IMPROVEMENTS IN LEATHER HAT LININGS AND IN THE METHOD OF ATTACHING THEM TO HAT BODIES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Morgan-Brown, of the Firm of Brandon and
Morgan-Brown, Engineers and Patent Agents, of 38, Southampton Buildings,
London, and 1, Rue Laffitte, Paris, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LEATHER HAT LININGS AND IN THE METHOD OF ATTACHING THEM TO HAT
BODIES." A communication from abroad by William Lawrence Bigelow, of
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Morgan-Brown at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th January 1878.
WILLIAM MORGAN-BROWN, of the Firm of Brandon and Morgan-Brown, Engineers
and Patent Agents, of 38, Southampton Buildings, London, and 1, Rue Laffitte,
Paris. "IMPROVEMENTS IN LEATHER HAT LININGS AND IN THE METHOD OF
ATTACHING THEM TO HAT BODIES." [A communication from abroad by William
Lawrence Bigelow, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.]
This Invention of improvements in leather hat linings and in the method of
attaching them to hat bodies consists in,-
Firstly. In producing a leather hat lining with spring band and tacking slip,
made circular or straight by mechanical means, and in readiness to be used on or
put into fine stiff or soft felt hats, straw, or other material.
Figure 1 shows the spring bands, to which the leathers are attached, the ferrule
for securing the ends of the spring rod, and method of joining the same.
Figure 2 shows one way of joining the spring band to the lining leather,
according to the first part of present Invention.
Figure 3 is an end view of Figure 2 brought into position for attachment to the
hat body.
Figure 4 shows an oilcloth spring band attached to a lining leather.
Figure 5 shows an oilcloth spring band prepared by folding the cloth over the
spring rod, and securing the fold close to the rod.
Figure 6 shows another method of sewing together the lining leather A, oil-
Priced

page_text: cloth B, spring rod C, according to present Invention, when the spring rod C and
oilcloth B are not prepared as in Figure 5.
Figure 7 is an under view of Figure 6.
Figure 8 is a view of Figure 6 when folded and ready for attachment to a hat.
Figure 9 shows the stitch on the under side of Figure 10.
Figure 10 is an end view of Figure 4, the upper edge flaring so that the sewing
will not come in contact with the head of the wearer when the prepared lining
leather is placed in a hat.
Figure 11 shows a lining leather with the rod C stitched directly to its edge,
and the covering B either sewed or pasted independently to the back of the
leather A.
Figure 12 shews a prepared lining leather complete.
Figure 13 is a plan view, shewing a cord along the edge of the leather.
The object of this Invention is to produce a hat-lining leather with spring band
and tacking slip, made circular or straight by mechanical means, and in readiness
to be used on or put into fine stiff or soft felt hats, straw, or other material.
The method now in use of uniting a lining leather and spring band is to tack
by long stitches made through, and to the hat body, the small spring band, shewn
in Figure 1, and then to fit the leather to the hat, and hand sew the edge of the
leather to the spring band.
A few of the objections to this method are that the sewing by hand is slow and
expensive; that the edge of the leather has to be prick-marked, in order to guide
the sewer in making the stitches regular, and to assist in driving the needle
through the leather; that since the cloth covering of the whalebone or reed rod is
secured by pasting, when its tacking to the hat gets loose the rod itself becomes
loose and is with difficulty secured; that when an oilcloth covering is used for the
rod the hand sewing defaces and mars the glazed surface of the oilcloth where most
exposed, since the sewer has to push the needle through it in order to secure a hold
for attaching the leather.
It is the purpose of the present Invention to remove these difficulties, ns will now
be set out and explained in detail.
By means of a Blanchard overseaming, or any other zig-zag sewing machine, are
united the ends of the lining leather, already fitted to the size of hat required or
else by hand sewing.
Using the same sewing machine, having the lining leather thus a circular band,
the raw edge of the leather band A is so placed that it will lay over the spring
rod C of the band B, shewn in Figure 1.
The position of these parts will be as shewn in Figure 2, they are then fed
through the machine so that the needle will take outside alternately the leather
edge, but within the rod C and through the cloth covering B of the spring band,
then within the leather edge but without this rod C and its covering B. Before
sewing all around the leather the operator should connect the ends of the rod C
by the ferrule D, Figure 1, or else pass the ends of the rod by each other, properly
arranging and lapping the covering strip B when the ends meet, then finish the
Bewing; when the covering B is tacked into the hat, or is brought around parallel
to the leather A, it will be found that the sewing is rolled over, as in Figure 3, so
that it will not come into contact with the head of the wearer of the hat, while the
rod C itself and not its covering is securely fastened to the leather.
Figures 6, 7, and 8 are upper, under, and folded views of another method of
carrying out this Invention. In these the spring band is not prepared as in
Figure 1, but the leather A, covering B, and spring rod C are each separate and
are united by one sewing. It is made by placing the cloth B under the edge of
the leather A, and the rod C beneath both; the stitch is then taken alternately
within and without the edge of the leather A each time through the covering B,
and alternately on one side and then on the other of the rod C.
Figure 5 shews an oilcloth or other covering secured to the spring rod C by
stitching instead of pasting, as in Figure 1.

page_text: Figures 4, 9, and 10 show still a third method of preparing a lining leather
according to present Invention, and is well adapted to oilcloth or other covering
for the spring rod, where the edge of the rod is wanted to shew and the edge of the
band to be essentially light. It is made by placing the leather A over the cloth B
with its edge close to the rod C, as is shown in Figure 4, and then stitching within
and without the edge of the leather, but each time within the rod C and through
the covering B; the stitching as it appears on the under side is shewn in
Figure 9.
The edge of the band can be made to set off or flare out, as is shewn in Figure 10,
by stretching the edge of the leather or setting back the spring rod. If preferred,
these can be sewed with a straight instead of an over-edge stitch, although the
over-edge stitch besides its other advantages will stand the strain of stretching and
blocking.
A
Figure 11 shews the rod C stitched directly to the edge of the leather A, and
covering B, secured in any proper manner by stitching or pasting to the body of the
leather A, in order that it, B, may be used in securing the leather to the hat.
perfectly prepared lining leather, as shewn in Figure 12, is thus produced, which
is adapted to either stiff or soft felt or straw hats. Where the stitching of the
leather directly to the body of the hat would be objectionable, from the liability of
the perspiration to follow the sewing threads, and thus soil the outer finish of the
hat, the appearance of the band or leather thus prepared is better and its dura-
bility greater than when hand sewed, it is much more cheaply made, and can be as
easily tacked to the hat body by an independent stitching which cannot act as a
conductor of perspiration.
If preferred, the bands can be prepared in straight strips and afterwards fitted,
united, aud finished by hand, and still retain the advantages above referred to.
A cord can be fed along the edge of the leather so as to cover it and yet be
secured by the same stitching, as shewn at e in Figure 13.
The spring rod C so supports the circular band as it is being stitched to it that
no difficulty will be experienced in stitching round the circle, since the rod keeps
the edge of the circular leather band up in the line of the feed.
Under some circumstances, and for certain uses, instead of a spring rod thero
may be substituted twine wire, or a slightly projecting edge made of tape or
folded cloth; or a cord on the plain or folded edge can be employed with good
results.
By this method a lining leather can be prepared in less than two minutes, when
from twenty to thirty minutes are required by hand. These leathers are prepared
free from the hat, while by the old way they are not. The sewing is perfectly
regular, indeed bettter without prick-marking. By this method the rod itself is
stitched to the leather as well as its covering, and so cannot get free. Oilcloth
covered rods can be sewed to the leathers without injury to their exposed surface,
while the edges of the leathers can be corded as nicely as by the best hand work-
manship.
The second part of the Invention relates to the means for attaching the lining
leather to a hat body by mechanical means.
Figure 14 is a perspective view, showing the process of sewing or attaching the
lining leather to a hat according to the present Invention.
Figures 15 and 16 are details to show different methods of sewing the slip to
the hat.
Figure 17 is a detail, to show how the ends of the spring are slipped on each
other.
Figure 18 is a perspective of the slip spring.
Figure 19 is a view in partial section to show the position of the hat when set
for sewing in relation to a line drawn vertically to the bed plate of a sewing
machine.
The only sewing machines now in use among the manufacturers gauge from the

page_text: . bend of the brim on the outside of the hat stitch straight, and are only used on the
cheaper grades of goods; necessarily their bed plates are cut away to the feed in
order to present the hat to the sewing mechanism. But by this Invention all
difficulty in machine sewing on any straight sewing machine is obviated, and this
work can be done on all grades of goods with equal advantage. While this
Invention can be carried out on any such machine, I prefer to use the Blanchard
overseaming, or some herring-bone or zig-zag sewing machine; since with them
the edge of the leather can be whipped down, and a cord can be put along the edge
of the leather more evenly and with a better appearance than by hand, while the
elasticity of the stitch will allow the hat to be blocked or fitted without danger
of the stitches breaking.
This method allows the bed plate of the machine to be perfectly flat, as indicated
in Figure 14. A spring J, Figure 18, is used, which can be placed on the inside of
the hat before it is placed on the machine. This spring preserves the oval shape
of the hat, which is essential, in order that the operator may make the seam
where required; without it or its equivalent it will be found that the tubular
top of the hat will be inclined to flatten, thus taking the circle around which it is
necessary to sew out of the line of the feed; and, owing to the peculiar shape of
the hat body, the operator will find it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to
make a perfect and regular seam, the more especially if he should attempt to feed
in the edge of the lining leather at the same time, while this spring J can be
placed directly against the body of the hat, and the leather H fed under the
presser foot to a gauge, as desired. The spring J is made to perform a double
purpose, viz., preserve the shape of the hat, and also hold the lining leather H in
its proper place while being sewed, so that the operator can use the edge of the
leather thus set as the guide for his seam and sewing.
To describe the process more in detail the leather H is fitted to the hat G, then
the ends of the leather H are seamed together by hand sewing or the Blanchard
overseam. The leather H thus made circular is put into its place in the hat, so its
edge will come properly on the bend of the brim, and finally the slip spring J is
placed inside of the leather, and set out until the leather is brought firmly against
the body of the hat; everything is thus made ready for sewing. If a straight
seam is desired, the brim is slipped under the needle, so that the seam will be made
at a proper distance from its edge, then gauging from the edge of the leather stitch
is made directly round the hat.
If a Blanchard overseaming or zig-zag sewing machine is to be used, the hat is
placed under the machine, so the needle will take alternately within the leather
and outside the same, then gauge and sew as before.
If a cord is required around the edge of the leather, the machine is arranged so
the cord will be fed into its proper place as the sewing is being done, and the stitch
outside of the leather shall pass through or over it, as may be preferred. Either
a stationary or rolling presser foot can be used on the machine. A lining leather
can thus be stitched to a hat body in one minute, while by hand sewing it now
requires 20 minutes or longer to do this.
The slip spring can be either flat or like a barrel-hoop flaring, Figure 18, with
the ends, Figure 17, brought around by each other and held in place by the
bands j,j, which are attached to either end and pass over the body of the spring;
thus the ends are free to slip, and the spring can be made small or extended out
until the end bands meet. To put the spring into its place in the hat the ends are
slipped along until the circle of the spring is smaller than the body of the hat,
then place it in the hat, and extend or press it out until it meets the size of the
hat body G, and it sets the leather H firmly in position. The tendency of the
spring to open will keep it in place.
Figures 15 and 16 show devices for preventing any tendency which the spring
may have to slip, owing to the peculiar shapes which the hat bodies may have.
Figure 15 shews a hollow boss j' put on the spring J, in which is a piece of cork

page_text: or other suitable material M. Having arranged the leather in the hat, and set
in place the spring J, the pin N can then be forced from the outside through both
the hat body G and leather H, and its point be embedded in and held by M.
Figure 16 shews a suitable dent or off-set o, made when desired on the front
edge of the spring J; indeed, the pin points can be attached to the spring and
project outward, or any simple method used when necessary to keep the spring
securely in its place and the leather H also.
The pliable character of the spring allows the oval to be flattened at points when
inclined to rise away from the needle and plate through careless guiding of the
operator; indeed, it will be found to be much more convenient and to answer as
well to have the movements of the hat absolutely controlled by being made to
revolve on variable centres on the principle of the oval chuck, which has also been
used.
When the hat bodies are weak, or objection is found to marking the outside of
the hat with the feed, a circular band of leather or other material may be placed
on the outside, which serves to take the chafing of the feed, also to prevent the
inside pressure from disturbing the hat body.
Since the sewing penetrates through the body of the hat, in order to prevent the
perspiration following the stitching, the stitching is waterproofed with liquid
rubber or any of the well-known substances.
It is not necessary that the ends of the leather H should be united before being
sewed into the hat, as the leather can be placed in position with their free ends
lapped.
The edge of the brim of the hat can also be corded, as shewn in Figure 14; or
it can be turned over and whipped down, as is also shewn by the same Figure.
In cording it is necessary to have a pressure on the cord as near as possible to the
points of perforation of the needle in order to prevent the cord from turning when
the needle is first entering it, and so be shied.off and broken.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Morgan-Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th June 1878.
WILLIAM MORGAN-BROWN, of the Firm of Brandon and Morgan-Brown, Engineers
and Patent Agents, of 38, Southampton Buildings, London, and 1 Rue Laffitte,
Paris. "IMPROVEMENTS IN LEATHER HAT LININGS AND IN THE METHOD OF
ATTACHING THEM TO HAT BODIES." A communication from abroad by William
Lawrence Bigelow, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
This Invention of improvements in leather hat linings, and in the method of
attaching them to hat bodies, consists in,-
Firstly. In producing a leather hat lining with spring band and tacking slip made
circular or straight by mechanical means, and in readiness to be used on or put into
fine stiff or soft felt hats, straw, or other material.
Figure 1 shows the spring bands to which the leathers are attached, the ferrule
for securing the ends of the spring rod, and method of joining the same.
Figure 2 shows one way of joining the spring band to the lining leather, according
to the first part of present Invention.
Figure 3 is an end view of Figure 2 brought into position for attachment to the
hat body.
Figure 4 shows an oilcloth spring band, attached to a lining leather.
Figure shows an oilcloth spring band, prepared by folding the cloth over the
spring rod and securing the fold close to the rod.
Figure 6 shows another method of sewing together the lining leather A, oil-
cloth B, spring rod C, according to present Invention, when the spring rod C and
oilcloth B are not prepared as in Figure 5.
Figure 7 is an under view of Figure 6.
Figure 8 is a view of Figure 6, when folded and ready for attachment to
a hat.
Figure 9 shows the stitch on the under side of Figure 10.
Figure 10 is an end view of Figure 4, the upper edge flaring, so that the sewing
will not come in contact with the head of the wearer when the prepared leather
lining is placed in a hat.
Figure 11 shows a lining leather with the rod C stitched directly to its
edge, and the covering B either sewed or pasted, independently, to the back of
the leather A.
Figure 12 shows a prepared lining leather complete.
Figure 13 is a plan view, showing a cord along the edge of the leather.
The object of this Invention is to produce a hat-lining leather with spring band
and tacking slip, made circular or straight by mechanical means, and in readiness to
be used on or put into fine stiff or soft felt hats, straw, or other material.
The method now in use of uniting a lining leather and spring band is to
tack by long stitches made through and to the hat body the small spring band,
shown in Figure 1, and then to fit the leather to the hat, and hand sew the
edge of the leather to the spring band.
A few of the objections to this method are, that the sewing by hand is slow and
expensive; that the edge of the leather has to be prick-marked, in order to guide
the sewer in making the stitches regular, and to assist in driving the needle through
the leather that since the cloth covering of the whalebone or reed rod is secured by
pasting, when its tacking to the hat gets loose, the rod itself becomes loose, and
is with difficulty secured; that when an oilcloth covering is used for the rod
the hand sewing defaces and mars the glazed surface of the oilcloth, where
most exposed, since the sewer has to push the needle through it in order to secure
a hold for attaching the leather.
It is the purpose of the present Invention to remove these difficulties as will now
be set out and explained in detail.

page_text: By means of a Blanchard overseaming or any other zig-zag sewing machine are
united the ends of the lining leather already fitted to the size of hat required,
or else by hand sewing.
Using the same sewing machine, and having the lining leather thus united at the
ends (making a circular band), the raw edge of the leather band A is so placed that
it will lay over the spring rod C of the band B, shown in Figure 1.
The position of these parts will be as shown in Figure 2; they are then fed
through the machine, so that the needle will take outside, alternately, the leather
edge, but within the rod C, and through the cloth covering B of the spring band;
then within the leather edge, but without this rod C and its covering B. Before
sewing all round the leather, the operator should connect the ends of the rod C
by the ferrule D, Figure 1, or else pass the ends of the rod by each other, properly
arranging and lapping the covering strip B. When the ends meet, then finish the
sewing; when the covering B is tacked into the hat, or is brought around parallel
to the leather A, it will be found that the sewing is rolled over, as in Figure 3, so
that it will not come into contact with the head of the wearer of the hat, while the
rod C itself and not its covering is securely fastened to the leather.
Figures 6, 7, and 8 are upper, under, and folded views of another method of
carrying out this Invention. In these the spring band is not prepared as in Figure 1,
but the leather A, covering B, and spring rod C are each separate, and are united
by one sewing. It is made by placing the cloth B under the edge of the leather A
and the rod C, beneath both, the stitch is then taken alternately within and without
the edge of the leather A, cach time through the covering B, and alternately on one
side, and then on the other of the rod C.
Figure 5 shows an oilcloth or other covering secured to the spring rod C by
stitching instead of pasting, as in Figure 1.
Figures 4, 9, and 10 show still a third method of preparing a lining leather,
according to present Invention, and is well adapted to oilcloth or other covering
for the spring rod where the edge of the rod is wanted to show, and the edge of the
band to be essentially light. It is made by placing the leather A over the cloth B
with its edge close to the rod C, as is shown in Figure 4, and then stitching
within and without the edge of the leather, but each time within the rod Č
and through the covering B. The stitching as it appears on the under side is shown
in Figure 9.
The edge of the band can be made to set off or flare out, as is shown in Figure 10,
by stretching the edge of the leather or setting back the spring rod. If preferred,
these can be sewed with a straight instead of an over-edge stitch, although the over-
edge stitch, besides its other advantages, will stand the strain of stretching and
blocking.
Figure 11 shows the rod C stitched directly to the edge of the leather A and
covering B, secured in any proper manner by stitching or pasting to the body of the
leather A, in order that it, B, may be used in securing the leather to the hat. A
perfectly prepared lining leather, as shown in Figure 12, is thus produced, which is
adapted to either stiff or soft felt or straw hats, when the stitching of the leather
directly to the body of the hat would be objectionable from the liability of the
perspiration to follow the sewing threads, and thus soil the outer finish of the
hat. The appearance of the band or leather thus prepared is better, and its
durability greater than when hand sewed; it is much more cheaply made, and can
be as easily tacked to the hat body by an independent stitching which cannot act
as a conductor of perspiration.
If preferred the bands can be prepared in straight strips and afterwards fitted,
united, and finished by hand, and still retain the advantages above referred to. A
cord can be fed along the edge of the leather, so as to cover it, and yet be secured
by the same stitching as shown at e, in Figure 13.
The spring rod C so supports the circular band, as it is being stitched to it,"
that no difficulty will be experienced in stitching round the circle since the rod
keeps the edge of the circular leather band up in the line of the feed,

page_text: Under some circumstances, and for certain uses, instead of a spring rod there
may be substituted twine, wire, or a slightly projecting edge made of tape or folded
cloth, or a cord on the plain or folded edge can be employed with good results.
By this method a lining leather can be prepared in less than two minutes, when
from 20 to 30 minutes are required by hand. These leathers are prepared free from
the hat, while by the old way they are not. The sewing is perfectly regular, indeed
better without prick-marking. By this method the rod itself is stretched to the
leather as well as its covering, and so cannot get free. Oilcloth covered rods can be
sewed to the leathers without injury to their exposed surface, while the edges of the
leathers can be corded as nicely as by the best hand workmanship.
The second part of the Invention relates to the means for attaching the lining
leather to a hat body by mechanical means.
Figure 14 is a perspective view showing the process of sewing or attaching the
lining leather to a hat according to the present Invention.
Figures 15 and 16 are details to show different methods of sewing the slip to
the hat.
Figure 17 is a detail to show how the ends of the spring are slipped on each
other.
Figure 18 is a perspective of the slip spring.
Figure 19 is a view in partial section to show the position of the hat when
set for sewing in relation to a line drawn vertically to the bed plate of a sewing
machine.
The only sewing machines now in use among the manufacturers gauge from the
bend of the brim on the outside of the hat, stitch straight, and are only used on the
cheaper grades of goods, necessarily their bed plates are cut away to the feed in
order to present the hat to the sewing mechanism. But by this Invention all
difficulty in machine sewing on any straight sewing machine is obviated, and this
work can be done on all grades of goods with equal advantage, while this Invention
can be carried out on any such machine. I prefer to use the Blanchard overseaming
or some herring-bone or zig-zag sewing machine, since with them the edge of the
leather can be whipped down, and a cord can be put along the edge of the leather
more evenly and with a better appearance than by hand, while the elasticity of the
stitch will allow the hat to be "blocked or fitted without danger of the stitches
breaking.
"
This method allows the bed plate of the machine to be perfectly flat, as indicated
in Figure 14. A spring J, Figure 18, is used which can be placed on the inside of
the hat before it is placed on the machine. This spring preserves the oval shape of
the hat, which is essential in order that the operator may make the seam where
required without it or its equivalent; it will be found that the tubular top of the
hat will be inclined to flatten, thus taking the circle around which it is necessary
to sew out of the line of the feed, and owing to the peculiar shape of the hat body
the operator will find it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to make a perfect
and regular seam, the more especially if he should attempt to feed in the edge of
the lining leather at the same time, while this spring J can be placed directly
against the body of the hat, and the leather H fed under the presser foot to a
gauge as desired;
the spring J is made to perform a double purpose, viz., preserve
the shape of the hat and also hold the lining leather H in its proper place while
being sewed, so that the operator can use the edge of the leather thus set as the
guide for his seam and sewing.
To describe the process more in detail the leather H is fitted to the hat G, then
the ends of the leather H are seamed together by hand sewing or the Blanchard
overseam; the leather H thus made circular is put into its place in the hat so its
edge will come properly on the bend of the brim, and finally the slip spring J is
placed inside of the leather and set out until the leather is brought firmly against
the body of the hat; everything is thus made ready for sewing. If a straight seam
is desired the brim is slipped under the needle so that the seam will be made at a

page_text: proper distance from its edge, then gauging from the edge of the leather stitch is
made directly round the hat.
If a Blanchard overseaming or zig-zag sewing machine is to be used the hat is
placed under the machine, so the needle will take alternately within the leather and
outside the same, then gauge and sew as before.
If a cord is required around the edge of the leather the machine is arranged, so
the cord will be fed into its proper place as the sewing is being done, and the stitch
outside of the leather shall pass through or over it as may be preferred. Either a
stationary or rolling presser foot can be used on the machine. A lining leather can
thus be stitched to a hat body in one minute, while by hand sewing it now requires
twenty minutes, or longer, to do this.
The slip spring of metal or other suitable material can be either flat or like a
barrel hasp flaring, Figure 18, with the ends, Figure 17, brought around by each
other, and held in place by the bands j, j, which are attached to either end and
pass over the body of the spring; thus the ends are free to slip, and the spring can
be made small or extended out until the end bands meet. To put the spring into
its place in the hat the ends are slipped along until the circle of the spring is smaller
than the body of the hat, then place it in the hat and extend or press it out until
it meets the size of the hat body G, and it sets the leather H firmly in position.
The tendency of the spring to open will keep it in place.
Figures 15 and 16 show devices for preventing any tendency which the spring
may have to slip, owing to the peculiar shapes which the hat bodies may have.
Figure 15 shows a hollow boss j¹ put on the spring J, in which is a piece of cork
or other suitable material M. Having arranged the leather in the hat and set in
place the spring J, the pin N can then be forced from the outside through both the
hat body G and leather H, and its point be imbedded in and held by M.
Figure 16 shows a suitable dent or offset o made when desired on the front odgo
of the spring J; indeed the pin points can be attached to the spring and project
outward, or any simple method used, when necessary, to keep the spring securely
in its place, and the leather H. also.
The pliable character of the spring allows the oval to be flattened at points when
inclined to rise away from the needle and plate through careless guiding of the
operator; indeed it will be found to be much more convenient, and to answer as
well to have the movements of the hat absolutely controlled by being made to
revolve on variable centres on the principle of the oval chuck which has also
been used.
When the hat bodies are weak or objection is found to marking the outside of
the hat with the feed, a circular band of leather or other material may be placed on
the outside, which serves to take the chafing of the feed; also to prevent the inside
pressure from disturbing the hat body.
Since the sewing penetrates through the body of the hat in order to prevent the
perspiration following the stitching, the stitching is waterproofed with liquid
rubber or any of the well-known substances.
It is not necessary that the ends of the leather H should be united before being
sewed into the hat, as the leather can be placed in position with their free ends
lapped.
The edge of the brim of the hat can also be corded, as shown in Figure 14, or
it can be turned over and whipped down, as is also shown by the same Figure. In
cording it is necessary to have a pressure on the cord as near as possible to the
points of perforation of the needle in order to prevent the cord from turning when
the needle is first entering it, and so be shied off and broken.
Having thus described the Invention, I would have it understood that what I
claim as new and desire to secure by the herein in part recited Letters Patent is,--
First. A lining leather for hats with an attaching slip and spring band connected
to the slip, all combined and prepared, substantially in the manner and for the
purposes set forth.
Second. The combination of a spring rod band with the edge of a lining leather

page_text: by a stitch within and without the edge of said leather, but encircling said rod
substantially as described.
Third. The combination of a spring rod to and with the edge of the lining leather
by stitching within and without the edge of the leather, but within the spring rod
and each time through the lapped covering of the same, substantially as and for
the purposes set forth.
Fourth. The combination of a spring rod to and with the edge of a lining
leather with a cord along the edge of said leather, substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
Fifth. As a new article of manufacture a circular spring band lining leather, the
several parts united and combined by overseaming or zig-zag sewing, substantially
in the manner set forth.
Sixth. The process of uniting an independent attaching slip having a spring
rod or its equivalent, substantially as described, to the edge of a lining leather by
overseaming or zig-zag sewing, substantially in the manner and for the purposes
set forth.
Seventh. The slip spring J with bands ; and dents or bosses as described, for
preventing its slipping, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Eighth. In machine hat sewing the process of holding the leather by inde-
pendent spring pressure attached or applied inside the hat, substantially as and
for the purposes described.
Ninth. In the process of sewing hat bodies on a sewing machine, the use of the
outer edge of the leather as a guage, substantially as set forth.
Tenth. The process herein described for sewing lining leathers to hat bodies,
which consists in placing the leather H between the circular spring J and the hat G,
substantially as shown and described, so that the sewing may be done on the flat
surface of the bed plates of a sewing machine, substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
Eleventh. The process of sewing hat leathers to hat bodies, and at the same time.
cording the edge of the leather by a Blanchard overseaming or zig-zag sewing
machine, substantially as described.
Twelfth. The within-described process of attaching hat leathers to hat bodies,
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Morgan-Brown, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
WILLIAM MORGAN-BROWN. (LS.)