What Is Basting & Millinery?
Basting is a sewing technique used to temporarily hold elements of a garment together. Seamstresses use a variety of different basting stitches for different sewing situations. Millinery is women's hats and other headgear. Ranging from the functional to the extravagant, millinery is made from many different materials using specialized tools.
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Basting
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Basting is a technique of holding pieces of a garment, including such elements as interfacing and linings, in place temporarily. To baste, you pin the elements together into position, and then you sew them together with stitches that are longer than those you'd usually make, and that eventually you'll remove. You can baste by hand, using a size 1 to size 10 needle and a thread in a contrasting color to the garment, or you can baste with a sewing machine by setting the stitch length to a very long stitch and sewing the pieces together.
Hand Basting Stitches
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Even basting, uneven basting, diagonal basting, slip basting, running stitches, and padding stitches are all different types of hand basting stitches that are used in specific sewing situations.
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Why Baste?
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Seamstresses baste garments together for fittings, since the stitches will hold the garment together while it's tried on, and the seamstresses can then mark needed alterations on the fabric with tailor's chalk or pins. Then they can pull the basting stitches out before they sew the garment together. Since basting is relatively quick to do, seamstresses can mark a garment, take out the basting threads, and baste the fabric together again to check the revised fit while the wearer waits.
Seamstresses also baste pieces together when several different elements like fabric, interfacing, and linings are all being incorporated into a single seam, and pinning is not a good alternative because the pieces are curved or too bulky to handle easily. It's also common to baste zippers into place before sewing them in, particularly on the zipper placket on the outside of the garment.
Millinery
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Millinery means head coverings for women, primarily hats. Women have always worn hats, for protection and warmth as well as to make a fashion statement. Women's hats are made from practically any fabric and from natural materials like straw. Calling on their skills and the abundance of materials available to them, milliners can make hats in every style and shape, to fit any customer's head, for any occasion.
Millinery Tools
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Besides common sewing tools, creating millinery more complicated than a simple, unshaped fabric hat also requires specialized equipment. Hat blocks, on which the material is fitted, correspond to standard hat sizes. Drying cabinets where hats can be put while dyes or adhesives dry are vital. Steaming equipment, pliers and wire cutters, and hat stands all play a role in turning out a spectacular hat.
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