Bonny Bonnet Ta-Da!

The Bonny Bonnet finally got finished a few weeks ago. It languished all summer as I had to come up with a solution to the bulk of the gathered tartan. I had planned to use one of my velvet ribbons to cover the meeting of brim and crown, but the woollen gathers were too voluminous to easily be covered. Eventually I settled on stitching in a couple of large box pleats either side. They looked great and kept the majority of the fabric flat and easily covered.

Once I had this sorted to my satisfaction, I lined the inside of the brim and sewed a new trim on the edge to stop the flimsy straw brim from falling apart. I think I need to work on my gathering skills a little.

(See the fabric in the bottom right? That's my in-progress 1800-1810 day dress).


Next problem: my velvet ribbon did not do a good job of hiding the glue line just below the crown (note to self - cut and glue just ABOVE the brim next time!). Gah. I needed a trim that would bend and flare out slightly at the bottom. So I machine pleated some satin ribbon, which was surprisingly easy. Lastly a tuft of feathers, a couple of Suffolk puffs and some homemade medallion sort of things from grosgrain ribbon, and ta da! My bonnet is finished. It even had its first outing at a Regency dance demonstration at the Museum.

Now, for my next bonnet...