This tapered crown combines a dusty rose with grey vining around they crown and brim. This hat is entirely hand sewn and hand blocked. The crown is approx 20.5″ around the lined inside, making this suitable for a smaller to average size head. The brim is 11.5″ wide. Note: This straw is softer than other straws I offer.
This is the first hat of my summer. It combines copper straw and a narrower natural plait vining around the crown and brim.
If you’ve ever tried on a faithfully reproduced 1850s or 1860s bonnet and thought, “Why is this thing poking my jaw?”—you’re not alone. For many new historical costumers and interpreters, cheektabs can feel downright awkward at first.
I often see two common mistakes. First, with modern hats worn so the brim shields the face, there is a tendency to pull the top of the brim forward, angling the cheektabs backwards towards or even behind the ears. Second, is trying to fit the crown of the bonnet to encompass the head when it should be perching on the back of the head. This can put the cheektabs in all sorts of wrong spots.
As the mid-nineteenth approached, the sides of bonnet brims began to create a distinct shape we call the Cheektab. At times, I think they may as well have been called jaw tabs because as shape progresses from the 1840s into the late 1850s, this tab narrows and elongated, essentially hugging the jawline.
This placement becomes functional as the bonnet becomes smaller, shifting position to the back of the head. As the bonnet perches of the back of the head, the cheektabs help hold it in place with their position along the jawline. The cheektabs commonly worked in tandem with the frill, a bonnet stay, and functional ribbon ties to hold the bonnet to the head.
Now, let’s be honest: this can feel strange, particularly one accustomed to 21st-century attire. The pressure of something resting against the jaw is unfamiliar for most of us today. For some, this sensation fades with wear. For others, it remains a persistent discomfort.
There are ways to alleviate the issue while staying true to period construction. First, remember that cheektabs are typically wired—this means they can be gently shaped to better follow the curve of your own jaw, reducing pressure points. A lined and bound edge (rather than raw straw) softens the contact. Further, the addition of a frill inside the brim adds both comfort and coverage, as it often did historically.
Here are a few close-ups of how cheektabs hugged the jawline, grasping alongside or underneath while the bonnet perches on the back of the head. Notice how it is the brim and front-most portion of the bonnet that encompasses the back of the head, rather than the tip and back portion of the bonnet crown. This fit wasn’t accidental—it was a defining feature of the silhouette. Learning to wear a bonnet this way, rather than reshaping it to feel more like a modern hat, can dramatically change the look and authenticity of your impression.
If you’re new to historical costuming or want to take the next steps in improving your interpretation, understanding how an accurate straw bonnet is made can help you make a confident selection in headwear.
A historically accurate straw bonnet* begins with a length of plaited straw and a spiral. Wheat and/or Rye straw is braided into narrow lengths called plait. (To learn more about this process, please read From Field to Fashion.)
That tight little coil of plait you see in the center of a bonnet tip is where it all starts. I sew each length of plait by hand, working in a spiral from the center outward.
The shape must be coaxed as I go. Tension, curve, and stitch placement all matter as I create the tip, crown, cheektabs, and brim. Attention needs to be paid to variations in the straw including width, firmness, and even fragile or dry areas. There’s no shortcut, and no one-size-fits-all template.
Along the way, I check the developing shape on a millinery block. With some straws, this needs to be done frequently. With others only occasionally. The goal, of course, is to create a bonnet accurately mimicking the shape and techniques of original bonnets.
When the bonnet is sewn from tip to brim, with extended cheektabs, I dampen the straw and shape it to the millinery block. Using original and reproduction millinery blocks ensures accurate shapes and period sizing.
When the bonnet is dry, I add a single or double row of straw plait around the whole bonnet. Inside the edge of the bonnet, I attach millinery wire. For safety, this wire is then covered with another row of straw. I add a coating of sizing, a type of stiffening, to the interior of the straw. The bonnet must then rest overnight, some times over two nights, to dry.
If you want to learn to make your own mid-nineteenth century straw bonnet, please consider my Straw Bonnet Workbook.
Each of the above images is of a mid-nineteenth century bonnet. I use a similar process for making mid-century hats and later bonnets.
This image shows a tapered crown hat and millinery block.
This is an 1880s capote bonnet block. While it is much smaller than it’s predecessors, the same process can be used. This is the time when hand sewing decreased in straw bonnet construction as the straw sewing machine came into regular use. I feel some of the nuances in shape can not be achieved as well with machine sewing as the can with hand sewing.
Notes:
*Some straw bonnets were made from woven straw and grass fibers. These were woven directly on a block, creating the bonnet or hat shape. This style is now created using a woven capeline or hood shaped over a millinery block.
Etsy just sent me an anniversary email, reminding me I opened my shop 14 years ago on June 9th, 2011.
A Lot has happened since then:
I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your confidence and encouragement. Whether you’ve made a purchase, shared my site, or sent along a supportive note, you have kept me going all this time, I appreciate you!!!
My most popular listing, according to Etsy?
✨️✨️✨️Spectacular Summer Bundle!!!✨️✨️✨️
Now thru the end of June!!!
Buy To Net, or Not to Net …. Get Paisley, Plaid, & Purled FREE!!!!
https://amillinerswhimsy.etsy.com/listing/596147625
Details: I decided to give my June bundle an even better boost. Put both e-publications in your cart. Etsy will mark each 50% off.
It is always a disappointment to see photos like this. I put a lot of work into each millinery piece and take the time to make sure each is packed well.
This particular photo was a shock because it came in a review rather than a message from the customer.
As many of you know, I list my items with 3-5 business days for shipping, but I try to get items shipped the day after payment arrives. This usually means packing up the piece after work, taking it with me the next morning, and stopping at the Post Office after work. In this case, the bonnet was purchased on Monday, June 9th. Payment transferred on Tuesday. I boxed up the bonnet Tuesday evening. Wednesday and Thursday, I worked 11+ hour days getting out after 5, when the PO closes. Friday morning, I made arrangements to run to the PO near work to get the box out. This was within the shipping window in the listing.
I am taking this moment to talk about the importance of ordering millinery (as well as many other garments & accessories) well in advance of any event. For millinery, I recommend a minimum of 1 month for off the shelf millinery and 6-12 months for custom millinery. 1 month for off the shelf millinery allows for processing of funds (2-4 days), packaging, and the actual shipping followed by the time you will need to line & decorate for wear.
You’ll notice the review mentions the bonnet arriving the day before the event she needed it for. In the message I received June 12th, the customer mentioned she needed the bonnet for the 21st. That gave only 11 days (8 business days) between purchase and need. I strongly recommend Not purchasing this close to an event.
Based on the comments about the bonnet not fitting comfortably and passing it along, I infer that the bonnet survived being inside a crushed box.
This millinery restock has only 1 1860s hat. June has been a very busy month with 10-11+ hour days at school.
I am working on a set of Bergère hats for Fort Niagara’s event over the Independence Day Weekend.
PS – Remember, blog followers have their own special discount code: STRAWWHIMSEY
If I Had My Own Blue Box: 