Mid-1830's Bonnet

[atherleisure]

I have pictures of the mid-1830's bonnet I made recently.  You can also see the chemisette, more or less.




It's based on Butterick 3805, View D with the brim modified to bring it lower and a bit smaller. I completely ignored the instructions; I'm not sure I ever even read them. It's a buckram and wire frame covered with flannel and silk. The outer fabric is a shantung, but the brim lining and trim are taffetas. The ribbon inside the brim is just pinned in because I wanted to see how it did with 1830's hair before I actually stitched it down. I'll need to do that before I forget about it.

I don't think I quite got the feel of the curls pinned across the forehead right, but I can't see how else to do it. I expect it's a function of having a high forehead exacerbated by having negligible hair-styling skills.  I also found that if the knot of hair on the back of my head is not high enough, the bonnet tends to slip backward.  After an hour of pulling my bonnet back into place every few minutes, I redid the knot and didn't have any more problems. 

Comments

[nuranar]

I'm fascinated by how you did the outside trimming. It has that random folded-but-not-flattened look that so many have. Excellent!

[atherleisure]

Thank you. It was very random indeed. Fold, jab with pins, look at it at arms length, and tack in place. I doubt it would hold up to much mishandling, but I gather that's the way bonnets were.