If I Had My Own Blue Box:

Another nudge towards working with my tall hat was this illustration. I just love this. How I would love to have a yard of delicate silk gauze and narrow silk ribbon to play with this look. If only….. time allowed

Alas… with what time and the stash allows…
I reshaped the brim as best I could. I constructed it so the turn up part was a tad wider than the rest. It isn’t really noticeable once it is on.

I used this lush midnight blue satin ribbon in the ribbon stash. While playing with the ribbon, which has a very full body, the loopy arrangement fell into place. The rest I kept simple.

I’m happy with the quick arrangement. I’ll tie the bow smaller. I would like to add a fluffy while feather plumb wrapping in front of the loops. I picture one that sits only half way up the loop, not too big.
It should be comfortable to sew in. I can barely tell the hat itself is there. It is the ribbon I feel. It is odd for me to feel the decorative ribbon instead of a narrower functional tie. (This is something I must investigate further for this era.)
(It appears I need to rotate a photo. Sorry.)

….When it is two days before an event in a new to her era….

….. and she discovers she has no bonnet of her own for that era????

Yes. There is a moment of panic.

A bit of a background… I finally got around to making a Regency era dress. Actually, it is a late Regency dress, 1820ish with a cross-over bodice. Two Saturdays ago, Bevin asked me if I wanted to come out for GCV’s War of 1812 and Jane Austen weekend to demo working with straw plait. Of course I did.

I had a dress. I had straw. All good.

Yep, that was wedding brain mixed with end of the year brain.

Not all good. There are details. Those details started sinking in Wednesday evening before the event as a thunderstorm was rolling in. Bonnet. Ribbons. Shoes. Jewelry. Carry in. At least I had started two demo pieces, one bonnet and one hat.

This (left) is the of the two types of bonnet I really want to wear this weekend. But, I sorta gave each of them a new home already. Alas, it will have to be the plait and gold silk bonnet I made over a decade ago. I shifted the one pile in the sewing room to get to the shelf with the totes of the bonnets…. 50s. 50s. 40s. next…. 50s, 60s, 60s, …. next…. Ack!!!!

It is not in the house. It is in the depths of storage. This is a problem.

The choices become a) Make a new bonnet in two nights with very humid weather. b) Drive to storage, dig through in hopes of finding the misplaced bonnet. c) Pull the Romantic era from the shop, decorate it and make-do. d) Pull the tall crown hat from the shop, reshape the brim and decorate it. Mind you, this is in the midst of dealing with the most exhausting time of the year at school while helping balance out for and worrying about a couple very ill coworkers.

I decided to go with choice d…. This is the hat that is getting reshaped….

  These are the inspiration images for the reshaping and the decorating….

To be continued…

This morning something came up in a FB group that let me know some people have a complete misconception of what I do when I make bonnets.

What I do Not do:

• I do not use pre-sewn hats, nor hat forms.
• I do not cut-down, nor reshape pre-sewn hats.
• I do not reblock pre-made hats or hat forms.
• I do not use synthetic thread.
• I do not machine sew straw.

What I do do:

• I work with straw plait in a variety of widths ranging from fine to coarse, a quarter inch (fashionable) to three-quarters of an inch (coarse.) These straws have included Milan, French and a British straw among others. The image to the right shows a comparison of the coarse straw and a nicer Milan straw.
• I hand shape and sew each row of plait with 100% cotton thread.
• I develop the shape of each hat and bonnet by adjusting the curve and tension of the straw. This is how I get different brim heights and shapes. I also bend the straw to make it around the curves and corners found in the different eras I am working with this year.
• I wire each bonnet and hat by hand, again with 100% cotton thread.
• I block and size each piece by hand using one of two sizings. For some pieces I have carved blocks to aide in the shaping.

It takes approximately 6 to 7 hours to sew a small hat and 7 to 9 for a medium size hat, while most bonnets take between 8 and 12 hours with some more unique shapes or larger bonnets taking longer. Some pieces are blocked all at once at the end while others I am trying to get particular shapes in are blocked in stages. With humid summer days, it can take over 24 hours of drying before I am comfortable photographing or shipping a piece.

Here are some images of work in progress to give you a better idea:

See the different straw shapes I have developed based on originals this year in my 2015 Shape Gallery.

(Sorry about the phone glitch)

This bonnet if for those who do an impoverished impression. The low brim shape can span from 1855 to 1865 for this socioeconomic interpretation.

Available on Etsy.

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Here is a comparison of the finer Milan straw I like working with and this coarser straw:

Last week, I decided I wanted to try some new to me hat styles. One of the shapes I found interesting was the higher small crown with little to no brim. By the book, hats with little to no brim are toques. Those with small upcurving brims and recessed crowns are pork pies. These seem to land closer the the definition of a toque.

My hat became a little higher in the crown as I got swept away in the sewing. It resembles this hat more, with the velvet bound turned up brim. I envision this hat being finished with the brim either bound with velvet or the underside lined in velvet.But, it could be finished in many different ways….

I think it is a rather nifty hat worn tilted forward at an angle. I may work well for my Steampunk or cosplay clients to play with.

This little hat will need a set of ties, loops or elastic to help keep it perched in place. Inside the crown it is 18″ in circumference, 5″ wide and 6.5″ front to back. It does perch forward on my 22.25″ head.

I stumbled upon this Portrait Timeline.

This shallow hat is rounder than the first one I did a few days ago. The center of the crown is a circle. The crown slowly curves down and subtly transitions to the convex brim that evenly curves around the head. I had the hat in the bottom right trimmed in brown in mind as I made it.

This little hat is all about fashion, not keeping the sun from the face. When I put it on, I like how it looks when it sits angled forward just a bit. It will definitely need a narrow ribbon or string tied under the hair to help keep it on.

This hat could also be one to grow with a younger girl. Put a little veil around the edge when she is small. Then change the decorations as she grows.

This hat is available on Etsy. 

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I can’t quite pinpoint why I found this article from the 1867 The Lyceum Banner, (Chicago), but I did.

Pin Fair

The enterprises of boys are never recorded, no matter how much energy, talent and taste they display. It gives me great pleasure to be able through these columns, to describe to other boys and girls, an enterprise on which I know there was a great deal of energy shown, but of the taste and talent, I will leave others to judge.

I had just attended the Rock Island Fair, and having examined the grounds, buildings, articles entered, and race-track, and inquired how it was conducted, I proposed to open a Pin Fair on an empty lot near my home. Johnnie Gow, brother Roddie and myself constituted ourselves a stock company, and agreed to plan, execute and control the fair without the assistance of the grown folks. We spread tables in the open air for display of articles, built an amphitheater of raised seats under some trees, and made a race-track in a circle, Oscar Dow as Marshal. Cousin Carrie printed some handbills, and the following saw the price of entry and the premiums awarded:

We only sold tickets to children in our neighborhood, because we were afraid we could not control a large crowd, without assistance of the grown folks. The day was pleasant. The tables were covered with beautiful articles tastefully displayed and interspersed with splendid bouquets and wreaths. The most noticable among the premiums awarded to Nettie Guyre, for best embroidery and prettiest doll; to Lizzie Whitman, for best bead basket, best charm; to Charlie Riggs, for best collection of geological specimens, best original drawing, best puzzle, largest bunch of grapes and larges apples; to Lucy Harper, for prettiest toy lamb; to Jennie Gow, for best collection of sea shells and prettiest toy dog; to Minnie Hakes, for prettiest paper doll; to Cornelius Smith, for the best worsted knitting; to Mary Gale, for best bouquet; to Lucy Gow, best pin cushion, best crochet work; to Roddie Riggs, best collection of river shells, largest pear, largest toy chicken; to Clara Whitman, largest glass marble; to Minnie Gow, prettiest bead ring, largest doll, prettiest pen-wiper; to Carrie Conant, largest collection of carnelians; to Harry Carter, best crab apples.

[paragraph on racing]

Our receipts were 187 pins. We spent a very happy day in the open air, increased our love of the beautiful, gave an impetus to our industry, and I hope improved our health and by social intercourse, our good manners. Next year, if we get larger grounds and if the grown folks will control it, we can open it to the public, and get up a big Pin Fair. Charlie.