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Show mi J Class of Fashionable Girls Learn Hat Making S I m T HAT young and fashionable gills1 '''' It a have formed classes lo learn how SjT If- I to mnke their own hats is one of ' W 1C stronS?st protests yet made 4 f against the high prices now prc- ,. l vailing for headgear. "The prices W 1 asked for a bit of fur nud a wisp of " feather aro unmerciful; they make too 1 ? H '4 it '''P "iroads on our allowances," say tie ) j W .voun? girls. Hence the class- in hat 6" 1J niakiug '.' ml The largest and most conspicuous of the , mi hat making classes this season has been ', K organized by a daughter of a many times n K uiillionnairc, at whose home the meetings ..JIj arc held one morning each week. Twelve 'imvi Slrls belong to this class, which is pre 5' WLl si'lcd over by an expert hat makT, a tm'l French woman, knowing the trade from i t beginning to end. i ' m At the first meeting of the class a gen- ml rral talk On hat making was given by the J Kf instructress, to which the girls listened - Mi cnKerl.v At tlie second meeting the work ' mP was begun ; that is, the really serious part " K of hnt tnakiug. In fact, if any one of the "'tiff pirls had entered the class tbipking to J Iftt turn out a fascinating creation at each !u meeting she soon found herself grievously 7 mistaken. The teacher insisted that each r. 1 , Blep in the art of hat making should be : j Liken slowly and thoroughly. The first thing the girls of this class ' it' 'earned to do was to make the wire frame Sri ats' anc ma'ce tbem of a size and Ha shape suited to their own heads. The A Ik twthcr provided the requisite amount of B hwy aud vco fine wire, also tweezers, Ifi l" 0D'J' necessary implements. At lirst $ tue girls thought this uninteresting, dull f v work, sajing that they could buy these j. w're frames already 'made for fifty ceutij r 5 npitce. As they progressed with the work V jf they became more reconciled, and wheu X each one had finished lier frame she found, ; s'ie had something sq much nmre Indit r j idunl and becoming than anytilng that r V she could buy that she was delighted y c Indeed, it is in tint, very fact of mailing Q ' the foundation frame to suit the head of , l a" individual, instead of using 'pne that 'Jw h as uceQ manufactured by the wholesale, , r that the French milliners locate their suc- I The proper covering of the frame, ita vx,l facing and binding were lessons then )m ' taken up in succession. Whpn goods tttl . should be cut on tho bias and when ou ipm ' fi1 straight were aho biibjecl.s discussed, rJI - (as ell as how seams bhoiild be joined 8 and the manner of their pressing. ? '-The girls found the facing of the frames t and their covering with velvet the most dilUcult part of the work, a few of them having to do it over nnd over again before it could be declared satisfactory. Of course, the girls that were in the habit of sewing got on faster than the others, although al-though it is likelj that before the class ends, foinc time in the late spring, each girl will be able to acquit herself well, even in the branches of the art (hat she has learned with greatest difficulty. The lessons in trimming came last of all and have not yet been completed. They include special instructions in the making of rosettes, the handling of fur nnd the arrangement of feathers, besides the uses of ornaments. The proper lining nud finish of a hat will also be taken up in turn. . Tho girls of this class expect to wear (ho ha Is that they make during their lessons. les-sons. Iu fact, special hats that they wished to wear on various occasions were planned in the beginning. Some of the gjils arc already wearing their so-called "clas hat?," and more stylish looking ones would be hard to find, ceu in the wjndowi of extravagant shops. One is of brown velvet, designed to wear with a brown fur coat. Its brim is rather large, followiug somewhat the graceful Dues of the hat worn in the generally known picture of the Countess of Spcn cer, A small hat with a fur coat, this class; has learned, is usually a mistake The girl who made this hat wore it recently re-cently while taking lea with some intimate inti-mate friends. "Your hat i" charming," she was told. "I made it," she replied. Now, aw this girl is known to have abundant means the reasons for her making mak-ing her own hat were questioned. She answered by relating the whole story of the elastj in hat making. "The class is teaching me," she said, "not only to make hats but to know something some-thing of their value. I shudder to think of the hots with really glaring faults that I have bought. Some milliner told me (hat they were becoming, I paid a high price and put them on and wore them. I know now that the foundations of many of them must have been made by apprentices', ap-prentices', and poor ones at that. Even though it is not obligatory for me to make my own hats, a knowledge of how they should be built will liplp mo to select (hose that I buy in the future. After I Iiave hnd the full number of lcssonu I cap phow other girls who have small In-j comes how to save a good bit of money on their hendwear. Oh," she coulinucd, "this hnt is nothing to what I shall do before the class is over. Already I have started one to wear ut concerts and when, I Bit In boxes nt the theatres. It is, of turnuojsu blue lullo nml velql, with a wonderful ornament that I .shall also make. Ob, a dream!" As she spoke another cirl came in for a cup of tea. "This is a class hat," she said, "isu t it a beauty V" This hat was composed of bands of fur, showing as an entre deux the lining of silver cloth. It appeared very stuuuing, worn as it was with a suit of dark blue velveteen. "It's the prettiest hat I ever had," haid Its maker enthusiastically. "It is so light and it fits my Jiead bo well I almost al-most forget 1 have it on. It stas ou my head so snugly that I don't even look mussed up afler boiug out in a wind. I hope I'll be able to make several more before the class cuds." One of the things that the girls like about their class is that its instructress has an established ideal of hats. This ideal is the one held by the French gentlewomen. gentle-women. It insistB that a hat should be a thing of beauty, with perchance a coquettish co-quettish note; that it should be light in weight, fit the head well and carry out the lines demanded by the face. It should never be wijd in style, conspicuous in color or loud in decoration. A hat proclaims pro-claims the woman moie than any other article of dress. It can make n naturally refined girl appear vulgar, nnd it can give a suggestion of elegance to one that is inordinately commonplace, Above all else a class in hat making should not economize on the price of its teacher. VtMMlWblWtVbWlViiMiUVlVIAlM |
