A visit to The Atelier-Musée du Chapeau

A visit to The Atelier-Musée du Chapeau
Covering a week’s ‘Straw-Braid Making’ course (The HAT magazine Issues 62 &70)

Chazelles-sur-Lyon, located in the undulating countryside of central France, was at the heart of French hat making for many centuries. By the early 20th century, Chazelles had become the country’s principal city for the production of high quality felt hats. At its peak in 1930, 28 factories and 2500 workers (the majority of the local population) produced felt and felt hats, exporting their famous brands around the globe. Names such as Fléchet, France and Morreton were recognised worldwide, labels with a reputation for quality and style that led the market, particularly in the menswear sector.

Then in the 1960s, as a new generation turned the tables on fashion and took to the car, the hat became an old-fashioned and discarded item. And so one by one the factories slowly closed, until in 1976 Fléchet, the last prominent name and the largest manufacturer in Chazelles, ceased production. After so many years as the central hub of the felt industry in France, the companies, and all their expertise disappeared forever.

The large Fléchet factory and its tall chimney and cobbled floors remained idle as state bureaucracy took its toll. Then in 2002 it was announced that the local hat museum in Chazelles, set up in 1983, was to be given the land and all the buildings, and the Atelier-Musée du Chapeau would become the official headwear ‘Musée de France’. Funding would come from the European Commission who had agreed to invest €9million transforming the factory into one of the largest and most comprehensive hat museums in Europe. Work soon began on this major project that would give the museum an area ten times as large as its existing ‘small space’. The new museum was officially opened in 2013.

With a new contemporary design the factory was transformed. It became not only a museum but also a European hat centre, offering spacious displays, a working demonstration area, current and historic collections, a gallery for exhibitions, workshops, a cinema and, most important of all, a training area where hatters/milliners could learn the skills from the most prominent hat makers of today.

Today the Atelier-Musée du Chapeau offers specialised hat-making courses at all levels throughout the year; for beginners interested in learning the craft; makers who want to improve and extend their knowledge; and for high level milliners, including those running their own small businesses, a chance to learn new techniques.

I visited the musée in May 2016 to cover the high level course on ‘Sewing Braided Straws’ both natural and ‘paille Zan’ (man-made braid) to be taught by Jean-Pierre Tritz, chapelier modiste.

Tuesday (Day 1): The six students gather around the table while Jean-Pierre explains that they will be working first with the man-made synthetic braid, followed by the Chinese fine natural straw braid.

They are shown the straw stitching machine, and Jean- Pierre explains all the working parts. Most important of all are the ways of adjusting the tension of the single thread and then how to position the braid in the machine, so that it sews one layer of straw on top  of another at exactly the overlap required. The single thread allows the student to easily unthread their stitching and start again when they have made a mistake.

The students are given their tables, machines and a wooden spool on which the straw is wound, and then spend time practicing threading and adjusting the tension. They work first on the synthetic braid (as it is more regular and therefore easier) learning how to use their hands  to manipulate the straw.

The students first make a circle with the straw, keeping the overlap and tension even on both hands. The next step is to master the art of increasing and decreasing the pull, and thereby changing the shape of the straw piece. Finally they learnt how  to ‘turn a corner’ with the straw, extending it at 90 degrees into a brim

Wednesday (Day 2): The students learn how to make the ‘button’ at the top of the crown, and learn to follow the shape of a crown block with the straw. At the end of Day 2 a perfect crown and brim in man-made braid, ready to be positioned and sewn together.

Th e natural straw braid needs to be thoroughly dampened before using, to make it more pliable and stop it cracking. This can be done during the day or it can be left overnight to give the straw time to absorb the water. Here they are using a 5/6mm braid which Jean-Pierre had soaked in water overnight and hung up to drain, turning it (if possible) after 2 or 3 hours.

Thursday (Day 4): The first lesson today was to learn how to make the ‘rontonchon’, the button in the centre of the straw crown. This is where the braiding begins. Jean-Pierre showed the students several crown blocks, to explain the different button shapes suitable for each type of crown.

In the afternoon they selected a simple brim block, in French this is called a ‘plot’. They take the measurements of the block and copy the shape using the natural straw.

The whole group had now become quite confident about sewing the braid. Here Angéline has made a one-piece trilby for her husband.

I was so proud of them that we assembled many of the hats they had made this week, with super tutor Jean-Pierre Tritz, and took our photo. From left to right: Clara Mocquot, Julie Dubois, Isabelle Grange, Jean- Pierre Tritz, Carole (me), Bénédicte Fontaine, Angéline Corre and Manon Dessert.

Further coverage of this article, including a chat with each of the students, and coverage of Musée’s biennial international competition can be read in The Hat Magazine Issue 70 – now available from Denford Publishing.

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