About the Author

Hilary with her husband Edward. (Angela made my beautiful dress.)

Hilary Peach was born in Berkshire in 1942. She left school at 15 and, coming
from a family of seamstresses and needlewomen, desired a career in the creative world. Her first work was in a highly reputable fashion department where
expensive gowns were sent to the alteration work room, to be adjusted to
customer requirements. This gave her the insight to see how the sewing workshops operated and encouraged her to obtain qualifications in both subjects.
Subsequently, she began formal training, City & Guilds, at a fashion college,
which included a further education teachers certificate. On completion Hilary
taught crafts, dressmaking and millinery for 30 years in a part-time capacity,
alongside taking on private commissions for fashion and millinery. Her work
has been seen at Buckingham Palace, New York Sailing Club, Claridges and
many society weddings.

Hilary Peach

Titivate
The Art of Hat-Making

Copyright Hilary Peach (2015)

The right of Hilary Peach to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the
prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781849637824 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781849638302 (Hardback)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2015)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ

Printed and bound in Great Britain

Dedication
To Edward, Julian and Angela; without you I would not
have had the experience, pleasure and fulfilment of teaching dressmaking and millinery.
Together we have met some very talented and friendly people
who have inspired us to work hard and make our interest viable and
commercial. For your help and tolerance, from fitting lighting at exhibitions to making blocks and stands, you have been another pair of
hands in my hour of need. I thank you all with all my heart for a lifetime of making beautiful creations together.

Contents
Foreword.............................................................................................. ix
Part One:
My Life in Hats...................................................................................... 1
Early influences........................................................................................ 2
1958: Getting the hat bug....................................................................... 5
Making a hobby a vocation.................................................................... 8
Student successes & achievements......................................................16
Part Two:
Making a Soft Sculptured Hat............................................................ 21
Soft sculptured hat................................................................................22
A useful guide in head sizes for hats...................................................23
Equipment for millinery.......................................................................24
Comfort and safety................................................................................26
Parts of a hat...........................................................................................27
Millinery wire........................................................................................31
How to make a head wire.....................................................................32
Making a soft sculptured hat pattern..................................................35
Making your master copy.....................................................................42
Knowing your fabric.............................................................................44
Flat pattern hats: some ideas when using textured fabrics..............48
Helpful hints for buying your fabric...................................................50
Basic millinery materials interlinings..............................................52
Pattern information...............................................................................53
Assembling your pattern pieces for flat pattern/casual hat..............56
Millinery stitches...................................................................................58
Stitching your hat pieces together.......................................................61
Tip & sideband stitching......................................................................65
Head bands.............................................................................................66
Machining a brim..................................................................................68
Optional decorative stitching on your brim......................................69
Joining the crown to the brim..............................................................71
The headribbon......................................................................................73
Trimming your hat................................................................................75
Hat trimming.........................................................................................76

Feathers to adorn your hats.................................................................78

Tassels.....................................................................................................80
Rouleau loops.........................................................................................82
Hat pins...................................................................................................86
Bias fabric roses.....................................................................................87
Briar rose................................................................................................90
Face shapes and styles...........................................................................92
Sectional hat pattern.............................................................................95
Gentlemans casual hat with peak......................................................100
Part Three:
Making a Blocked Hat...................................................................... 103
Equipment for millinery.....................................................................104
Blocked hat...........................................................................................109
An introduction to hat blocks............................................................111
Fabric blocked hats..............................................................................117
Fabric layout for blocked hat.............................................................127
Method for blocked hat......................................................................128
Millinery methods...............................................................................136
Blocking your fabric covered brim....................................................139
Top stitching, wiring and binding the edge of the brim.................144
Binding the edge..................................................................................146
Brim blocks..........................................................................................148
Trimming your blocked hat...............................................................149
Making bows in fabric or ribbon.......................................................157
Appendix........................................................................................... 161
Quiz time..............................................................................................162
Famous milliners.................................................................................165
Hat manufacturers & wholesalers for millinery..............................166
Quiz answers........................................................................................168
Photographic acknowledgment.........................................................170

1920s sketches by Hilary

viii

Foreword
When I was a child my beloved father used to say, Have you
got your titfer on?, when we were wrapping up warmly on a cold
winter day to go outside. (Titfer is Cockney rhyming slang: tit for
tat = HAT.)
Titivate means: to enhance the appearance of by means of decorative additions, smarten up. What better word for the title of my book
and dedication to my parents than Titivate? They both taught me how
to be steadfast and loyal to others, which I maintained in my teaching.
So what is a HAT? A hat is not just a head covering against weather,
more an enrichment to the outfit you are wearing. A hat should flatter
your face and feel comfortable to wear. A hat should be admired. A
hat, more than any other garment, can be renewed. It can be made
from small quantities of fabric, left over from a dress or suit. It can
give a new look to last years fashion.
The origin of millinery hat-making is lost in history, but surviving records do show that people started wearing head coverings over
5,000 years ago. The main reasons for this were to protect your head
against the climate, both warm and cold, and also for violent or ceremonial purposes, and as a badge of rank or office. The heritage of the
hat is linked closely with the mask or veil. The word milliner itself
comes from the Duchy of Milan, Italy. Many of the most beautiful
straw hats are woven in Italy. The word hat is Anglo Saxon.

ix

Part One:
My Life in Hats

Early influences
In the beginning, this book will tell my story about my
love for hats. Secondly, it will provide all the photographs and text
you will need to help you learn the the skill of constructing them.
This may be for yourself and members of your family. Or, you could
even take commissions when you have the experience after learning
the techniques.
I grew up in Berkshire in the 1940s with lots of family members;
mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother, aunts and cousins, who
were all keen on creative hobbies. In particular, many of the ladies
were dressmakers or seamstresses.

Picture of two samplers, by my Grandmother and her twin sister Nellie.

1940 style hats worn by my Grandmother and Aunts.

My mother and aunts wearing Cloche hats in 1929

My parents wedding, April 15th 1933

Sewing Aunts, Cousins and Grandparents, 1938

At my secondary school needlecraft was a core subject. I loved

Miss Jones, who taught me how to sew correctly. One of her favourite expressions when she walked around the classroom was T. T. T.,
which meant Tummy Touching Table!
We were not allowed to slouch when we were hand-sewing. The
work was placed on the table in the classroom and your back had to
be upright, with both hands working the tiny stitches. At eleven years
of age I made an apron, a smocked babys dress and a powder blue
taffeta dress for me to wear to a youth barn dance. I felt very pretty
amongst my friends. Miss Jones had taught me well and I loved the
subject. The machining was worked on an old singer sewing machine
by turning the handle with a shuttle-type bobbin case.