Fit 2 Stitch

- Chanel was quoted as saying, "In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different."

Hats can make that difference.

Our next guest knows the rules and has the tools to help us be unique.

I've always wondered how those fascinators stayed in place.

Marianne will teach us how to keep them in place, and how to make them.

We'll learn materials that are new versus vintage.

Becoming different can start today with hats.

The making and story of hats today on Fit 2 Stitch.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Fit 2 Stitch is made possible by, Kain Scissors.

(piano playing) Bennos Buttons.

(piano playing) OC Sewing, Orange County.

(piano playing) Vogue Fabrics.

(piano playing) Pendleton.

(piano playing) Imitation of Life.

(piano playing) And Clutch Nails.

(piano playing) - Today, we get to talk about hats.

And I love it because they never stay on my head, they're never big enough.

And Marianne has fixed it to where she solved all my issues.

And so she's not only gonna teach me she's gonna teach all of us.

So thank you so much for being here.

- Thank you.

- How did this start for you?

- I was on a little shopping trip with my mom in Sandy, Oregon.

And we're in this little shop.

And I picked up this thing it was twisty and turny and had some feathers.

- It was a hat shop?

- No, it was just a little boutique, somewhere with all kinds of things.

I love this thing.

I took it home, I wore it to bunco, I wore it to the dinner with my friends and everybody loved it.

I thought what is this?

And if I could do this, but I do this or this with it.

So I started researching.

- So at that time, were you even in the hat business at all?

You had nothing related to hat?

This was the start of it all?

- Yes.

- And now you've gone from there all the way to the Kentucky Derby?

- That's hysterical.

- Yes.

- Oh my gosh, that's amazing.

So where do we start?

- Well, let's start with why we have hats.

People have been wearing hats for hundreds if not thousands of years.

- Sure, for many reasons.

- Yes, absolutely.

For protection, for religious reasons.

Now we get to wear them because they're fun.

- Just for fun.

- Yes, so let's start... - And you feel taller with the hat?

- You do, you put a hat on your whole posture changes.

It's kind of amazing.

It's one of my favorite things when a client puts a hat on and her shoulders go back... - So if I don't wear hats, where do I start wearing them to?

What's the first place where I wear them to?

- The first thing you might do is just have a street hat, like a nice winter hat.

- Yeah, that's a good idea.

- And the other thing is you start if you want something like this, you wear it to a girl's night out.

Or a lots of people wear them for fundraisers, especially a themed fundraiser.

Kentucky Derby is always a theme for that.

So that's kind of where you start.

But let's start all the way back with materials, they've been around for thousands of years.

- Let's do it.

- The first thing is felt.

This is wool felt.

It can be made with rabbit hair, beaver hair, combinations of.

And this... - And that's just like felt felt.

But it's shaped, you purchase it like this?

- Yes.

- This is called a hood and it is a blank hat.

This is when I order it, this is what it comes to.

- Got it, got it.

- So a bunch of stuff has to be done to it.

- Yeah, I think so because most people don't wear like that.

- They don't wear like that.

These are straws.

And every woven straws are still worn all the time in various shapes.

But we're gonna look at how we can make them into something special.

Now what I want to show you is this.

This is how you make a hat.

It's done on this.

- So, it's made on the mold as opposed to a person's head?

- Yes, this is called a hat block or a hat form.

- [Peggy] And there's different sizes?

- Different sizes, so for somebody with a larger head, you actually size them up.

And for people with smaller heads, they're a little bit smaller.

This is vintage, so it's a little bit smaller.

The vintage ones are smaller.

- I was gonna say, so are they still wooden today?

Are the hat molds all still wooden?

- Yes, and here's why.

Because you need to be able to pin into them with pins.

And that's how you do it is you have to have something that's wooden.

- Oh, interesting.

- Yes.

- So they have a lot of those modern things are being done with polyurea or whatever.

But if they're still wood, they're beautiful.

- They are beautiful.

- I mean, they're so pretty.

- This is an absolute craft that has been dying out.

But now it's coming back.

- Oh, that's great.

- Yes, so, I'd really like to show you how this and this become a hat.

- And Bella can show us.

- Yeah, that sounds fun.

- Bella can show us?

- Yes, Bella can show us.

- That's Bella's job?

- Yeah.

- Isn't this adorable?

- So, Bella is wearing a cloche, which is the French word for bell because you can see the shape.

And this was made on this.

- Wow.

- It goes from this to that.

- This makes her head looks smaller to me.

Do hats have a impact like that?

- This form is incredibly flattering.

It was worn all the way through the 20s halfway through the 30s.

And it's one of the most popular now, because it looks great on everybody.

And it can have a wider brim or smaller brim.

It's one of my favorite.

- Is it separate here, it all started off with that same...?

- This is one whole piece.

- That's one whole piece.

- That's adorable.

- It's called blocking all in one.

- We have a one whole piece.

- Very nice.

- Now I'd like to show you what we do with a straw, that's pretty fancy.

This is what you would think of as a classic Kentucky Derby hat, it's got the wide brim, it's got the big trim.

Now with these, the biggest thing is most people don't know how to put it on properly.

- I would agree with that.

- So, let me show you.

- Flowers to the side?

- Flowers to the side.

- Either side?

- Either side, whatever you like, you don't put it in the middle because it's just kind of weird.

- Dorky looking.

- Well, what do you want to... - It's kind of what I would do just put it right in the middle.

- The thing is you wanna keep this angle going through your face.

And that is what's most flattering just like we're wearing right now you have this angle.

So this up here catches your eye.

- That make so much sense, I've never thought about that with a hat.

But that makes a lot of sense.

- So let me show you how to put this on.

You hold it like this.

And you go up to your forehead and you put it on gently like this.

- Oh, now you look regal.

- Yes, you don't ever go.... - Mysterious, all those things.

- And pull it down, because this is the most delicate part of the hat.

That's where it can be damaged.

- So when a hat is fitted properly, will it stay in place?

Does she need anything that will hold it in place?

It won't blow off?

- If you have a super windy day, you have to grab your hat.

But in general, no, it's gonna stay in place.

- But you're better off to not grab it like here again, because of that?

- You don't wanna do this, you wanna adjust it from here.

- That was so cute.

- And it can be further back, it could be a little bit forward.

- It can tilt to the side.

- I wanna a hat, thank you.

- It's really cute.

- So thank you so much Bella.

- It's really cute.

- And we talked about vintage materials.

I wanna show you this.

This is really special.

This is a type of straw that we can't possibly get any more, it's because this little child's hat is probably from the 1950s.

- Oh wow.

- And you see how beautiful... - It's beautiful, it's so fine.

- It's really fine, it's really special.

The machinery isn't around for this anymore, because when hats went out of fashion, they were repurposed.

Same thing with the raw materials.

We just don't make them anymore.

- It's really nice, very pretty.

- Now, ribbons are a big part of hats.

- Of course, everybody has got to have a ribbon, right?

- Yes, so you're familiar with grosgrain?

- Yeah.

- It's ribbed, it has a bound edge.

But what is special is in millinery, we use something called French belting or more modern, we call it petersham.

It has a sawtooth edge.

And that sawtooth edge allows the ribbon to be shaped with steam in heat.

And you can actually bend the ribbon into a curve.

- Because grosgrain is fixed, it's straight.

So Petersham allows for that flexibility?

- Yes.

- That's fascinating.

- You have to find the correct thing called petersham.

And it comes from millinery suppliers.

- Sure, and you can still find it as far as materials go?

- Yes, these that you're seeing right here are vintage.

But there are modern ones available.

- Yes.

- Wow.

- Tell me about the story about how you got all those.

I love that story.

- So literally friend of a friend of a friend of a friend called me up and said, hey, so and so so and so told me this lady who used to be a milliner is moving and she's just decide to get rid of all her stuff.

I called her up and she said my movers are coming at 4:00, you need to come get whatever you want.

So I drive drive drive over there.

She was about half an hour.

- You jumped into your mommy van?

- Into my magic van.

(laughing) We called the magic van.

And I drive over there and she's got so much stuff.

I'm just like, what do I do?

She has a 1920s house, the whole garage is full of boxes of ribbons and some of these molds and steamers and I was like, what do I do?

She said start putting it in.

You can have everything for $400.

- Oh my gosh.

I can't imagine how that was driving home.

So a lot of these ribbons are true vintage?

- They're true vintage, yes.

- Well, you couldn't find them anywhere.

- Yes, and I have these handmade flowers from the 30s and 40s from Paris, they're just amazing.

- Oh wow.

- And so that's how I got started.

And that's what I think the universe said, let's go.

- You're gonna make hats.

- Yes.

- First the shop then that lady.

- Yes.

- Got it.

- So, this hat came off of this mold and it's from the 1940s and if you turn it that way, you can suddenly see that it looks like a 1940s hat and perched back on your head.

So that's one... - And there's not a right and wrong way to wear that?

- No, if I weren't perched back on my head, it's really 40s looking.

I love it wearing it like this.

- Yeah, it does look great.

- I love, love, love my vintage pins.

So it gives me another excuse for those.

Now what I'd like to do is talk about modern materials, because everything changed in the 80s.

- And you can't get all these vintage.

Are they're harder?

- They're so harder.

- They're harder.

- Yes, you have to find somebody who's selling a stash.

Sometimes people uncover warehouses.

- Sure, and more expensive, I would imagine because they are harder to get.

- They're harder to get a hold of.

- Yeah.

- So let's talk about sinamay.

And Bella has a hat to show us made out of sinamay.

- Oh, wow, so sinamay is really duplicate that straw more so than the other?

- It is.

- Oh, look at this, this is adorable.

- So this hat is made out of sinamay.

sinamay is woven banana fibers.

And it's made almost exclusively in the Philippines.

- [Peggy] Yeah, interesting.

- And you mostly is still a family business, but they have machines they weave it on to get this really beautiful, smooth.

- Yeah, this is really amazing, so it's a machine done?

- Sometimes it's machine done, sometimes it's hand done, but there are hands on it throughout the process.

It is not a fully automated process.

- [Peggy] This is really cool.

- So look, I want Bella to show you.

She'll turn to a little bit, it's crownless.

Isn't that cute?

That's a different style.

And the sinamay, you can cut it on the bias and twist it and turn it do all these lovely things with it.

- [Peggy] And then you just stiffen it?

- Yes, it has a stiffener that's applied to it.

Usually you buy it stiffened, but sometimes you put more on depending on... - And is there mold to make a hat like that as well?

- Yes, this was a brim mold.

And then, the band here was made around a oval about that big that is a head shape.

- And then the two put together?

- Yes, and then they're sewn together and then trimmed too.

- Thank you.

- It's so adorable.

- Yes, thank you so much Bella.

- I want a hat like that, too.

- So this is a modern material.

The sewers have probably seen before.

It's called Crin or horsehair.

But you usually see it in the narrow widths and you use it to stabilize hems and things.

- [Peggy] It's not really horsehair anymore.

- Now, it's woven polyester.

- So, start... - Oh, my goodness.

- This is just fun.

- Isn't that fun?

- Yeah.

- So you can gather it up, this is Crin.

- Oh, is that what you did that with?

So do you buy it in the different colors or do you have to dye it?

- No, this wouldn't be able to dye it, it's plastic.

- It's be impossible.

- Oh, that's fair.

- You're right.

- Yeah, I dye straws and wools and silks all the time.

- But, you can buy this in the color you want?

- [Marianne] More or less, yes.

- But how did you get the whole thing to match?

That's just so cute.

- It all came from the same supplier.

- I got, this is adorable.

- And you can also dye feathers.

Feathers are just like human hair, you can dye them, you can curl them.

They're really cool.

You get some cool texture on the edges.

- So, you can get all kinds of shapes when one side is straight and then you can bend this to be whatever you want to?

- You can and then get pretty... - You cannot be shy if you wear a hat, is that fair?

- No, everybody when you walk in wearing a hat people turn their heads to look at you.

But it's admiration, people always are like, oh my gosh, that's awesome.

- Sure, I've seen ladies with hats and I love it.

- I wish I could wear a hat.

- I know, that's why I've felt like it for my whole life.

Now, I need to wear a hat.

- I say well, you just haven't found the right one.

- There you go.

- So another modern material that I would like to talk about is laser cut leather.

And Bella has that to show us.

This is really special, laser cutting fabrics is pretty new.

- Yeah, and laser cutting leather is even newer, and they've really done some amazing things with that.

So they've also done hats out of it.

- Yes, well, this one that I have is metallised.

And Bella can bring that on and show us.

- Okay, this is leather, you never thought this was leather.

- Now I have it backed on sinamay.

And it's laser cut leather.

- Oh, I see.

- And then this is just a little hat base like this.

And it's covered in this and then lined with silk inside.

And we have what's called Russian netting or Russian veiling.

- So, it's always that extra little touch.

- It is and there's little hand applied Swarovski crystals.

This is just a really fun and really special piece.

- So when you start doing something like this, do you have something in mind?

Are you creating from a picture?

- To a degree, I have something in mind.

I can't draw not even a wiener dog.

And I have three of them at my house, can't draw one.

What I love about this is the thing that's in here and it's itching here comes out.

I don't even know how it happens, but it does.

And it's really really rewarding.

- [Peggy] That's great.

- Yeah, so thank you so much Bella.

- It's really pretty.

- So the last really modern material I wanna show you is called Fosshape.

This is a thermoplastic.

- Spell it, F-O-S... - F-O-S-S-H-A-P-E. - Shape, and it's all one word, Fosshape?

- It is.

And this is used a lot in costuming.

Because here's what happens.

You treat it with heat, and you've got something really lightweight and hard.

- So this flexible was...

This was this?

- Yes, it's a thermoplastic.

And this is used to make masks, armor, tons of stuff you see on all kinds of shows in stage productions is now made out of this.

- [Peggy] And so like this?

- Yes, I twisted that around a dowel rod and ironed it.

(laughing) Isn't that fun?

- How did you even know, I mean, I guess you just experience?

So I was gonna say how do you know about all this stuff?

- Well, because of my millinery teaching.

And, I have an amazing millinery teacher and mentor, her name is Laura Del Villaggio.

And she creates them to the brand Milli Starr.

She is a master milliner.

And so when I take classes with her, she shows us all these different things, and sends us out the door with amazing skills that we then take into... - And your creativity takes over.

- Yes.

- Wow.

- Yes.

- So we're gonna do something.

- We are gonna do something.

- I'm excited for the something.

- Yes, we are, let's do something.

- You didn't tell me what, but I'm excited for the something.

- It's a lot of fun.

Now, the first thing is you think oh my gosh, how do I get something?

I can't buy all this millinery material.

Well, you don't have to.

May I have the little blue.

Let's bring little blue over here.

And let's take a look at how she shows up.

Now, you're not gonna believe where this comes from.

You ever seen one of these?

- Uh, the store, placemat.

- The placemats.

- Yeah.

- It's a placemat.

- [Peggy] Seen them in my house.

- Seen them in your house.

Whitehead bam.

- Yeah, got this in my house too.

- These two items just about anywhere.

And what you do is the first thing I do is take some of the outer rim off because this is really kind of big.

Then you have this outer rim left.

- So actually, by doing this, you could take out as many... You can make it as big or small as you felt comfortable with.

- Sure.

- Just keep taking off layers.

- Yes, absolutely.

- And once you take off one layer, that's it?

I mean, it's even.

It's even in the layer, you don't have to like, when you take out the strip it just keeps going?

- You see where I just... You do have to stop it, because it was like a feedbag.

- [Peggy] Sure, yeah.

- So, you just have to stop it and sew it in.

- Okay, got it.

- You can see it's just clean.

It's exactly the way it looks like when you get it.

- Yeah, yep, yep.

- So, what you can do is you take this and this.

I had a bunch of this leftover, you're gonna use... - So this is what you took off?

- Yes.

- Okay, this is really cute.

- There's a ton of it.

- Bit of adhesive on here.

Tuck it around here, clip it.

Smear some more adhesive up here.

And just start covering just like you do anything else.

You can do it with ribbon, you can do it with tulle.

I like this.

- [Peggy] This is so cute.

- The fun part is shaping.

Very first thing you wanna do before you shape anything is make sure that your needle is threaded and tied off.

I wanna show you the special... - You're gonna show us how to do this?

- Yes, the special... - What would be called a milliner's knot.

- It is called a a milliner's knot.

- Really, you do this?

- Yes, so how do you do that?

- I don't know, because you're a milliner and it's a knot.

- It is, so you take your thread, and you hold it against your needle like this in your finger.

You wrap it one, two, I like three times.

Still held here, pull.

That maybe the best thing I show you all day.

- It's a very dainty little knot.

- It is and it's so easy, you're not fighting trying to double up you knot at the end.

- And then you've got a double thread?

- Mm-hmm.

- And then do you cut off your tail?

- Yes, yes.

- But not yet?

- Well, I usually trim it down before I start.

- I see, okay.

- Now you've got this threaded.

Here's why you wanna thread it first.

You're gonna start manipulating and twisting.

Would you like to try that out?

- Sure.

- And you have your little clippies here.

As you kind of manipulate and twist you can clip... - I can see, you don't wanna do that, you kind of wanna give us some definition.

- Yes, you can clip it into place.

And you have to remember that you clip it, you start sewing, it's still it's gonna move a little bit.

But that's why you want your thread ready to go.

So you aren't like trying to do it and this... - Coz you can't do it all at one time, yeah.

Yes, so... - And, sometimes when you do this stuff once you get that just right, you just never get it twice.

- I know, tell me about it.

(laughing) So this is what you end up with.

- [Peggy] This is really cute.

- I don't know, $3 worth of materials that you can get anywhere.

- You'd never think that was a placemat.

- I know.

- Or you could do it with really any circle of fabric?

- Yes.

- Any circle.

- This is flexible and is gonna have some body to it, so it'll maintain it.

- Do you ever have hats match dresses, is that appropriate or is that too matchy matchy?

- No.

- No?

- No, it's very appropriate.

- Is it kind of I guess it's just like decor of anything.

You just know when to do it and when not to do it.

- It is.

- But, you could do the whole fabric on the waistband doesn't even have to be a placemat.

But this is just easy and fun.

- It is, it's easy and fun and it maintains itself.

- And I love the knot.

- Thank you, the knot is the way you got it.

So now if you want... What if you wanted to do some with millinery material?

Do you wanna go buy all this?

- Sure, yeah.

(laughing) You don't know, I mean, but you can... - You don't know what to buy.

- Yeah, that's fair, that's fair.

- Let me show you something really great.

- That's fair.

- These are fascinator kits.

And fascinator kits are available online and what you get is you get a hat base.

- You've absolutely got me hooked into this.

I mean, I just think they're so cute.

- Well, let me come over you bring some friends with you.

- Oh, fascinator party.

- So a hat base, a comb, the little elastic, which is the hat.

- And that little comb is a real secret is to keep it on.

- It is, you kind of tease up your hair, put it into a little pin curl, cross some bobby pins, and it will not move.

So you have these things.

And then you should get some sinamay strips.

These are bias strips cut on the bias.

- And they're already pre-done for you.

- And you'll get some feathers.

And again, you wanna make sure that your needle is threaded before you go.

You get your clippies in here, let's start twisting.

- Okay, twist any which way I want?

- Yes, you just twist and turn.

And as you twist a certain way... - [Peggy] Monkey see monkey do, I'll probably do the exact same thing you're doing.

- They lay a certain way you can make them come out a lot bigger and flatter.

- [Peggy] And this is kind of fun.

- [Marianne] I don't want them to look like mouse ears.

- [Peggy] Oh, that's a good point.

- Yes, larger and flatter.

And when you think you like this, you take your...

Hold it with a clip.

- [Peggy] This is fun.

- [Marianne] It is fun, isn't it?

- Yeah, it is fun.

- You hold it with a clip, clip or two.

And you've got this already done.

This is where you have to have it done.

- Yeah, that makes sense.

- You grab it, and I want you to put two stitches through that will just hold it in place.

The reason you want to just hold it in place right now is that you have your feathers, and they need to go in somewhere.

You will have tied them together a feather bundle.

- [Peggy] It just stay really good, doesn't it?

- It does, and your kit comes with instructions how to make this.

And then they're gonna slip in somewhere, you don't want them hanging out on top.

You don't wanna see that.

So now once they're in, you sew those in and you sew it down tightly.

- So you like to sew as opposed to glue?

- Yes, I'm just a sewer.

- You're a milliner, milliners don't glue, they sew.

- Glue is really great to help out with things.

There is no wind as strong as the wind trying to blow your feathers off.

So, for instance, after these are bound, there's a little bit of adhesive on them.

Sometimes you put a little bit of adhesive in here to hold them.

But once you use adhesive, it's hard to take it apart and redo it.

That's why we like to sew.

- That's true, because if you make it or you wanna change it you just clip the threads and you're ready to go again.

- I like that.

- Absolutely.

- And so this is what you end up with.

And, Bella has another version of this to show us.

- [Peggy] Bella, they're so cute.

- [Marianne] So it's the same stuff.

- [Peggy] Oh, look at her curlicues.

- [Marianne] Yes, those are done on a pencil.

(chuckle) You spray it with a little bit of water, put it on the pencil, clip it, let it dry.

Tadaaa.

- [Peggy] Oh my goodness.

- [Marianne] Isn't that fun?

- It is.

- And that one, I just grabbed a little button.

- And with the comb, it'll actually stay in her head.

- [Marianne] Yes.

- [Peggy] With the... - Yes you do, like I said a little bit of teasing, a pin curl, cross your bobby pins and slide it in there.

It will stay forever.

- Oh my goodness, Bella you're a doll.

- Plus you have your hat elastic, which is your magic.

- Yeah.

- Yes.

- I'm just curious on these because sometimes how do you get the shapes?

- Well, here's the thing.

You don't have to go buy several hundred dollar hat block.

- That's the real secret?

- Before I can afford these several $100, I was looking around the house.

- A candy dish.

That's creativity at its finest.

- I roll with blue glass.

Who knows where I picked this up?

- Oh, my goodness.

- And so what I did was I took the sinamay, and I stretched it stretched it, stretched it.

And instead of using these little clippies, I used binder clips.

And it was okay that it bent up the edge.

Because I took it off, wired it, trimmed the edge.

Did all of this fun stuff on it.

- Yeah, I was gonna say this is just like... - Yes, it's one of my client's hat she let me borrow it back.

- No way, I just love it.

I mean, there's just...

I like the eclecticsy just how crazy it is and how many things are in there.

- That's what I love about it.

- Well, like first one turn out this good?

- No, no, I mean, that was probably my third or fourth try.

- So the goal is to just have a whole bunch of fun?

- Yes.

- Not take it too seriously?

- No, don't take it too seriously.

- Except to look so good at the end.

Have you always liked what you did?

- No.

- So you have a practice as a part of this?

- It's a big part of it.

Yes, but, I've had things in the past that were horrid.

- But you keep them?

Thank you so much for helping us see this today.

- Thank you.

- So I think all of us there's no excuse anymore why we can't make a hat.

I love it.

I love it.

Can we make a pair of shoes at home on our sewing machines?

Join us next time as we loosen up those shoes a bit, change the style and have some fun.

We'll show you some interesting details about shoe construction, all here on Fit 2 Stitch.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Fit 2 Stitch is made possible by, Kai Scissors.

(piano playing) Bennos Buttons.

(piano playing) OC Sewing, Orange County.

(piano playing) Vogue Fabrics.

(piano playing) Pendleton.

(piano playing) Imitation of Life.

(piano playing) And Clutch Nails.

(piano playing) To order a four DVD set of Fit 2 Stitch Series 10, please visit our website at fit2stitch.com.

(upbeat music)