1830's Day Dress: Bonnet

Bonnet Time!

I think bonnets are a severely overlooked part of historical shows. I think this is probably because they don't appeal to modern audiences. I personally really like bonnets. I like particularly in the 1830s, they went all out on the decorations if they could afford it. Bows, feathers, and flowers galore. 

I ordered the silk for this at the same time I ordered the silk for my pelerine. There are very limited options for silk taffeta in New Zealand so this was the best colour I could find. I do quite like it as it has a baby pink hue to it when in the light. The ribbon I had ordered the previous week before we went into lockdown. I'm honestly not very happy with the colour of the ribbon. It looked more muted on the website than it is in person. Unfortunately, because of the lockdown, I didn't order a replacement ribbon because I didn't know when it would be allowed to ship. I also wasn't able to find any millinery wire in New Zealand so I went to Mitre 10 and got the thinnest and flexible wire I could find. I think it worked quite well so I'd recommend that option to anyone who lives in a country where it's hard to get certain materials.

While I waited for the silk to arrive, I got started on making the base of the hat. This requires millinery wire and buckram. I had some buckram leftover in my stash so I just used that. I cut out the pieces and copied all the markings. I used another Black Snail pattern for this project. I found this pattern much easier to follow compared to the previous pattern I used from them. This could be because I've gotten better at understanding their patterns. 

I cut the wire down to size and very carefully zigzag stitched it to the buckram on my sewing machine. I then sewed the crown together by hand to make the oval shape. Putting the top onto the crown piece was very fiddly and I don't think I did it very well. The wire made it really awkward to get the two pieces flush. I think if I made it again, I'd have the wire stop a cm lower so these pieces could fit together a bit better. Attaching the brim was a bit easier but at the corners, it was a bit fiddly to attach.

Basting on the felt layers was much easier. I did use rather big basting stitches but this was so I could easily take them out when I was nearing the end of sewing the silk on. If they were smaller, I was worried the thread might get stuck and I didn't want thread to be visible through the silk once it was all sewn. There was so overhang on the brim from the silk as I didn't cut off the seam allowance when I originally cut the pieces. I just trimmed it down to match the buckram. 

Luckily, the next day, the silk turned up. I got straight cutting it out and sewing it on. First I sewed the crown on. I basted down one of the center back sides before wrapping the rest of it around the crown. I joined the center back with a fine-felling stitch. I basted on the top and both brim pieces. 

I now needed some bias binding. I used the silk to make this so it matched. I made about two metres of bias binding. I used the binding to cover the seam where the top and crown meet. I also used it on the brim edge. I sewed these down with a fine-felling stitch again. I always find when I'm hand sewing something that needs to be finely done, it always looks so obvious when I'm sewing it but when I step away and use it for its intended purpose, I don't notice the stitches anymore. I'm not sure if other sewers feel this way, but I quite often do.

Time of a checky neck guard. Can't have those necks getting sunburnt. In all honesty, I've always found neck guards a bit silly. I understand their purpose on a hat like this as women often wore their hair up so their neck wasn't protected. Howcome men's hats didn't have neck guards as well. Was it so women could hide things behind their necks? Who knows. Anyway, I sewed my neck guard onto the bonnet with a backstitch. I used my machine to sew the hat lining together. I used some leftover scraps from my stays for the lining. I then fell stitched the lining into the bonnet, making sure to cover the underside of the brims and neck guard's raw edges.

Next, it was decoration time! I honestly wasn't quite sure how I wanted to decorate this hat. I started by putting on the ribbon neckties and the ribbon around the bottom of the crown to cover raw edges. In the portrait of Rebecca Alexander, she doesn't have any outerwear on so I didn't have anything to go off. I wasn't able to get my hands on any feathers or flowers due to the lockdown so I decided to just stick with some bows. I couldn't really find any good tutorials for making the kind of bow I wanted so I made it up. I sewed a loop together then basted down the center of the loop. Pulling the basting together, I secured it in place. I cut another piece of ribbon and folded it in half lengthways and wrapped it around the center of the bow before sewing them together. I made two of these and put them on top of where the crown ribbon and neckties intersect. For the bow at the back, I did a similar thing. the only thing I changed was that I didn't make the loop at the raw edges so that it would have tails. 

With that, the bonnet is complete. I think that this is a good first attempt at a bonnet. I definitely want to make more bonnets. I'm still rather unhappy with the ribbon colour and I'd probably change the silk if I had the time. I think if I were to make another, I'd probably make the brim an inch wider all around. I just feel that it's a bit small for my liking. Again, I do think it's a good first go, but there are definitely things I could improve on for future bonnets, but you've got to start somewhere.

I'll talk to you soon. Have a swell day!

-Maysie