Plastic canvas hat construction question

[gem]

I have tall hat patterns from Lynn McMasters and Margo Anderson. The LM pattern can be constructed with either buckram or plastic (needlepoint) canvas; the MA just calls for plastic canvas. BOTH patterns call for staystitching around the "head hole" in the brim... which makes sense for buckram, but how on earth does one staystitch plastic canvas?

I cut my needles on plastic canvas needlepoint as a girl, so am rather intimately familiar with the stuff, and have made several hats with it... but this step is stymieing me!

??
Thanks!

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

I have used Plastic Canvas for Gabled Hoods, but not regular hats. For them, I use the super heavy duty buckram used for theater that holds up well under heat and lighting. 18 Gauge Millinery wire, wide Bias tape, plenty of hand sewing is involved.

[Lady Rosalind]

I have tall hat patterns from Lynn McMasters and Margo Anderson. The LM pattern can be constructed with either buckram or plastic (needlepoint) canvas; the MA just calls for plastic canvas. BOTH patterns call for staystitching around the "head hole" in the brim... which makes sense for buckram, but how on earth does one staystitch plastic canvas?

I cut my needles on plastic canvas needlepoint as a girl, so am rather intimately familiar with the stuff, and have made several hats with it... but this step is stymieing me!

??
Thanks!

You don't have to stay stitch around the plastic, but rather the fabric part of the brim. I just ignore what seems to not fit, LOL. I've made both patterns, and I LOVE the Lynn McMaster's one. The Margo one ended up looking more like a man's top hat than a tall hat.

[gem]

Thanks, you two.

I decided to go with the buckram, because there were too many steps that I just couldn't work out how to do with the PC (like all the gluing!). I have just finished wiring all the bits. What fun!

But note to self for future: DO NOT BE FOOLED by patterns that "only" have three pieces... particularly when you have to add the seam allowances yourself. OMG! It took FOREVER to trace & cut everything out! Next time: add the S/As to the pattern FIRST.

Lady R, this is actually LM's "Arched Brim Elizabethan Hat," which is not really the silhouette I was looking for. I can't find a pattern for the hat I do want, which is a tall hat with a slanted-back crown, like the one de Heere's London townswoman is wearing:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/De_Heere_Gentlewomen_and_Countrywoman.jpg

...And it looks like Alyx Iannetta is wearing here:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/271060471298184784/

Both the LM and MA tall hat patterns have straight crowns and flat brims, not a slanted crown and curved brim. The arched-brim hat from LM is too short and the brim curve is *too* curved... moreover, it looks weird on me. But the straight variety looks *really* weird on me, and I don't understand hat architecture well enough to be able to alter either pattern to get what I want, so I'm committed to this one! LOL

...But I think I'll go for the Italian bonnet next.