Thursday, May 23, 2013

Regency Bonnet Shenanigans

In which I transform an ugly hat and remnants of a chair cushion into passable* Regency headwear:
Said ugly hat

*Remains to be seen

The first order of business was to locate my seamripper so I could unpick the ugly hat and separate the straw brim from the crown.  (I recently moved, so this part took a while.)  When I was done I had this:  


Next I needed to find fabric from my stash to make the new bonnet crown and decorate the bonnet.  I had a vague idea of what I wanted the bonnet to look like, but I knew I wanted it to coordinate with my blue day dress and a possible future yellow Regency dress.  Therefore I settled on green for the base color.  After a brief hunt through my stash, I came up with a lovely pale green cotton (probably) that used to be the cover of a chair cushion:


I had originally disassembled it years ago in order to make a doll dress, which apparently was going to have a half-circle skirt.  I'm not sure what happened to the rest of the fabric, but if I ever find it maybe I can make a matching reticule or something.

I took no pictures of the actual bonnet-making process, but if you'd like to see it halfway done you can look at my previous post on the Regency Picnic I recently attended.  I hadn't sewn on the ruffle and ties yet, but it was wearable for the day.  Now here it is completed:





I am much happier with it now, and can't wait to wear it out and about!  Luckily, an opportunity to do so is forthcoming...  more on that later  ;)

6 comments:

  1. How adorable! I wish I was brave enough to make a hat from a modern one... I love the ruffle on yours. :)

    -Veronica

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    1. I actually feel it's less scary re-purposing a pre-made hat, especially one I got for cheap at Walmart! :p

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  2. What a lovely bonnet, Chelsea! I simply love the finished product. I'm finally getting around to decorating my own bonnet, though its for Civil War reinacting.

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    1. I'd love to see what you come up with! I've found Regency-era and Civil War-era bonnets to be remarkably similar in many ways.

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  3. Cute! It's a lovely color and the trimmings really do add to the overall look.

    Best,
    Quinn

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