Victorian Sunbonnet Tutorial ~ Part One

So, at last, I have gotten round to that sunbonnet tutorial I promised, oh, 3 months ago or so. The arrival of a certain little lady soon thereafter caused me to fail on that promise but she was oh, so worth it.

Anne shows off her new reproduction quilt, made by the wonderful Janice. Almost four years ago Janice made a similar quilt for Malachi. He still sleeps with it every night!

Now with her 12-pound chubby little self settled into a somewhat predictable routine of sleeping, eating, bathing and playing (i.e. staring, blinking piously and at times gurgling, chortling, snorting or saying "geeewww!" and batting her dimply little hands at various faces that peer over her, or cheeky little toys that dangle by their necks from the activity gym) I have predictable time to work on getting this tutorial out there once and for all.

And here she is showing off her eyelet baby gown, made from a thrift shop curtain.  It  finally fits, just as the weather turns too cool to wear it.

I have divided this tutorial into 5 sections, although the whole bonnet is easily made in a day.

This is the sunbonnet we will be making! The brim on this one is simply quilted with parallel lines of machine stitching that the length of the brim. 

So, for Day 1, here we are!


Day 1: Cutting Out the Sunbonnet

Materials: Approximately 1 yard of fabric, matching or coordinating thread, stiffening agent*.

Janice included a length of this pretty fabric with the baby quilt. It was the perfect choice for a sunbonnet!

Note on materials: There is quite a bit of variation in the materials you can use for a sunbonnet. For a dressier bonnet consider using sheer or semi-sheer fabric in a period style print, or with a woven check, plaid or striped design. For a sturdy "everyday" style sunbonnet, medium weight cotton in a period print, check, plaid or stripe works very well as it can be laundered as needed. But be aware; cottons fade fast with routine wear, especially when worn in the sun. Lightweight wool is another option and has many benefits; it holds its color longer than cottons, it "breathes", it is cool in hot weather and warm in cool weather and does not show wear and tear as soon as cotton may. For a hood suitable for winter wear, choose wool or silk and line the bonnet with silk or polished cotton, extending the width of the brim so you can have a turnback, showing off the lining or facing.

*These instructions are for a quilted bonnet, which uses cotton batting for the stiffening agenst inside the brim. You can, however, easily make a corded bonnet by sewing in multiple rows of narrow cotton cord into the brim (sandwich between the layers of the brim and sew close to the cord) or you can make a slat bonnet by sewing channels into the brim and then inserting thin cardboard slats to stiffen the brim.

Cutting:

Wash, dry and press your fabric.

The first piece to cut is the brim piece. For this, cut a rectangle 20" long x 15" wide. Fold the rectangle in half, wrong sides together and press, so that the rectangle now measures 20" long x 7.5" wide.

Here you can see the brim piece, folded and pressed. The cotton batting is the piece on the bottom.

Cut a piece of cotton batting 20" long x 7.5" wide. Set aside.

Now cut out the crown of the bonnet. Cut a rectangle 12" x 18". Press in half so the rectangle measures 12" long x 9" wide. Round off one corner of the rectangle so that you end up with an upside down "U" shaped piece.

For the bavolet (curtain), cut a strip of fabric measuring 40" long x 12" wide.
Press the bavolet in half so the rectangle measures 20" long x 12" wide. Round off one corner of the rectangle so you have a very wide U shaped piece.

There should be enough scrap left over to cut and make ties once the bonnet is complete. So save those scraps!

To be continued.

Love,

Sarah

Dressing the Part, Post One: Hair

With my Civil War passion-flame burning quite brightly and steadily as of late (how long it will last, no one knows) I pulled out my corset that I made a few months ago and actually fixed and finished it. I had been wearing it with no binding on the top or bottom edge and the last time I wore it I experienced horrible pinching pains at the waist on the sides but I think I have that fixed now. It's done! Now I can go on and make my sheer dress.

I decided to do a post, or rather, a series of posts, on the layers that go into an 1860's impression. Since I like to do my hair before I put any of my repro clothes on (its difficult to do your hair once you are fully dressed) I figured I'd start with that.

1860's hairstyles can be quite elaborate, requiring skill and knowledge in the area of Ratts and Fake Hair. However it can also be simple and this is perhaps the simplest adult hairstyle you can do. It works for hair as short as shoulder length if you use a hairpiece and for hair any length longer than that. It is also very quick to put up, no more than 5 minutes.

Step 1: Brush or comb out your hair. Yes. I am a Freaky Poufy Hair Monster. If I put styling gel in my har while it's still damp it curls up nicely with low frizz factor but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do for a good 1860's look. For me that means leaving out the styling gel and brushing my Freaky Poufy Hair so it is manageable.

Step 2: Part your hair down the middle. I always have trouble with this. My hair almost always parts slightly to the side instead of exactly in the middle. To make a straight part use a sharp pointy object and run it down your scalp. I used some old bandage scissors since they were in the drawer I opened but a knitting needle is ideal. Or just eyeball it and part. This is easier for some than for others. Step 3: Now part you hair again from ear to ear, across the top of your head. Make sure this part is pretty straight, too. I've done my hair at an event and due to seeing pictures after the event realized this part was NOT straight and it looked awful. So make it straight! :)Step 4: Grasp you back hair in a medium high ponytail and wind it into a bun. I usually just twist this length of hair and roll it up like a cinnamon bun. You could also braid this part and wind it into a bun but my hair isn't long enough for that yet. If your bun is really small you can do what I did when my hair was shorter. Get a fake shank of cheap hair at Sally's Beauty Supply in a color that matches your own. Braid a length of it and wind it around your small, real bun. It looks fantastic. Nothing makes you feel like a gorgeous, real 186o's lady than a beautiful hairstyle!Step 5: Return to your front hair. Grasp one section on one side of your head and twist it, starting at about ear level. Wind this twisted shank around your back bun and pin into place. Repeat for the other side. My twists are pretty pathetic looking because my hair is not very long or thick in the front (my bangs have never grown all the way out to meet the rest of my hair) but there are some period solutions for making this section appear thicker by utilizing fake hair. I just go with the pathetic looking twists. It's easier and more comfortable (fake hair is scratchy).
There you go!

Front View:

Side View:
If you have little wispies that fly away no matter how much you smooth and comb your hair then you can use pomade to keep your hair nicely in place. It also gives your hair a shiny look that you often see in period photographs. There are places online you can get pomade but for now I just use a jar I got at the empire of Wal Mart for a few dollars. It works really well. This is the kind I use:
Now that your hair is nicely done up you can top it off with a lovely pleated ribbon hairnet or you can leave it perfectly plain. On to the underclothes in the next post!

Love,

Sarah

1845-1855 Ruffled Baby Cap

Today I made Judah a baby cap. At seven months, maybe he’s a little too old to be wearing one but I decided it was for him after it was all done and he kept on his head for pictures. It was supposed to be for my Etsy shop but I can make another. Little Judah can have this one.

The cap is based off of one that is dated 1845-1855 from the Wisconsin Historical Museum Online Collections. The original cap is made of a sheerer material than I used, but I wanted to test out the shape and all that. I made a bunch of sketches the other day from looking at all the baby caps on the WHM site and will be trying them out. While most of the shapes seem incredibly simple the ornate embroidery and lace insertion on many of the caps is truly breathtaking! There were a few caps that were very plain, however, one with just a narrow lace edging around the face.

This cap is one-piece, with a ruffle around the entire thing, and the fullness is taken up at the neck and face with drawstrings.

Here is the pattern I drew out to make the cap. Just print full-size. (I really need to get the Adobe program for these sorts of things but am loathe to spend the money on it since I don’t know how often I would be using it!)

Cut 1 cap on the indicated fold line. Sew right sides together, finish seam in preferred way (I just sewed two rows of stitching close together and trimmed the seam allowance, since this was pretty much a ‘practice’ cap).

Make the ruffle by cutting out a strip 2.5” wide by 72” long. Sew into a circle. Hem one edge of the strip and run two rows of gathering stitches on the other edge. Draw up fullness, pin to cap and stitch, right sides together. Remove gathering threads and press seam allowance to inside of cap.

Cut a strip of fabric 3” wide x 35” long. Sew into a circle. Pin to cap, right sides together, with ruffle turned to outside of cap. (you will be making a ‘sandwich’ of the cap and casing strip, with the ruffle as the ‘filler’ in this step). Stitch to cap.

Make eyelets in casing strip were indicated on pattern. (2 at center back, and one at each chin edge).

Turn under raw edge of top of casing, pin to cap and slip stitch into place.
Take drawstring, and thread one drawstring through the face edge, with each loose end emerging at the eyelet at the chin edge.
Cut two smaller drawstrings. Thread one through one center back eyelet to chin edge. Secure edge of drawstring firmly inside casing at chin edge. Repeat for the other side.

Draw up drawstrings to fit the baby.

The End. :)
Love,
Sarah

Baby Bonnets

It’s been a lovely Saturday! It is warm, breezy and spring-like. David got off work early and came home early and we are going to go take a walk with the babies here pretty soon. Then fish for dinner. Yeck. But I promised David I’d make it since we compromised a few nights ago. He has a thing for fish. :)

Today I made the babies pinafores and bonnets. I used Elizabeth Stewart Clark’s 1-2-3 Pinafore instructions from her website. For the bonnet I browsed the Wisconsin Historical Society website and found a simple shape I liked. I was originally going to make corded bonnets, but lack the time. After I found the bonnet I wanted to copy from, I measured the head of my oldest child. Based on his measurements, a quick drawing of what I thought the pattern pieces should look like and some trial and error I drew out a pattern. I usually just draft right onto the fabric but it is inevitable that later I wish I had saved the pattern because I want to use it again. Why has it taken me almost ten years to learn that? I can be so thick-headed sometimes!

I used left over pink print for Davey’s sunbonnet and Judah’s bonnet was recycled from an old shirt of his papa’s. I put drawstrings in at the neck so they can be adjusted. They are a little big now so should last a while. I now need to starch the living daylights out of them if I don’t want them to be floppy. I might just quick quilt the layers of brim together on machine instead, though. I really am not big into starching. (I know I should be, but I just haven’t gotten to that point yet.)

Here is little David in his bonnet. Sorry for the blurry picture! He just won’t hold still! Surprisingly he seemed to actually like wearing it and I wanted to get a picture of how it looked on a head.

If any of you all are interested in making one like this, I scanned the pattern pieces. They are here:

Brim

Crown

Curtain

Just print full-size on a sheet of regular printer paper. :) Oh, and um, I don’t know if making the curtain piece wider in the middle is period correct or not. I just did that so as to shade the back of their necks better but not have really long curtain pieces over the shoulder/neck. You could just make a plain old rectangle too. :)

I’m off!
Sarah