If I Had My Own Blue Box:

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.

I wrapped up my Pocket of the Month series at the end of 2024. For the past couple months, I’ve been toying with the idea of combining them into a collection in a single PDF. Then, I stumbled across a Victorian era catalog packed full of embroidery patterns. I just couldn’t resist playing with these patterns. I quickly found myself transforming them into whimsical pocket designs. This was just the right nudge to put the Pocket of the Month collection together.

I have two collections of pocket designs now available for you. I settled on $5 for each publication. Changed my mind. Each collection is in the Digital Whimsy section for $2.58. (Patreon patrons – You have access to the original Pocket of the Month files and both collections in Patreon.)

All pocket designs are laid out in 11″x17″ format. You can print them on a single 11″x17″ paper or tile print them on 8.5″x11″ paper or water soluble stabilizer. 

I invite you to use your favorite embroidery techniques from any century to bring these designs to life. Adjust, adapt, or embellish as you need. I would love to see you share your finished pocket!

Pocket of the Month Collection

This collection includes 21 of the original Pocket of the Month designs, including hand embroidery and quilting designs. Most of the designs are drawn directly from period sources such as Godey’s Lady’s Book, Peterson’s Magazine, and needlework guides. I carefully adapted these motifs to suit pocket designs, ensuring they retained their historical essence. Other designs are entirely my own, including a couple purely modern, whimsical designs. 

Embroidered Pockets Collection

This collection includes 16 hand embroidery designs drawing from Briggs & Co.’s Patent Transferring Papers, ca 1880. This series of designs combines the style of the Victorian era and the practicality of the Georgian era pocket. It is very much a mixing of historical eras for whimsical fun. It is not meant to be purely true to either particular era.

Patreon Patrons – Please check Patreon.  I need your help naming one of the publications!

Before anyone gets too excited, this is not a new book, nor a new workbook. This is a fun little something. No new book quite yet.

I am sharing a sentimental mini-pattern over on Don’t Paint the Cat.

This whole week

Save 25% on

All E-books & Patterns

Including: To Net, or Not to Net – Paisley,  Plaid, & Purled – From Field to Fashion – Victorian Fancy Work In Detail – Winter Hood Workbooks – Straw Bonnet Workbook – Winter Hood Patterns

This past weekend & week, I made straw basket workbags, or reticles. I love how these bags combine straw sewing and Fanciful Utility. I also love how silk can look against straw.

The first bag is a gold, green, and copper stripe silk. This straw base is just over 3″ wide with a subtle taper and a bit of wobble. The bag open to a moderate width, with a brown cotton lining and a last minute pocket added.

The second bag is an icy blue silk embroidered with large white flowers. I had just enough of this silk to make this bag. The base is nearly 4″ in diameter with a slight taper. The bag is lined in white cotton. It opens quite wide.

I also made 2 straw bottoms for those who want to Build Your Own Bag. These are both just over 3″ in diameter.  You can make a silk bag in your desired method. Then, tack it into the straw base.

Earlier this week, I had a truly calm moment, one in which I was truly focused on the task in hand and nothing else; not the past, not the future, not the world beyond my immediate space. I felt my mind relax, my muscles relax. It was lovely.

It may surprise you to know it wasn’t a moment with needle & thread in hand. Nope. This was a moment working at a table saw, cutting down pieces of wood into usable strips. Being a new tool for me, one with a sharp blade moving fast, I shifted all of my attention to cutting – examining each piece, placing it along the fence, guiding it, using the pushing tool to ease it past the blade – and repeat.

The calm I found was much needed.

This prompted me to think about the other tasks or activities that give me the same sense of calm. For me, two that come to mind involve stitching.

First is the spiral quilting I use for my witch hat brims. Working my spiral of stitches in from the outer edge, each row is done by eye with a little visual guidance from the machine.

I find I need to be in the moment, to rid my mind of all other thoughts as I spiral around the brim. Any distraction, be it thought or sound, can cause a slight verring in or out, widening or narrowing the spiral path. I enjoy this process so much, I’ve imagined other projects I could quilt spirals into: sunhats, table mats, pillow tops, etc. (I acknowledge some/many would not consider this mindful stitching as it uses a machine rather than hand sewing. 90+% of my sewing is by hand. So, I grant myself permission to include this for me.)

Second is the decorative embroidery I use for patchwork pin cushions and needle-pages for
sewing cases or needle-books. This mindful stitching, for me, is less about keeping distracting thoughts at bay and more about excess thoughts slipping away. On needle-pages, my focus is on stitch spacing and following the line of the page – rhythm, positive and negative space, balance. For patchwork, I get to play with color, texture, pattern, space…. there are nearly no rules.

What sewing activities or other activities do you find are mindful or a good way to calm your mind?

Definitions & Technicalities:

Mindful sewing or mindful stitching is a type of process art where you are fully present in the process of stitching without an intent for the end result. This is not the same as the mediation technique of mindfulness. According to the APA, mindfulness “is an awareness of one’s internal states and surroundings.” It is a technique of being aware of what is happening with your mind, body, and/or surroundings in the present moment without judgement. I need to note: Technically, what I am talking about isn’t truly mindful stitching (or mindful task) because I do have an end result in mind.