I decided to start the year with fun doll sets. These were so much fun to make.
Violet is modeling two sets. Violet is a reproduction doll with a Jenny Lind hairstyle. She stands 18″ tall, while her head measure 8.25″ around. There are three pieces in each set she models. Each trio includes a straw hat, straw and silk workbag, and cotton pocket. The fashionably shapped straw hat is made with straw plait and brown, faux horsehair plait. It is block firm, without wire. The workbag has a straw base and silk bag, which draws closed with a ribbon. The bag is lined but the straw is not. The pocket is cotton in a mid-nineteenth century appropriate print. The pocket is lined with cotton sateen ribbon for the ties.
The final set from today is model by a popular modern doll who also stand 18″ tall with a head measuring approximately 13″ around. She shows off a trio that includes a straw bonnet, silk workbag, and cotton pocket. The bonnet is a high brim straw bonnet appropriatefor the late 1850s through early 1860s. The workbag is silk with pasteboard centers. itnis a style seen through out the century. The pocket is an Heirloom Family Weavers cotton. The pocket is lined with cotton sateen ribbon for the ties.
I am currently trying to squeeze in one more thing for New Year’s Day. So, this Year in Review will be mostly photos.
New Publications – Straw Bonnet Workbook and Quilted Winter Hood Workbook, plus some free mini-publications.Straw adventures – I made a few new things out of Straw. I really enjoy these workbag and baskets. I even started making some in doll size. I started my Pocket of the Month series on Patreon Dolls as Fancy Work and Sewing Accessories The Little Companions of Ladies Women’s Employments: Millinery Braiding Straw and Other FibersVoice in CommunityWinter, Cold Weather WearI did an assortment of presentations & interpretations. Come fall, I decided I wanted to make a point of attending something educational or inspiring each month. I will continue this in the coming year. A few learning curves with a mix of successes and failures.
Introducing my Quilted Winter Hood Workbook, an in-depth exploration of original quilted hoods from the 1840s through the 1860s, complemented by patterns and instructions for making three quilted hoods.
To enhance accessibility, the workbook is divided into two halves due to its file size. The first section opens with a brief introduction and transitions into a detailed examination of original quilted winter hoods drawn from my personal collection—designated as A through J—dating back to the 1840s and spanning through the 1860s. The second section of the workbook features comprehensive guidelines for creating the first three quilted hoods detailed in section 1.
This Workbook includes 3 downloads:
The Pattern Pieces (20 pages) (Hand-drawn)
2 files for the Workbook (58 pages total)
The Quilted Winter Hood Workbook is a PDF. This means you can read it on almost any device. You can even send it to Kindle. Of course, you are welcome to print your own paper workbook.
Please Note: I am working on a supplemental page for increasing size. Please message me if you need this.
Wearing nineteenth century clothes, we find they fit differently than our modern clothes. The waist is in a different spot. The bust sits differently. Seams are used to accent or de-accent parts of the body. The fit feels different and moving in the clothes is different. The same is true for hats and bonnets. In previous posts I’ve talked about bonnets and perch. Here, we are going to look at how a hat was worn and how it “fits”.
In the 1850s and 1860s, hats were worn much higher on the head than we are accustom to in the twenty-first century. Think about when you wear your modern beach or garden hat. You know that line across your forehead where it sits after a long hot day? You do Not want that. A mid-nineteenth century hat sat higher, at the top of your forehead, at your hair line, or even higher. Take a look at these fashion illustrations from 1860-1862. Notice where each hat sit. In a few illustrations, the front hairline is obviously below the crown line. In others, the crown sits just at this line. The hat sits atop the head, not encompassing it. The curve of the brim is what dips to the eye line, not the hat itself.
What does this mean for you when picking a size?
There are two factors for finding a comfortable fit: Size and shape.
The difference in wear or placement means we measure for a mid-nineteenth century had differently than we do for a twentieth or twenty-first century hat. The modern hat is measured just above the eyebrow. (This is also where many of us measure for bonnets. We want to keep you on your toes.) For mid-nineteenth century, we measure higher, at the hair line. In this illustration, we can see the difference between where the two measurements would be.
These higher, hairline measurements are often smaller than those taken at the eyebrow. A hat worn at this point can be slightly smaller to slightly larger for comfort. So, add and subtract an inch to your hairline measure.
For example: I am 22.5″ around at my eyebrows and 21.5″ at my hairline. The vast land of the internet tells me that the average woman’s head measures 22.5″ to 22 5/8″ around at the modern measuring point. So, I am about average. I comfortably wear a mid-nineteenth century hat that is 19.5″ to 21.5″
General guidelines I use:
Small = Less than 21″ at the hairline (crown less than 20″)
Average = 21″-22.5″ at the hairline (crown 20-21.5″)
Large = Greater than 22.5″ at the hairline (crown greater than 22″)
Just like every head measures a bit differently, they are each shaped a bit differently.
When looking from above, some people have rounder heads while other have more oval heads. Both of these shapes to the right can have a circumference of 22.5″. Yet, the same hat would fit each head differently.
I will try to indicate which hats have rounder crowns or more oval crowns. I am in the process of naming the crowns. Hopefully, that will help.
I added a few things to my shop this evening to go towards my car fund. There are 3 wadded hoods and two nest pen wipers that would look cute in a tree.
I did put together a trio of doll millinery. It sold nearly instantly. I was already planning to have a second set done for tomorrow (Thursday) night. The straw hat is currently drying.
Normally, I have a sale for my e-publications at the end of the year. This year, I need to start it a little earlier.
Sadly, I need to replace my car. My car is old enough to graduate high school. I bought this car shortly after my Dad died in 2008. It has across the country and back with me. It has seen me through a lot. If I could afford to keep it running forever, I would. But, I can’t. The repair bills keep adding up. It’s reached the point where I start to panic each time it pulls or creaks as I envision a wheel falling off. (I’d like to say that is an irrational fear. But, it happened to a previous car.)
I plan to sensibly buy a used car of a similar size and good safety rating. I have an appointment with my local dealership on Thursday. Everything from this past week’s sales will be going towards the down-payment. Ideally, I would like to come up with another $4,000 to get the payment where I would like. I know I can’t pull that off this time of year when shipping is so high risk. Thus, this early sale.
I was ecstatic to see the response to my Fanciful Utility theme Mystery Boxes. Fanciful Utility was published twelve years ago. In this day of social media and high-speed digital information exchange, that may as well be a lifetime.
Or, so I thought.
The near immediate sell-out of my FanU themed boxes tells me first, Fanciful Utility still has a strong following, and second, I’ve been neglecting FanU fans.
With this in mind, I’ve added a new FanU Fan tierto Patreon with the plan to add a monthly FanU Spotlight post.
FanU Spotlight posts will take a look at current, past, and future FanU and fancy work projects ranging from pin cushions to pen wipes; work-pockets to boxes. Some will include templates, too.
This tier will also be able to see the Pocket of the Month posts. (I think Patreon allows you to see past posts & content as well.)
My goal is to have 30 Patrons by the end of February and 40 by the end of 2024.
I decided I am going to start something new. This may be uncommon in the “business world,” but I want to do it.
Thank you to everyone who made a purchase this month! Your purchases literally help me pay my rent and bills. This month’s sales are just $100 shy of last November’s, helping me catch up to only 16.1% behind last year’s total sales. Nearly everyone used the “Share & Save” link to reach my shop. By doing so, you saved me $56.20 in fees.
Thank you to my Patreon patrons! I am excited to currently have 20 patrons. Your support pays for my WordPress platform and software. I was also able to buy a few exceptional CDVs for research this past month, which I will share with you soon. I have pockets for Pocket of the Month designed through February, plus June. I hope you love them.
Thank you to everyone who continues to follow my work! Each time you comment or share my posts, it helps.
Here is a cute photo of Clara, who is snuggling with me as I write.
I spent this past weekend talking about winter weather wear at GCVM for their Preparing for Winter event. I admit, there is a bit of irony to my fondness for this event given my disdain of winter itself. For me, it is all about the people, the visitors, those I see again and again, as well as those who are visiting the museum for the first time. I love the conversations, the questions, the tangents, the moments of connection, and understanding.
Friday night, as I drove home in the rain and dropping temperatures, I questioned whether I should really be doing a full weekend in the village given how completely worn down I felt from my day job. The world felt dark, wet, and cold while I felt tired, sore, and disheartened. Come Saturday morning, the sun was out and shining. As I walked into the village, music played while the ground was scattered with droplet speckled leaves reflecting the sunlight.
It was a beautiful pre-winter day.
My third group Saturday morning, moments after 10am, was a pair of families with 11 young children. They all lined up around the tables and gave me all of their attention. This was the moment my stress of the previous couple months melted away. I was able to let go of all the work baggage and truly enjoy engaging with people, sharing this little corner of history.
My topic for the weekend was winter weather wear, which allowed me to talk about both layers of clothing and my ongoing winter hood research. I was beyond pleased with how genuinely interested people were in which hood was good for what. Here are two of the short videos I did while there.
On my way out Saturday, I noticed one the photo stand in front of the Doctor’s office. This is one of, I think, two decorated photo/selfie stations the museum set up. Someone created non-intrusive wooden stands with grooves for holding phones or tablets. I made time to take a few photos with it Sunday morning.
When I left the museum Sunday, I stopped for my traditional post-program Chinese dinner and popped in one of my favorite antique shops, where I picked up two cdvs. I came home and got ready to launch my Mystery Boxes and Clara’s Corner bookmarks. By 9 something, half my boxes were sold, and I could curl up with the book I’ve been waiting to read. I may have been eating a most delicious molasses cookie at midnight as I read. This morning, when I woke, I found I was disappointed I wasn’t headed back for a third day.
Next event: Holiday Open House – December 17th – Find me in Jones Farm this year.
To wrap up Winter (head)Wear Week, I thought you might enjoy this selection of past unboxing videos as I open winter hoods when they first arrive.
While it is nice to have pristine or exceptional examples, I prefer pieces that allow me to explore how they were made, the details of construction. Some pieces show piecing or little make-dos. Others show wear patterns. Fractured silk can allow a look inside. While some are fairly clear puzzle pieces falling into place, others are little oddities, offering more questions than answers…..
Plaid silk wadded
Lots tbd..
Black silk
Plaid wool hood
Doll size wadded silk hood
Quilted silk hood/bonnet
From the Winter Millinery series I started but got distracted from:
If I Had My Own Blue Box: 