Mid-stitch, I decided to grab the mail since it is so hot outside. I figured the video below would be a funny unboxing as I opened a package of a silly purchase. The photos in the listing showed what looked like an odd, fadded, tattered hood. I wasn’t sure what my $11 purchase was going to be.
If you are looking over at the photo on the right, you may be confused or thinking “what is the big deal about that plain thing?”
Well…. This plain looking hood is an oddity. It turns out I am completely perplexed…. And very glad I bought this on a whim.
As you watch the video, you’ll see me going from assumptions to questions. I suspect my tone changes in the video too, as I start realizing just how odd this oddity is.
I mention a few featured in the video. These photos show those areas better:
The inner lining that looked like it might be net or dotted fabric in the listing. The fabric is tiny printed hexegons in black.
The pink, bias cut cotton ties attached with black threads and (below) the location of previous ties.
The wear spot that made me re-question the fiber content of the exterior and interior fabric.
The neat corner where the crown/bavolet piece joins to the brim. This areaseems to be very skillfully done by hand, while the machine stitched quilting is not even. (I am trying not to jump to the conclusion that quilting by machine was newer to the maker.)
Early on, I say it is not wool and not silk. This was too quick of a statement. Not having a clue what this material is, I asked Instagram and Facebook colleagues for assistance in identifying the material and fiber. The up close images are taken with the little National Geographic phone microscope I ordered from Michaels at the beginning of lockdown.
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I also took some close-ups of the inner lining.
If I Had My Own Blue Box: 
I’ll need to talk with Marna. At first I was thinking this was later 1800s into the 1900s. But, now that I am looking closer at the fabric and the possibility of it beeing wool/linen, I am reconsidering earlier.
For your sun bonnet, was it the brim with the bavolet or crown with the bavolet? This is the crown with the bavolet.
So the reverse of this.
I might have said it wrong. I was so surprised to see that.
The brim and curtain/bavoloet cut as one piece is the same as the 1840 corded bonnet I made for the 2020 sunbonnet challenge – though the bavolet on this hood is much shorter. I got the pattern from Marna Davis. You can cut the inner and outer brim as one piece with the curtain, or cut the inner brim separately. Curious, huh?
Brim with the bavolet. The crown was a separate piece.
Yes, I thought you said in the video that the brim and the bavolet were one piece? I guess I misunderstood.