Now I am NOT a fan of slat bonnets-not having vision on the sides of my head rather freaks me out. So I was going for a softer, corded bonnet. This one from the MET caught my eye.
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| Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1840. Notice how the brim is cut on the bias and it is self-lined. If you blow the image up, you can see there is piping where the crown meets the brim. |
I decided that with very few changes, I was going to make that one up. I chose a brown cotton (although not a plaid) for my bonnet as well because I liked how neutral it looked.
Sunbonnets are easy things to make you own-there are so many examples out there from plain to fancy. Let's take a look at some of the other options you can add!
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| Nantucket Country Antiques. Notice the ruffles on the brim, curtain, and crown. This is a slat bonnet, not a corded bonnet. Also notice how it is all cut on the straight grain (even the ruffles). |
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| Nantucket Country Antiques. Ruffles on brim and bottom of curtain. Notice the extra bow in back. |
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| Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1845. Notice both the vertical and horizontal cording lines. |
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| Whitaker Auction, Tasha Tudor collection. This bonnet appears to be cut entirely on the bias-brim, crown, curtain, and all. It also looks like there is cording on the crown. |
If you can get a basic sunbonnet (or cap) pattern, it can be quite simple to modify what you have to an original you are copying. For 1850s and 1860s, Godey's 1857 sunbonnet can be a good choice. Fair warning-the image does not match up to the pattern!
But you can see the shapes and how one may be able to modify them to what you need. The above pattern has rounded curtain corners but all the 1840s bonnets (okay, all four of them) have had straight corners, so if I were to use this pattern that is a definite change I would make right away.
If you aren't up to fully drafting your own based off images, Elizabeth Stewart Clark has two lovely sunbonnet patterns on her website, The Sewing Academy. The simple sunbonnet pattern could be made up in an afternoon but the other is slightly more time and skill intensive.
But I'm up to drafting my own. Partially. As I don't have the actual bonnet in hand to take measurements, we're going to use some other information to cheat a bit. Now the Workwoman's Guide doesn't have a lot on bonnets (as the author states-the styles change so quickly based on the ever-changing whims of fashion that it would be impossible to include them all in the book) but she has quite a few caps that have made up to fit me quite well, so as I already have the pattern made up, let's use that to make our sunbonnet pattern. I think the easiest pattern to modify to a sunbonnet shape would be the dress morning cap on page 126 using figures 9, 10, and 11.
If you want fuller crown, figure 17 might be a good fit but I can't recommend the brim bit for that cap as it is shirred and cording it would prove to be most difficult (and historically inaccurate).
The first step into making this appropriate for a sunbonnet, was to widen the brim and also make the cheek tabs straight across instead of downward sloping. Then I widened the top of the crown to make it more poofy for lack of a better term. Then I had to make a large rectangular pattern piece for the curtain.
Per the original, the curtain and crown were cut on the straight, but the brim and brim facing on the bias. Then I stitched the brim and brim facing together and added cording channels. Along the edge of the brim there are 11 channels and in the center, 3. Then I added the cording. I used Sugar'nCream 100% cotton yarn in white.
It was then that I noticed that the original had piping along where the brim and crown meet so I cut a strip of piping, corded that as well, and attached it to the edge of the brim, leaving the brim facing free.
Knowing that I would need back ties to fit the bonnet to my head, I went ahead and cut those as well as the larger front ties. The back ties were cut 1.5" by 15" and the front ones 3.5" by ??". A narrow hem was done all around both sets of ties.
After running gathering stitches along the edge of the crown, I fit the piece to the brim and stitched the two together securely using a back stitch, adding the back ties 1/2" (a seam allowance's width) away from the bottom edge. For all interior seams in the sunbonnet, a back stitch was used however, per the original, the cording channels were stitched with a running stitch. The brim facing was then brought to hide all the raw edges inside and stitched securely down.
Then it was time to attach the curtain. I first hemmed the curtain all around except for the top. I used a 3/8" hem over twice for the sides then a 1/4" turn over then a 1" turn over for the hem. Next, a gathering stitch was run along the top and the curtain attached to the brim and crown. After those pieces were securely stitched together, I did a run and fell seam to hide the raw edges as it appeared the original did. Next the front ties were laid on and stitched down securely. The last step was to starch the brim so it stood out from the face and the bonnet was done!
And now the pattern. I have included it here with some minor changes from mine to improve upon my 'mock up'. I only uploaded pictures of the crown and brim but the rest of it is below.
Cut:
2 brim pieces (put in Word with 0x0 margins, it should print the right size)
1 crown piece (put in Word with 0x0 margins, it should print the right size)
1 40" x 11" rectangle
2 3.5" x 30" rectangles for ties
2 1.5" x 15" rectangles for back ties
And because I've already gone over the steps to put it together, I'm going to leave you with an appropriate period explanation of directions to make up the bonnet-
Any seamstress of reasonable skill will be able to make up the bonnet from the picture.
Enjoy!
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