TECHNIQUES Hairpins
• Hairpins: The recent version is made of wire prong. Great for holding perched hats on the head, but you can only get them in silver. Used for bridal adornments.
• Crocodile clip: Current way of attaching manufactured headdresses and hats. Will not
Other ways of holding on a hat to the head at the side and the back
Tip! Wired prongs and wired supports
These wire shapes are made to mimic a headband wire but are used to attach a hat to either the wig (in stagecraft) or hair on the head. Wired hair prongs have been used for years to hold hats onto wigs for stage and screen but further back they were also used in a more practical way to hold on hats when just a comb or a ribbon won’t do. These circles or prong shapes
can be made to support additional trimmings by adding crinoline into
the wired shapes, a technique used in the 1950 and 1960s. The prongs are usually in a ‘V’ shape or ‘U’ shape and could be just stems of doubled wire. The prongs can also be used to grip to the side of a hat and to attach decoration. Wired prongs are made from a
large length of wire, depending on the length of the prongs and how far you want them to go into the head-fitting of the hat.
Wired prongs can be made using cut blunt end wire.
However, I encourage you to overlap wires and finish the ends properly due to health and safety. You don’t want to accidentally poke someone in the head!
hold onto either thin hair or very thick curly hair.
• Barrette 1960s hair clips: Same as above. Can be safe to use for children’s hats and headdresses.
• Hairpins and bobby clips: Can be useful for holding gripping bars to the head.
Another type of support for the side or the back of the head is a circle cup figure of ‘8’ wire, joined where the two circles meet. One circle is attached to the hat, the other is used as a wire frame to hold the rest of the head to the hat. Wired prongs can be put on the opposite side of the saucer to balance the weight.
These gripping bars can be sewn in any part of the hat, from over the ears to at the back of the hat for extra security.
Measure the head-fitting and
the size of the circle ring that you want to hold the hat on. Join the wire ring, then shape the wire into a figure of ‘8’ putting the join of the wire into the head-fitting circle. The other circle can be used in the back of the head. You can also fill it with crinoline so extra hair can be added as in 18th-century wigs.
Jump rings are also perfect for threading ribbon through.
Head-fitting, head
Centre front, centre back
Keeping the hat on the head with simple fabric gripping bars
Using a rouleau looped fabric piece, this can hold the hat on a head over the ears, e.g. pillbox, small perched hats.
>> november 2023 | 69
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102
