Jane Austen-style Bonnet

There was something off about the last bonnet I made.  I thought it made me look like a pilgrim - although I have been accused of looking like a pilgrim in the past:

(I was supposed to be Jane Eyre)

Anyway, when my friend with curly hair tried it on, it looked significantly less pilgrim-y on her.  Still, after doing some intensive research (i.e. watching the six hour Pride and Prejudice miniseries in one sitting) I concluded that the bonnets of that era, or at least the bonnets in that movie, had brims that fanned out from the wearer's face more.  They also seemed to perch on the wearer's head or hair, rather than wrapping around the head like my first bonnet did.  With all those considerations in mind, I set out to alter the bonnet pattern I had used to make it more Jane Austen-y.

The pattern, of course, was for a Halloween costume, because apparently no person in her right mind wants to wear a historically accurate, apparel-quality bonnet for fun.  I have never significantly altered a pattern or made my own pattern before.  For those who know of my extreme, almost handicapping lack of spatial intelligence, it might come as a surprise that I would even attempt it.  In the end, I used the crown pattern provided, but drew my own brim.

I had noticed that the brim pattern provided was nearly flat - the top wasn't any wider than the bottom and the bottom didn't curve around the head at all.  The result of this was that the brim, when laid across the top of the head, laid flat and didn't flare away from the head at all.  To create a better brim, I measured across the top of my head from behind each ear and then attempted to draw a curved pattern that would sit perpendicular to my scalp.


For the brim, I cut this pattern three times out of navy cotton and two times out of fusible webbing.  I then ironed the two pieces of fusible webbing between two pieces of cotton.  This made the "interior" of the brim.  I then sewed the interior piece to the third piece of navy cotton with a long strip of tulle pinned between them.  When I turned the brim right side out, it was navy on the outer edge, and navy with a tulle covering on the inner edge (the side that faces front).

After attaching the brim to the crown, which I had gathered loosely along the top and sides and rather tightly at the base, I hand sewed the seam inside the brim and basted the tulle in place for a sort of pintuck look.  I really like the way this bonnet sits further back on the head, and the way the brim fans out from the face, allowing the face to be more exposed.  It looks even better on someone with elaborately styled hair like the fancy ladies wore during that period.

I also shortened the back of the bonnet from the pattern.  I like it shorter, without the bizarre neck modesty flap, but I found that it was less forgiving.  I had to make sure to tuck all my hair (not difficult) or my friend's hair (more difficult) under the back of the bonnet, and then it looked a little strained.  In my next attempt, I will probably keep the back short, but make the crown itself fuller to accommodate more hair.