explanation the five right hand stitches are shown in a graduated loose state, in actual working each one was tightened at its completion before commencing the next. This method was common to the sewing of all plaits, the coarser, harsher varieties necessitating the use of the coarsest thread. For some plaits such as fine “split,” to be used for “compo” finish, and horsehair crinoline a “running” stitch was sometimes used in the early times, but it has been discontinued except for broad silk or fancy plaits.
Fig. 11
As some of the plaits were only about 1⁄8th of an inch in width, it will readily be seen how deft and skilled an operative must have been, to ensure the perfect spirals and equidistant rows that were the mark of the best handsewn bonnets and hats. The nature of the stitch made by any of the machines used for hat making with straw plait is necessarily entirely different to that of the hand, although the one made by the “Légat” machine followed the handstitch very closely. It consisted of two strands of cotton forming a tiny, almost invisible stitch on the surface of the plait and one strand only underneath, the length of each completed stitch being about half an inch. It was made by a descending shaft carrying a hooked needle, and the peculiar result was achieved by very intricate and delicate machinery in a circular box facing the operator. The delicacy of the parts was so great and the machine being less rapid than the “Willcox Visible Stitch,” or the first “Wiseman Hand Stitch,” it was soon eclipsed by its competitors.
Fig. 12
SEWING STRAW PLAIT INTO HATS BY MACHINE
The “Willcox Visible Stitch” was produced first on what was afterwards known in the trade as the “10-Guinea” machine. This was simply the domestic chain stitch machine, from which the table or platform around the needle had been taken away, in order to allow free working of any part of the hat. In a short time this machine underwent a great change for the straw hat purpose. Luton mechanics set themselves to work, and appliances were affixed one of which rendered the ingress of the plait more easy; another allowed for a minute and standardized gauging of the necessary widths for the proper row-laying of the plait, still further another made it possible to alter the actual length of the stitch, and at last the model known throughout the trade as the “17-Guinea” was universally adopted as the best type of visible stitch machine for plait sewing. The “stitch” consists of one strand of cotton on the surface of the plait and two strands underneath, and from its chain-like nature can be easily undone if required. This has been closely copied by other machine makers, the one produced in Germany known as the “Dresdensia” being almost an exact copy of the “17-Guinea.” Both these machines vie with each other in the favour of manufacturers, best work being possible from either. The other model having survived the tests of time and the necessities of the industry is the “Wiseman Box” Hand Stitch Machine. This derives its name from the inventor, and from the box-like case, with even a lifting lid, that is its great characteristic. Mr. Wiseman in this machine, as in his first model, which was not box enclosed, makes use both of the threaded needle similar to the “Willcox,” and of the unthreaded hook-like needle peculiar to the “Legat.” But contrary to the downward action of the others, the “Wiseman” needles make an upward thrust. They stand at about 1⁄16 of an inch apart, the one with the eye (which, as in all machines, is at the pointed end) carrying the cotton, and being placed in the same needle bar move simultaneously. The upward thrust when working sends the pair of them through the two overlapping strands of plait which are kept at the proper place by special “guides.” When they emerge on the surface of the plait, a little finger, called the “looper,” takes one strand of the loop of cotton from the needle, brings it across the intervening space where it is caught in the hooked needle and released from the looper. Then both descend, and the result of this trio of movements is a stitch of the width that exists between the needles, consisting of two strands of cotton. The feeds then move the plait forward about half an inch, and the operation is completed. The under stitch consists of three strands, but as the cotton used in this and all other straw machines is of the finest grades, say from “80” to “100” for the best work, the stitch is hardly seen, and the weight is not sufficient to be detrimental.
The centre of the top of the crown, called in trade parlance the “Button,” is produced by taking an extreme end between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, the left holding the length part of the plait. The right hand makes a sharp turn of the portion held and with a slight cupping motion, such as would be used by a grocer making a conical paper bag, permits the plait in the left hand to come under the cupped portion, through the lapping of which the first stitches are made. The spirals of the “button” are extremely small, and the beauty of this part is enhanced by the gradual and regular increase of the size of them. This operation produces a spiral going from right to left, as in [Fig. 13], and is always the method adopted by hand sewers; it was in this way that all the bonnets and hats were commenced prior to the adoption of machinery for sewing plait.