Straw Hat #2
Constance Helps with Millinery
A couple of years ago I made Constance a Jane Austen Era outfit, and wearing it, she a had a delightful Regency Afternoon Tea with Patience and Zipporah (Click here for a link to that post). To complete Constance’s outfit I made a cloth-covered straw bonnet – unfortunately, while the bonnet looked great, it didn’t fit her.
I have been promising her a new bonnet ever since, and the straw hat disassembly project is the perfect opportunity to make good on that promise. Below you will see the I made way her new bonnet, with illustrations of the process. You might notice that I give no measurements – this is because Hitty heads vary greatly in size, and if you want to try this you will need to use your own intended Hitty recipient as a model!
The pictures are arranged in order and form a gallery. You can click on any of the pictures, and then navigate back and forward using the arrows at the right or left edge of the picture… you can get out of the gallery by hitting the escape key, or clicking on the little “X” off in the top left hand corner.
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- Paper Hatstraw, Linen Thread, a triangular beginning.
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- Three stitches through the edge
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- Pull up the three stitches so the straw lies as flat as you want it…then anchor it, and stitch back along the coil to secure it.
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- At this point stitch the braid edge to edge. Make gathering stitches to shape it when necessary.
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- To start the brim. I have slid the straw braid under the edge of the hat, and stitched in place to shape it, then anchored the braid with a few stitches..
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- Then the braid is folded back on itself and stitched to shape it.
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- To get the shape I wanted, I have made a few slight gathers at the sides of the brim on the penultimate row of the braid. You can also see the red basting thread I put in to keep track of the centre of the bonnet.
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- To get the final shape, on the last row I have put in a few slight gathers at the centre front of the brim.
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- Finished straw bonnet from the front. It looks pretty cute like this, but we are going to cover the crown with some fine linen to match Constance’s Regency dress.
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- Last chance to see the complete profile of the straw part of the bonnet…
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- Cut a circle of cloth bigger than the hat by 2.5 cm (half an inch) all round.
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- Turn a tiny edge and gather through both layers.
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- Dop the bonnet upside down into the circle and tighten the gathers.
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- Pin and stitch the cloth over the straw hat crown, leaving the brim exposed.
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- Neaten the edge by stitching a ribbon over it at the front, leaving ribbon ends to act as ties.
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- Completed Straw Bonnet
Constance is very happy with her complete Regency style outfit, especially her new bonnet…
Gilly’s new bonnet
…and her old bonnet has a new owner with just the right sized head!
CHARMING and wonderful tutorial…thank you.
Thank you – I enjoyed making the bonnet and photographing the steps. Constance likes the result!
Great! Learned something new today…makes it worthwhile! Thank you for sharing….those two girls sure look proud!
They are very pleased with their new bonnets – Gilly wants to sleep in hers!
How cool is that. I am off to the thrift store! Denise
Oh good luck! I sure had fun with this project, and hope you will too!
Creative, sweetest little bonnet ever. Great tutorial too.
Constance hopes that a “Frederick Wentworth” will show up some day…and if he does, she has the perfect bonnet to wear while walking in the shrubberies with him.
Delightful!
Thank you!
Bravo! How stylish! Bet their underwear is very fancy, too! (We greatly admire your outfits – inside and out.)
The Quimper Hittys are all very fond of their fancy underwear, with the exception of Gráinne, who likes her practical, shipworthy canvas breeches, and Mungo, who won’t admit to what he is or isn’t wearing under his kilt!
Awesome!
Thanks 🙂
I love the shape of the straw-colored hat! You are so very inventive. Thank you for sharing the directions!
You are very welcome – the human hat was nice, but the Hitty one is nicer (I think)!
thanks for the tutorial and the great photos. Love the final one of Constance and the little one!!
You are welcome – I hope they will inspire a rush of Hitty bonnet-making! That last picture was an afterthought – as I dressed Constance in her Regency finery, I suddenly realised we have a small Hitty now and – glory be – it made a perfect little sunbonnet for her!
delightful, are all the Hittys lined up in the cupboard waiting for their fitting? Not sure Grainne will be very co-operative.
I think all the Hittys would like straw hats, I just hope I have the stamina to a couple of dozen more hats done…some for friends too! Gráinne might want a hat in case she has to go visit the Queen, we’ll see!