If I Had My Own Blue Box:

Do you want to make your own 1850s or 1860s straw bonnet? Here is a list of what you will need:

• Straw Bonnet Workbook (currently, you can get From Field to Fashion essentially for FREE)

• 1 hank of 6mm to 9mm straw plait. (May be enough to share or make a second.)
• 2 yards of 19 gauge millinery wire
• Straw millinery needles, straw color thread, millinery sizing or Elmer’s glue, paint brush

To line and decorate:

• Fat half yard of open weave white or natural sheer cotton – cotton voile will work
• 1/8th yard cotton net
• 1/8th yard 60″wide silk bobbinette
• 2 yards 1″ cotton sateen ribbon
• 3 yards 4″ fashion ribbon plus any wanted for decoration
• Floral stems as desired (and feather plume if desired.)
• Stay: 1/2 yard 3/4″ wide velvet ribbon -or- 1/2 yard 22 gauge millinery ribbon and 1/2 yard 1″ velvet ribbon to match straw or hair.

On sale now:

Buy my Straw Bonnet Workbook & From Field to Fashion

Save 40%

Basically, get FFtF FREE

This is me talking myself out of using wavey braid in a straw brim.

Where it is seen:

• Decorative insertion work on undergarments. White cotton.
• Decorative insertion on straw plait baskets. Color cotton.

Where it is Not seen:

• On dresses or outerwear garments

What is seen inserted in brims:

• Other color straw plaits
• Other natural fiber braids – other grass-like fibers, wool braids in single and multiple colors
• Horsehair braids
• Bias cut silk (textual documentation)

Everything is on Sale through May 7th!
Buy 2 items & Save 20%
Buy 3 items & Save 30%

Pin cushions,  E-publications,  Workbooks

https://amillinerswhimsy.etsy.com

This ca 1840-1860s style bonnet is either a small child’s bonnet or a large doll bonnet. If the latter, it may date from later.

Arriving nearly flat, likely how it was stored, it will take some gradual coaxing to get it closer to its original shape. I already started adjusting the wired neck edge, which feels like it only has one break.

The brim is drawn on narrow cane’s. I estimate they are at most 2mm thick. These appear to all be intact. There doesn’t appear to be any decent on the sides of the brim, nor shaping for cheek tabs. But, with the amount of compression and possible up-shifting of the cane’s, this shaping may not be in place. Hopefully, when more depth is restored, the shape will be clearer.

The interior shows a stiffened, loose weave cotton in the crown as well as an organza like material with a shimmer to what I think is dried, aged stiffening agent. The silk crown lining was originally gathered into the crown. A band at the top of the brim has bows of narrow ribbon.

The bavolet is deep. It needs to relax before an accurate measure can be taken. It is set on the grain rather than on the bias as was common in the mid-nineteenth century. The bavolet is lined with a very thin silk organza. There is a fold line parallel to the lower edge evident in one area that may or may not be a former hem fold.

Conservation plans: Slowly restore depth with support with archival tissue. Hopefully, I have enough archival foam left from straw bonnets to make a small support for this bonnet. Relay the shifted layers. Re-gather the crown lining. Re-tack the loose section of the band inside the brim.

I needed to make a feel-good piece, something from my creative artistic side. This hat celebrates the straw.

This is a small album of mostly cdvs. A note at the front says Charles H Dearing. All but one page is filled. The cards are in the pages tigh enough that I don’t want to remove them to check the backs.

There is some moisture damage to the bottom of the album, causing the pages and cards to thicken and the cover to tear at the folds.

Each year, I find I reflect on the time and money I put into creating millinery pieces. My hope is to help others understand what it takes to go from a hank of straw to bonnet or hat, and the prices I place on my work. This year, I am going to try to let the numbers speak.

Straw Bonnets ca 1840-1860s

• Original bonnet block – approx $80 to $200 each
• Straw hank – $23-45 (generally enough for 2 ca 1840-1860s bonnets)
• Approx 10 to 12 hours of hand-sewing, blocking, & wiring depending on plait width

Straw Bonnets ca 1800-1830s

• Straw hank – $23-45 (generally enough for 1 larger bonnet)
• Approx 10 to 16 hours of hand-sewing,  blocking, & wiring depending on plait width – over multiple days depending on bonnet shaping needs.
• Reproduction millinery blocks – $50-$150 (in some cases 2 are needed)

Straw Hats ca 1850s-1880s

• Straw hank $23-$45 (generally enough for 2 hats)
• Approx 8 hours to 12 hours of hand-sewing,  blocking, & wiring depending on plait width – over multiple days depending on shaping needs.
• Original and reproduction millinery blocks – $25-$150 each

Additional Costs:

• Sizing
• Wire
• Brushes
• Needles
• Thread
• Plastic wrap
• Massages to keep hands functional
• Pain patches and creams for hands
• Research – Original straw millinery
• Research  – Original images, photos, ephemera

I did a little breakdown of a $100 item at the beginning of the year for myself. It looks like this:

$100 Item
10% discount 80+% of buyers use – $10
Shipping beyond $6 – $4-$10
Etsy fees 6.5% + 3% +.20  – $13
Shipping materials  – $1
Item materials  – $20

Total –  $48 to $54
Remains – $46 to $52 –>At 10 hours = $4.60 to $5.20/ hour

(If I actually paid myself a living wage of $25/hour, this $100 item would need to be closer to $250 to $326.)

For those who don’t know, straw millinery was meant to be a hobby. Instead, it became a financial necessity as an Etsy business following my full-time day job. After a full day of work, I put in 3 to 5 hours of sewing, blocking, photographing, packing, etc, each week evening with an additional 10-12 hour days on the weekends.

I just added new hats & bonnet to my Etsy shop.

Four ultra fine woven straw bonnets suitable for the 1850s into the 1860s.

Two Bergère hats,  including a plain one and my new favorite with double braided bands around the crown and brim.

My shop has a few other items available:

Or, The Lack There-Of

I do apologize for not producing millinery at the quantity I have in past years. Simultaneously,  I feel I have no millinery motivation beyond the financial need to sell pieces and my hands not being able to keep up. I’m not sure if this is temporary or a long-term to permanent hiatus. 

I stopped at an estate sale to look at one box I saw in photos. I came home with an album instead. 

The album is about 1/3rd full with cdvs and a couple tintypes. It was one of 4 albums at the sale. The others being later 19th-century,  4 to a page, and marked higher.

It seems to be in good condition with a little discoloration on the hinges. One of which is lose. I’ll clean that up after I freeze it.

I took photos of each page. Here they are in order. Worth noting: Most of the visible backs show photographers from Albion, NY. Some shown here. No names are visible. The last photo has an upside-down back.