I’m pretty impressed (if I do say so myself) that I did manage to turn Luke’s old straw hat into a Regency era bonnet, which was relatively comfortable and carefully finished. The hardest part was actually getting a good photo of it.
In the end I resorted to putting it onto the most cooperative living mannequin available, my eldest daughter, Amelia. If you look here you can see the inspiration for it. To create it, I cut off the crown of the straw hat, (just above the hat-band) and stapled together a pinch of the brim at the back. I made a replacement soft crown with a large gathered fabric circle and band, just like on my chef’s hat.
Above is a reminder of what the hat looked like before.
After gathering a large amount of fabric, I attached it to the underside of the brim, and stitched it in place, around the edge. I bound the edge of the brim with bias binding, just like on a quilt. The crown was gently stitched to the brim, covering up the old hatband, (which was a really handy thing to stitch through, easier than the straw) and a red ribbon finished it off, covering the stitching.
The red ribbon crossed over at the back, and I stitched it to the edges of the brim in 2 places that corresponded to just behind my ears. This gave it the bonnet shape when it was done up.
To show you what it looked like on me, I will have to show you a terrible night-time selfie.
I spent the day of the party in bed with a migraine, so even though I was on track to finish the dress and bonnet in plenty of time to get a daylight photo, it wasn’t to be.
In the end, I cut a few corners with the dress. I only finished it thanks to my hubby Luke who pinned up the hem, (while I stood there in the dress feeling frail) and my Mother, Madeleine, who stitched it, just in time for us to leave. Next time I’ll show you the dress…
If that’s what your work is like when you are feeling ghastly, then power to your elbow, Claire!
Well done. The whole ensemble looks awesome and I do hope you were able to enjoy yourself.
Cheers