Parasol Transformation... From Battenburg to 1850's, Part One: Research

When I first started living history, I felt the need to buy a parasol.  I couldn't afford a *real* parasol at the time so I bought a cheap $10 child's size Battenburg parasol and recovered it in silk scraps for my first event.

I bought this one because it was made of wood with nearly no plastic.  The ribs are metal and the tips, finial, and handle are wooden.  The only plastic is the piece that pushes the ribs up to open the parasol.  I knew that Battenburg lace was not correct for mid-century parasols, but figured that I could recover it in silk scraps for my first event and eventually fix it up to where it is really presentable.  When opened, the diameter of the parasol is about 20", which fits in around where most period ones were.

Here is how the current parasol sits:

Now the parasol handle is much too short for period usage.  I decided that I wanted to make a folding parasol and add length that way.  Now the decision was what medium to make the handle from.

I could have someone whittle down a wooden one.  Other options included making reproduction (imitation) coral from resin (a period recipe) but I couldn't figure out how to make a nice mold.  Someone on the Sewing Academy mentioned trying to use polymer clay to make a reproduction coral.  I decided to try something similar, except use an off-white clay to imitate bone/ivory instead.  I would really like to try coral someday, but white/off-white clay was much cheaper than the red.  I might try coral for some jewelry pieces.

I'm going to make my parasol with fringe.  The silk I'm recovering it with is emerald green (or possibly chocolate brown-I haven't decided yet).  I can either fringe it in green (or brown), or fringe some of the white silk I have and use that instead.  Here are some examples of period parasols with fringe and intricate coral/bone handles:

I'm using these two coral handles as my inspiration:

I used to do quite a bit of cake decorating with fondant.  Theoretically, playing with clay uses the same principles. I guess we'll find out if I still have the skills or not.  I'm going to use my fondant tools to be working on the roses and I bought a mold for the leaves.  I should be able to get everything else the way I want it.  I think I have the folding mechanism figured out, too, but I need to play with it some more.  It needs to be done by next Saturday because I have an 1850's event at the Landmark Inn in Castroville then.  It'll get worked on quickly because I have several other projects I want done before Castroville, too.  It's a good thing it's spring break!