Sempstress

It’s a sad commentary about my life that I am sitting here in mid-December still trying to finish writing all the demos I did photo work for during 1776 last spring. Life’s been a little crazy lately. Great/fantastic/amazing (grantasticazing?), but crazy. Anyhoo… One of life’s great mysteries seems to be “How do you alter a hat?” I’ve talked about straws, which are basically a “just add water” operation. Reblocking felts is slightly more dangerous exciting, because you get to play with steam. Ready? Read the rest of this entry »

So for reasons that I can’t quite wrap my head around, I’ve fround myself making show-girl headdresses.  This is great, except that I don’t fully know how to make a show-girl headdress.  I’ve a notion that it’s definitely a wire-and-plier project….

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Not all feathers are created equal.  It’s unfortunate, but it’s true.  You go to the craft store, looking to feather your cap with some amazing, lush plumage, and you find yourself confronted with an array of vacuum sealed ostrich plumes straight out of Flatland.  So, what can you do?

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The world is full of straw hats. They are almost never the size and shape you’d like them to be. (That’s a known effect of the Law of Universal Irony, along with how the thread already in the needle is never a color that will work for your current purposes.) Fortunately, reblocking a straw hat is pretty gosh darned simple. Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you out there who do Rev or Civ war stuff, this might come in handy. It’s basic, but it get’s the look. You’ll probably want to make the stitches smaller than I’ve shown. Read the rest of this entry »

The Simple Caul, like the “biggins”, is a hat comprised of a Band and a Gathered Crown. Read the rest of this entry »

This charming little headcovering is a northern version of the
Simple Caul, seen in a number of flemish paintings.
Like the Biggins and the Simple Caul, the Northen Coif is comprised of a Band and a Gathered Crown. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s really not so period, as far as I know, but just for yuks….
Here’s a two piece Beret pattern. Hey, a hat you can wear in your modern life too? Weird. Read the rest of this entry »

The Biggins Hat is a hat comprised of a Band and a Gathered Crown. Renfaire lore says the name comes from the idea that it was the first hat you wore at the “biggins” of your life. I’ve no idea if that’s true or if someone just made it up because they got tired of being asked about the name…. Read the rest of this entry »

The Toque is a hat comprised of a Stiffened Brim and a Cartridge
Pleated Crown. The following instructions assume that you have already made your Basic Brim Patterns. If you have not, you’ll want to follow the link and do so.

The Toque was a popular style in Spain and Italy. (Hence, “Spanish Toque” and “Italien Bonnet”.) Read the rest of this entry »