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msmcknittingtonI finally finished my mid-nineteenth century bonnet. It's a mishmash of the middle decades when it comes to decoration, but I'd wear it to a Civil War reenactment and not feel like too much of a farb. Well, except for all the craft glue.
I know, I kind of look like a goon, but all the others were blurry. I'll try to get some better ones tomorrow if there's enough light.
What: Mid-nineteenth century bonnet
Inspiring images: CDV 64, CDV 67, CDV 60, CDV 83
Pattern: Butterick 4210 Historical Hats
Materials: Buckram and milliner's wire from Judith M Millinery, black cotton velvet from the stash, pink silk chiffon from Fashion Fabrics Club, blue cotton muslin from the stash, fabric/plastic flowers from Wal-Mart, polyester satin ribbon from Wal-Mart, lots and lots and lots of craft glue, 1/4" black velvet ribbon, buttonhole twist
There are more photos, including a larger one of the above photo, and description under the cut.
A larger view of the bonnet on. It looks like it's bent, but it was actually just knocked crooked by the chair behind me. I need to sew some stronger ties on to take the stress of tying because the satin just isn't doing enough. I would have loved to have better ribbons for the bonnet, but I could not bring myself to pay more for the ribbon than I did for the rest of the hat. Stupid 4-inch silk ribbon, why must you be so expensive?
The bonnet also doesn't sit as well as it might because I just had my hair cut, and went from mid-shoulder blade length to collar-length. It's really cute on me, but it doesn't work well for anything before the 1920s.
Here it is modeled by my tailor's ham. I don't have a mannequin head, so Miss Taylor Hamm it was. As you can see, the hat's a mish-mash of different fashions in bonnet trimming from 1840-1870. It has gathered pink chiffon on the interior of the brim, which is only one of the many ways I differed from the pattern directions. After about step two, they just became a vague guideline.
Interior of the bonnet. The blue cotton muslin helps stop the hat from sliding around so much. I kind of made up the construction of the lining on my own. The directions called for coating the interior of the buckram with glue and smacking the lining in there, which I thought was dumb, so I slipstitched it to the chiffon (which was glued down beforehand) and then glued it at the neck, because I am lazy. Then I glued the bonnet skirt over that. It possibly could have been a better idea to glue the skirt on and then glue the lining down, but I didn't think that far ahead. And the pattern directions called for the skirt to glued to the outside. I think my way is a slight improvement over that.
I basted the dark pink flower garland on with white thread to the chiffon. You can barely see some of the white thread at the right hand end of the garland. It still looked sparse after that and the plastic base showed through, so I grabbed the lighter pink buds and dispersed them artistically and strategically throughout.
Back o' the bonnet. The green ribbon hides the seam between the bonnet skirt the body and the seam between the brim and the body. I gathered it at two or three inch intervals and then glued (ha ha! Laziness is rampant!) it down at those points. The ribbon along the brim seam continues into the ribbon ties, which hang to my waist when tied. At the junction of the two lines of ribbon, I put some double bows, which can be seen in the next photo.
To make the double bows, I took four or five inches of ribbon, sewed it together with a slanting stitch, and then pinched it in the middle. I wrapped the thread around the center a couple times, tied it off, and then cut it. I made another bow the same way, and then tacked the two together in the middle. I then folded a piece of the ribbon in thirds lengthwise so it made a tube, and sewed that in place around the middle. With a generous amount of glue, I attached the bows to the hat. Repeat for the other side.
Would I use the pattern again? I don't know. I like this hat, but there features of the pattern I don't like. Like the way the brim attaches to the body of the hat. It makes for a very ugly connect, and you need to have it trimmed there or people will make faces at you behind your back. I'd like to use another view in the same pattern (the dinner table sized Edwardian hat), but I'm sure I'll modify it as highly as I did this one. The jury remains out.
What I would do differently: I'd be less lazy and use far less craft glue. I used an entire four ounce bottle on this project, which I think is a little ridiculous. If I made another bonnet of the same shape, I'd probably end up doing a chiffon/netting drawn bonnet on a wire frame with purple ribbon and pink flowers -- light as a feather and incredibly frilly. I'd also probably scale down the ornamentation a little.
Favorite part of the project: Decorating, by far. I still have an enormous ostrich plume that I may or may not attach, depending on whether or not I can bring myself to emulate fashion plates. Honestly, it might be more fashion than I can handle.
I know, I kind of look like a goon, but all the others were blurry. I'll try to get some better ones tomorrow if there's enough light.
What: Mid-nineteenth century bonnet
Inspiring images: CDV 64, CDV 67, CDV 60, CDV 83
Pattern: Butterick 4210 Historical Hats
Materials: Buckram and milliner's wire from Judith M Millinery, black cotton velvet from the stash, pink silk chiffon from Fashion Fabrics Club, blue cotton muslin from the stash, fabric/plastic flowers from Wal-Mart, polyester satin ribbon from Wal-Mart, lots and lots and lots of craft glue, 1/4" black velvet ribbon, buttonhole twist
There are more photos, including a larger one of the above photo, and description under the cut.
A larger view of the bonnet on. It looks like it's bent, but it was actually just knocked crooked by the chair behind me. I need to sew some stronger ties on to take the stress of tying because the satin just isn't doing enough. I would have loved to have better ribbons for the bonnet, but I could not bring myself to pay more for the ribbon than I did for the rest of the hat. Stupid 4-inch silk ribbon, why must you be so expensive?
The bonnet also doesn't sit as well as it might because I just had my hair cut, and went from mid-shoulder blade length to collar-length. It's really cute on me, but it doesn't work well for anything before the 1920s.
Here it is modeled by my tailor's ham. I don't have a mannequin head, so Miss Taylor Hamm it was. As you can see, the hat's a mish-mash of different fashions in bonnet trimming from 1840-1870. It has gathered pink chiffon on the interior of the brim, which is only one of the many ways I differed from the pattern directions. After about step two, they just became a vague guideline.
Interior of the bonnet. The blue cotton muslin helps stop the hat from sliding around so much. I kind of made up the construction of the lining on my own. The directions called for coating the interior of the buckram with glue and smacking the lining in there, which I thought was dumb, so I slipstitched it to the chiffon (which was glued down beforehand) and then glued it at the neck, because I am lazy. Then I glued the bonnet skirt over that. It possibly could have been a better idea to glue the skirt on and then glue the lining down, but I didn't think that far ahead. And the pattern directions called for the skirt to glued to the outside. I think my way is a slight improvement over that.
I basted the dark pink flower garland on with white thread to the chiffon. You can barely see some of the white thread at the right hand end of the garland. It still looked sparse after that and the plastic base showed through, so I grabbed the lighter pink buds and dispersed them artistically and strategically throughout.
Back o' the bonnet. The green ribbon hides the seam between the bonnet skirt the body and the seam between the brim and the body. I gathered it at two or three inch intervals and then glued (ha ha! Laziness is rampant!) it down at those points. The ribbon along the brim seam continues into the ribbon ties, which hang to my waist when tied. At the junction of the two lines of ribbon, I put some double bows, which can be seen in the next photo.
To make the double bows, I took four or five inches of ribbon, sewed it together with a slanting stitch, and then pinched it in the middle. I wrapped the thread around the center a couple times, tied it off, and then cut it. I made another bow the same way, and then tacked the two together in the middle. I then folded a piece of the ribbon in thirds lengthwise so it made a tube, and sewed that in place around the middle. With a generous amount of glue, I attached the bows to the hat. Repeat for the other side.
Would I use the pattern again? I don't know. I like this hat, but there features of the pattern I don't like. Like the way the brim attaches to the body of the hat. It makes for a very ugly connect, and you need to have it trimmed there or people will make faces at you behind your back. I'd like to use another view in the same pattern (the dinner table sized Edwardian hat), but I'm sure I'll modify it as highly as I did this one. The jury remains out.
What I would do differently: I'd be less lazy and use far less craft glue. I used an entire four ounce bottle on this project, which I think is a little ridiculous. If I made another bonnet of the same shape, I'd probably end up doing a chiffon/netting drawn bonnet on a wire frame with purple ribbon and pink flowers -- light as a feather and incredibly frilly. I'd also probably scale down the ornamentation a little.
Favorite part of the project: Decorating, by far. I still have an enormous ostrich plume that I may or may not attach, depending on whether or not I can bring myself to emulate fashion plates. Honestly, it might be more fashion than I can handle.