To piece braid—

Sometimes a braid must be pieced at a conspicuous point on the hat, when careful handling will be found necessary. If the braid is composed of several smaller braids sewed together, the ends should be ripped apart for several inches and the strands cut in unequal lengths; also the strands of the other end which is to be joined to it should be cut of such length as to meet the corresponding ends and allow a lap of one inch. The ends cut in this way may be tucked under one at a time without the joining being noticeable. If the braid is very wide it may seem best when covering a frame to cut and join the ends of the row of braid. It would then be better to make a straight joining in the back.

If a fancy braid is to be pieced, the ends are lapped diagonally and sewed flat. If a fancy joining is part of the design, a simple one is to lap the ends to look as though woven. This may be employed on a crown or brim or both, and it then becomes a part of the design. Also the top of the crown or any part of the hat may have a woven covering of braid, but any such fancy method requires an additional amount of braid.

The top of the crown may be covered by laying the braid on straight from front to back, allowing the ends to extend down on the side crown an inch or more. The braid of the side crown should cover these ends. The brim of a narrow hat is often covered with short lengths of braid radiating from the headsize wire, the ends extending up on the crown one inch. A fabric is often combined with braid for the sake of design, or if there is an insufficient quantity of braid.