Today I finished the slat bonnet I've been meaning to get to for ages now! It is from the instructions on
elizabethstewartclark.com, and was mad simple to do, once I got everything together. I never started till now because I needed to buy the appropriate cotton, but Sunday I got myself to walmart (the only place that sells fabric within a 10 mile radius of this school, and bought stuff for both the bonnet and the winter hood I have also been wanting to make. I'll get to work on said hood, a pattern from Peter's Magazine (inspiration for this hood can be found
here,
here, and
here.). I'm not sure if I should expect more or less sewing on the hood, because I'm not sure if I'll be hemming the whole edge or not. I did the bonnet all by hand, mostly because I don't have access to a sewing machine here at college! But it was a good experience, and having something made entirely by hand is really pleasing.
Here are some production pictures I took:
(With some cardboard slats in place.)
(The oatmeal box I used for cardboard.)
(The hem along the edge.)
(Where facing and bonnet fabric meet.)
(Close up of patch I made on the facing.)
(All slats in place, not yet trimmed.)
(Whip-stitching across top of slat pockets.)
(Bonnet tie.)
(Finished product.)
One thing I'd mention if you are planning on making this is that a 1/4 inch seam allowance is needed, but the instructions don't mention the fact until after telling you to cut the fabric. I realize that as good pattern-followers we all ought to read and memorize every step, but I tend to be sloppy with these things (despite my very best efforts to stay in control, I always seem to get ahead of myself!). I didn't put the seam allowance in and it turned out fine, but for a longer "cape" and brim, the 1/4 inch would probably be beneficial.
"My mother was an active gardener, and during her forty-two years in Hollins street [Baltimore] must have pulled at least a million weeds. For this business as I recalled her, she had a uniform consisting of a long gingham apron and an old-time slat-bonnet -- head-dress that went out with the Nineteenth Century." H.L. Mencken, Happy Days: 1880-1892.
ReplyDeleteI was born in 1942 and had one of these bonnets when we pulled cotton. in Oklahoma where I lived, school started in the middle of August so school could take a break the whole month of October so the kids could help their parents pull cotton. I didn't really appreciate the bonnet at the time. they were hot. There was no wind to blow the bonnet around your neck. now I wish I had that old bonnet. Mother made it and I don't remember what happen to it.
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