Left – The bonnet is trimmed with a row of daisies around the edge. The crown is formed of loops of ribbon and flowers, and a fall of white lace takes the place of a curtain.
Center – A fall bonnet of blonde lace constitutes the curtain. The inside trimming is of blonde lace and a small scarlet feather.
Right – White bonnet, trimmed with black lace. A black feather is laid over the front, an on the right side where the black feather is fastened is a large tuft of pink roses. 
Bonnet for light mourning. The front is black velvet. The crown is soft and formed of white tulle, which is covered with a fanchon of black and white plaid silk, edged with bugle fringe. On the left side of the crown is a spray of white flowers. The cape is of black velvet, trimmed with a bias band of plaid silk. The inside trimming is of pearl color, and white flowers, and white. (Godey’s, November, 1864)
Black velvet bonnet, timed with white silk edged with black lace. On the front is a large white flower, surrounded with scarlet velvet leaves. The inside trimming is of scarlet velvet and black lace. (Godey’s, November, 1864)
Bonnet for light mourning. The front is of black silk. The crown and cape of white silk covered with black lace. The flowers, both outside and in, are of violet velvet. (Godey’s, November, 1864)
White silk curtainless bonnet, timed with black velvet, black lace, large black beads, and sprays of orange-colored velvet flowers.
Evening bonnet of white crepe, trimmed with mauve feathers. A fall of blonde lace loops of mauve velvet take the place of a cape. A tulle veil ties under the chin, and is a substitute for the side caps. Over the forehead is a pink rose, with buds and leaves. (Godey’s, December, 1864)
This is a question I love to hear and I love to answer.
You can find and purchase my book, Fanciful Utility: Victorian Sewing Cases and Needle-books, at The Sewing Academy.
Fanciful Utility makes an excellent gift for reenactors, museum friends, seamstresses, quilters, and anyone crafty with a needle and thread.
Fanciful Utility is packed full of projects, complete with directions and templates, for rolled sewing cases, sewing boxes and needle-books.
Left – White [unent] velvet bonnet, with white plume.
Center – bonnet of white plush, with soft crown of purple velvet. The trimming is composed of purple velvet and scarlet and white flowers
Right White corded silk bonnet, trimmed with jet black feathers, a purple tip, and fancy grasses. (November Godey’s 1864)
This past weekend was the Genesee Country Village & Museum’s first Domestic Skills Symposium. Saturday was filled with 4 exceptional presentations and an incredible period lunch, while Friday and Sunday held workshops throughout the day. Attendees came from approx 6 states and Canada to participate. I really enjoyed meeting new people and catching up with old friends during our sewing.
While Saturday was a drizzly chilly day suited to being inside for the presentations, Sunday was bright. The sun made all the fall colors sparkle. You can see the beautiful colors out the window of Foster, where I taught a rolled sewing case workshop in the morning and a sewing box workshop in the afternoon.
The kitchen of Foster was toasty warm and very welcoming after the morning’s chill. Here is our work table all ready for the first workshop. Attendees were able to choose from an assortment of pre-cut 19th century reproduction fabrics selected at the local Chestnut Bay. In the center, you can see the projects of the day along with the free Fanciful Utility templates available on this blog (a button-keep aka “balloon-bag”, a boot needle-book, and a shell needle-book)
Here are a couple photos from the morning class. Everyone was so focused on their work there were times the room was silent. It was so quiet actually, we learned we really could hear a pin drop. In fact, a pin makes quite the ding noise as it hits a painted floor cloth.
I neglected to take photos in the afternoon as my phone died. We completely lost track of time too.
Left – Curtainless bonnet. Gray chip bonnet, trimmed with scarlet daises. A fall of black lace is arranged for the crown, over which is a bow of scarlet velvet. Scarlet daisies and black lace form the inside trimming.
Right – Fancy gray straw bonnet, having the crown covered with blue hanging flowers. (Godey’s, October, 1864)
1 White corded silk front, with puffed silk crown edged with black velvet ribbon, which is fastened inside the front of the bonnet, is carried to the centre of the crown, where it finishes in a point from which to hang clusters of grapes with foliage. Inside trimming is of tulle, scarlet velvet, and purple grapes. 
2 Eve bonnet of puffed white tulle, with small pointed cape. The front edge of the bonnet and cape are edged with a double row of Marquerites. The same flower, mingled with tulle, foems the inside trimming. 
3 The front of the bonnet is of quilted gray silk. The crown is soft, and of plain silk crossed with black velvet. Deep blue flowers are arranged on the lower part of the crown, and instead of the curtain are loops of ribbon and lace. The inside trimming is of tulle, black lace, and blue flowers. 
4 Bonnet formed of rows of violine-colored ribbon, arranged in points. The outside is trimmed with a half wreath of lilies of the vally and a violine-colored feather. The inside trimming is of violine velvet and white flowers. 
5 Reception bonnet of white royal velvet, with a short cape formed of two rows of blonde. On the outside are white camelias with scarlet velvet leaves. Inside are blonde caps, small white flowers, with coral centres and scarlet leaves. 
White silk bonnet, with crown of Azurline blue velvet. On the edge of the bonnet is a roll which is strapped with narrow blue velvet. Inside is a very large cluster of blue daisies and grasses. Daisies and grasses are also arranged on the outside of the bonnet. 
There are just 3 days until the Genesee Country Village’s Domestic Skill Symposium.
I will be teaching two workshops on Sunday. We will be making a rolled sewing case in the morning and a sewing box in the afternoon.
Some of you may know I am an obsessive pre-planner. That being so, I pre-cut the fabric in my mind a half dozen times before actually starting cutting it last night. Yep, that’s me.
But, check out these pretty fabrics: 
Each one is a reproduction cotton from my favorite fabrics shop: Chestnut Bay.
How great is it to have a fabric shop with a reproduction room so close by?!?
When I sat down to cut, I opted not to use the larger prints because I thought that would be unfair to participants. Plus, bigger prints are harder to work with if you happen to be one obsessive about centering motives or getting balance or symmetry.
I am so excited, not only to hold my workshops but also to see the museum hold this symposium. They have such a great venue for this.
Bonnet for light mourning. The front is of black silk, with a fall of chenille fringe drooping over the front. The crown and cape are of white silk, trimmed with a chenille fanchon. The inside trimming is white roses, black grass, and white tulle. (Godey’s, October, 1864)
Bonnet of white silk, with puffed front and cap crown. The cape is very short, and raised on the right side it display a rose and bud. A bunch of roses with leaves is placed over the crown. Roses and black velvet with blonde are arranged as an inside trimming. (Godey’s, October, 1864)
If I Had My Own Blue Box: 