If I Had My Own Blue Box:

If you would have told me a year ago if I would be making an announcement like this, I wouldn’t have believed it.

I am very excited to share that this summer, my straw millinery will be seen in the new

Little House on the Prairie!!!!!

Season 1, premiering July 9th on Netflix, will feature an assortment of my straw hats. You can get a peek at one of my at the 17 second mark in the second teaser video:

The good news is: I am in the midst of a special millinery project that will consume my time through April and May. While I am excited to share what this project is, I  can not at the moment. I will as soon as I am able.

The bad news is: I will not be able to add hats & bonnets to my Etsy shop for several weeks. I plan to resume regular shop drops in June with an assortment of pieces.

If you are going to Market Fair, you are in luck! Bevin will be there with an assortment of my Bergères. I welcome you to take this opportunity to see my work in person.

What does it take to create a historically accurate straw bonnet or hat?

I suspect each historical milliner and costumer will answer this question differently.

For me, creating a historically accurate straw bonnet or hat form comes down to three things:
~ An understanding of shape
~ Accurate (available) materials
~ Period techniques

Of course, I would like to include solid research as a foundation.

Shape

Each style of straw millinery throughout the nineteenth-century, be it hat or bonnet, has a particular shape. Often, this shape is an evolution from a previous shape into the next shape. A brim might rise or recede. Cheektabs may narrow or extend. A crown may lift or flatten. The change in shape creates a fluid transition from one style to another.

I find when working with straw plait by hand, the shifts in shape in one area of a bonnet or hat
to be directly connected to the changes in another. Each row of plait influences the next as it is influenced by the one before. Tension. Pressure. Pressure. All coaxing curve, height, or depth into place.

Because of this, I see the fluid transition from one shape into the next, one style into the next to be interconnected with the straw itself.

Materials

This, of course, brings us to materials. The core material of a straw bonnet or hat being straw. It is nearly impossible to get the amazing straw plaits used in the nineteenth century today. When taking into account their straw, width, thickness, fine plaiting, even the most common base plait simply does not exist. This is without even considering the fancier plaits available at the time.

When looking at the straw plait currently available, variety still exists. I can tell you what is available today in 2026 is different than what was available in 2016. Both whole plait and split plait were in use in the 19th century, with split plait being more common. Today, whole plait is the norm as split plait needs to be worked by hand. Most straw plait is now made with a straw plaiting machine either in China or Italy. These machines use whole straws rather than split straws (literally a straw split into smaller, finer pieces). This means, in general, plait is thicker than split plait 200 years ago. Whole straw plait is also tougher to work with, meaning it has more body requiring more tension from the hands to manipulate. Even the narrowest 4mm whole plait has more body than its split plait counterpart.

The advantage of whole plait is its strength, durability, and longevity.Whole plait paired with full wiring and water soluble sizing can create a bonnet or hat that will last for a decade or more. It can be re-trimmed, reshaped, and repaired all while maintaining historical accuracy.

Period Techniques

Prior to the introduction of the straw sewing machine, straw plait was sewn by hand. Stitches were short on the outside, long on the inside. Sewing a bonnet or hat by hand allowed time for shapes to be created through manipulating the straw plait. The hand control in sewing process created the piece’s shape while the millinery block guided the shape as a pattern would, then solidified the shape in the blocking/sizing process. I find this encouraged the changes in shape we see from the beginning of the century through the 1860s.

As the 1860s closed, the straw sewing machine was introduced to the process, beginning with binding. From this point on, the detail of shape shifts from being a partnership between hands and straw to reliance on the millinery block as mold.

For me, historical accuracy in straw millinery is a melding of knowledge of shape, materials, and technique. By understanding how nineteenth-century milliners worked with their materials rather than against them and the techniques they used, an understanding of the fashionable shapes naturally develops.

It is very important to me that people have the knowledge to make informed decisions about their millinery.  Historically accurate bonnets & hats are expensive. I myself have never been in a financial position to purchase. This is why I had to learn to make my own. I would love to be able to gift everyone a free copy of my Straw Bonnet Workbook & From Field to Fashion.  But, I can not afford to. Instead, I’ve decided to offer it half price this month. My hope is people will read it and make informed decisions about their purchases or try their hand at their own.

Driving into work the other morning, I was thinking about late 1860s hats when it occurred to me I hadn’t tried the late 1860s fanchon since acquiring the mid-1860s bonnet blocks. These bonnets, sometimes called “half bonnets” in museum collections, have been something of an enigma since I started working with straw. They are an odd, sorta two-sided, sorta three-sided shape that cups the back top of the head. In straw, they are often this base shape, or a variation of this base shape, with a plain plait or decorative plait wrapping around the edge. It is entirely possible, more likely probable, that many of these were cut down from straw bonnets of previous seasons as the styles shrunk.

This brings me back to my original millinery blocks.

Visually,  when the outer rows of plait are removed from these little bonnets, the core base shape is quite similar to the crown shape on this fanchon bonnet block from the mid-1860s.

It was a eureka moment.

It took a couple days before I finally had time to pull that shape from this block and sit down to work with it.

It was very tempting to create most of an earlier bonnet to see if I could cut this shape from it. I refrained because I didn’t want to waste the straw.

I am pleased with the result.

I have some fine tuning in mind for the next one. I’d like to push the center front forward a bit more. I started to on this one but pulled back not wanting too much of a triangle look. I may also try to flare the front edge a bit.

In the process, I found something important: The shape worked in straw cups the curve of the back of the head. The curve lands perfectly on my smaller head. For me, there is a significant difference between this shape and the flat shape I see reflected in other attempts at this bonnet.

I edged this bonnet first with plain plait, then with a fancy, two-tone decorative braid worked on a “loom” recently made for me. I really like the look.

Sadly, this is one of those styles that is hard to photograph. 

The good news, that is also the bad news:

I will be posting this bonnet in my Etsy shop Sunday evening at 6:00 Eastern Time.

This bonnet will be the last of my semi-weekly millinery shop drops for a couple months. I am wrapping up one special project and rolling into a large special project. This project will take nearly every minute of the next two months.

I don’t have the green light to share what that project is yet. But, I will say it is one I am excited about. I think you will be excited as well.

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Adding some additional information on fanchon bonnets:

I am very excited to announce I started a new series on Patreon:

Beyond Silk & Straw.

This storytelling series will explore a variety of topics from information about me and how I do things to memories about research, collecting, and events.

I currently have several posts live and scheduled into April, including:

• Where did Fanciful Utility start?
• My First Antique
• Making Something from Nothing – Working from Scraps
• Antiqing with Dad was often taken to a new level
• In the Wild
• Favorite Finds: A Little Box of Joy
• Favorite Finds: My Coffee Table is Not a Table
• Favorite Finds: Don’t Tell A Book By It’s Cover

Alongside this series, I also have a From My Collection series scheduled. Both series are available to all paid Patreon subscribers.

Did you know there are ways to save in my Etsy shop?

Save yourself 10% by using coupon code MYWHIMSEY10

Help me save 6% in shop fees by using the Share & Save link where my shop name comes before Etsy: https://amillinerswhimsy.etsy.com

If you are looking for a way to encourage me as I try to write more while I need to sew less, consider supporting me through Patreon.

I just learned one of my sweet 1880s capote bonnets is in the movie Sod & Stubble!

I just love how it looks it the romantic scene in the trailer:

Watch it on Amazon Prime. Grab a box of tissues!

Kind of an absurd notion, isn’t it?

I should be 100% angry that Google led me to a popular platform where my Straw Bonnet Workbook was available for anyone to download for free.

But, I’m not.

Or, at least the researcher side, the educator side, the social-historian side is not.

Isn’t the goal afer all the digging, piecing together, exploring, trial & error, examining and reexamining….. to share the discoveries?

Isn’t the ideal to be able to share knowledge freely?

Part of me is happy to know someone found my work interesting enough to think, “other people need to read this.” Someone thought my work useful enough to think.”Other people need to read this.”

Shouldn’t I be happy that someone thought my work should be shared with others?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it were as simple as that?

I wish I lived a life where I could freely share all of my work; where I could research to my heart content and share what I write freely, each of my research books, each of my workbooks, each of my patterns. How great would it be to send off a free pattern to every historic site interpreter who needed to make a warm winter hood for themselves? Imagine what it would be like if I could send an accurate straw bonnet to each reennactor wanting to improve their impression. Ask any of my past event assistants whose job it was to stop me from giving too much away at events.

I truly wish I lived a life where I could freely share my work.

But, I don’t.

My work is my livelihood.

My millinery work, including my publications, is a significant portion of my income. It pays for my rent, my utlities, my food. I don’t live an extravagant life. If you ask my friends and colleagues, they will likely tell you I don’t even live an average life in terms of expenses. When I cut expenses because I don’t meet my sales goals, I am cutting my groceries, allergen free soap or moisturizer, or other things many would consider essential needs.

So, while part of me is elated someone wanted to share my work for free with the world. Another part of me is sad that I can not.

Instead, I speed sew through the weekends despite my hands hurting and needing to rest. I put aside my personal goals to make another hat for the shop. I push off going for a much needed walk so I can sew just a few more hours. I have bedtime panics about paying bills and spending hours trying to think about how I can write faster, sew faster, and promote my work more.

So, while part of me is elated, someone wanted to share my work for free. Another part of me is angry that I have to work so hard just to keep my head above water.

Thanks for listening.

(Not bad for typing in the dark.)

I am rather upset as I write this. Please bare with me. I just found one of my publications uploaded to a public site, available for free without my consent.

All of my publications—print and digital—are copyrighted.

Any versions of my e-books, e-workbooks, or e-patterns offered for free or for sale on platforms other than my Etsy shop or my Patreon are not authorized and did not come from me.

These unauthorized copies violate my intellectual property rights, undermine my work, and take income directly from a small, independent maker. I put years of research, labor, and care into what I create, and this work is how I support myself.

If you want to support my work, please purchase or access it only through my official channels. I’m grateful to those of you who already do.

If you come across my work being shared or sold elsewhere, please know that it is unethical and unlawful. The only legitimate ways to purchase or access my digital publications are through my official shops.

Thank you to everyone who supports original work and helps ensure artists and researchers can continue creating.