Free Pattern: Garter Wrap Hat

Finding a warm, practical hat that accommodates my hair is tough. Loose, baggy hats don't keep the cold out, and ear-warmers are often just too small. I wanted a hat that gave maximum ear and head coverage while still allowing plenty of space for my hair.

This is the second iteration of this hat; I liked the first one okay, but I didn't write it down, and then after a few years the hat went missing! (Don't worry - I found it as soon as I had knitted this one!) This time I worked more systematically and wrote down everything I did along the way.

Garter Wrap Hat

This hat is simply shaped at each end and has short rows worked over the top to enable it to curve over the head.

Gauge is not crucial as you will be measuring as you go. A tight, dense gauge will make a warmer hat.

I just barely squeezed two of these hats out of one skein of Cascade 220. You may need anywhere from half to a whole skein.

Size: 18" long by 6.5" wide, to fit a 22" head snugly
Yarn: Cascade 220 worsted weight wool (1 skein or less)
Needles: US 5 (or size to obtain gauge)
Gauge: 21.5 sts = 4" in garter stitch
Notions: two large safety-pin style stitch markers, row counter (optional but helpful), one 3/4" button, needle & thread

abbreviations

CO - cast on
BO - bind off
kfb - knit into the front and back of each stitch (to increase one stitch)
YO - yarn over needle
k2tog - knit two stitches together (to decrease one stitch)
ssk - slip, slip, knit (to decrease one stitch)
W&T - wrap and turn. Bring yarn forward between needles, slip next stitch, bring yarn to back, slip stitch back to left needle, turn work around to knit the other direction.

Directions

CO 5 stitches
Knit 1 row
K1, kfb, K1, kfb, K1 (7 sts)
Knit 1 row
Buttonhole row: K1, kfb, K1, YO, k2tog, kfb, K1 (9 sts)
Knit 4 rows
Place a safety pin style stitch marker on the side of the work facing you. (This hat has no right or wrong side, but the stitch marker on one side will help you keep track of rows.)

Next row: *K1, kfb, Knit to last 2 sts, kfb, K1
Knit 2 rows *

Repeat rows between * until you have 35 sts on your needle, ending with the Knit 2 rows. (If you would like the hat wider, continue to repeat the last 3 rows as desired.)

Place a stitch marker on the first stitch on the needle.

First short row: Knit to last 5 sts, W&T
Next short row: Knit to last 5 sts, W&T
* Knit 6 rows
Repeat two short rows *

Repeat rows between * until hat measures 13" from CO. Using your row counter can help you keep track of rows in this section.

This is a good time to check the fit. Wrap the hat around your head with the buttonhole at the back of your head, just under your hairline. Stretch the hat to a snug, comfortable fit, covering the forehead. Look in the mirror. The second marker you placed should fall symmetrically in the same place on your face as the live stitches on the needle. (For example, if the marker is at your eyebrow, the needle with live stitches should be at the level of your other eyebrow.) If you would like more length, continue repeating the rows between * until you have your desired length.

Begin decrease shaping: * Knit 2 rows
K1, ssk, Knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, K1*

Repeat between * until you have 9 sts

Knit 4 rows
K1, ssk, Knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, K1*
Knit 1 row
K1, ssk, K1, k2tog, K1*
BO last 5 sts

Sew a button to the BO end.

If you make this, please let me know!

An 18th Century Gown and Bonnet for an 8-year-old

Last week I sewed this 18th century style gown and bonnet for my 8 year old kid. We had planned a picnic which got canceled due to rain, but dressed up and went out for a little lunch anyway. Here she is! 

The restaurant had the fireplaces lit in the basement.

Working hard at something!

We stopped at a small park on the way home for some more photos.

The Making:

I started with 2.5 yards of 60" wide poly taffeta. I am usually a fiber snob but, a.) this was reaaaaallly nice poly taffeta, I promise, and b.) it's kid clothes. The pattern was drafted from another old pattern, which I enlarged (because she has grown) and also made new/different seams. You can just barely see the curved back seams here.

An inspiration image from Costume In Detail. The girl's dress is plain, open in front. I also loved the bonnet.

Here's the shift, which I made from an old cotton sheet.

Pockets and petticoat. I got this embroidered fabric for free. The petticoat is just some very cheap muslin I had laying around.

The petticoat is your typical drop-front construction. No bum pads or stays, just these.

 I machine-sewed everything I could. The whole petticoat, almost all of the shift. I hand-hemmed the shift neckline just because it was easier on the curves. The lower lining seam of the dress is sewn down by hand. There is no closure because I just used pins.

I trimmed the dress with pinked, self-fabric pleats and some fine dotted netting. All applied by machine. (See above: kid clothes.) I made the pleated strips on the machine with the fork method.

I shaped the net at the elbows to be longer in the back. I had to apply the sleeve trim by hand because it was too tiny to get into the machine.

The Bonnet:

I liked the one in the image above, as well as those little silk market bonnets that everyone is making these days. See A Fashionable Frolick, or American Duchess blog. I made this one out of some grey silk taffeta from the stash.

I've been trying to make one of these for myself for ages, but making up my own brim shape was challenging. It always looked dorky, no matter what. Here's what I ended up with for The Girl. Please feel free to copy this if it helps you at all!

Like the dress and undies, I machine-sewed as much of this as possible. First I cut the brim shape out of Peltex (not buckram! I'm such a cheater!) and sewed millinery wire to the edge using a machine zigzag. Then I cut two silk pieces for the brim (adding seam allowance) and sewed the front seam. I clipped the seam allowances and inserted the wired Peltex piece. The I folded the back seam allowances over and machine-stitched them down. Brim done.

For the crown portion, I made a drawstring casing along the straight back edge and put in some cord, stitching it down at the sides and bringing the ends through a small space I left open at the center, making a drawstring to adjust the size.

I zigzagged the raw edge, then moved to hand sewing. I whip-gathered the curved edge of the crown and hand stitched it to the brim.

It looks a little messy from the inside, but it doesn't show when worn.

I pinked a few strips of the silk and made a big bow attached to the center front. I did her hair in a soft bun at the back and frizzed up her natural curls in front a bit. 

The brim shape isn't entirely how I anticipated, and maybe the crown is too wide on the sides, but I love it anyway.

I am so in love with how this whole outfit turned out! She had requested a fancy dress with ruffles and I think this did the job. 

Trimming an 1860s Bonnet

A while ago an internet friend asked if anyone would be willing to trim a bonnet for her. I eagerly volunteered for this project! Making hats and bonnets from scratch is fiddly, but just putting the trims on is the fun part!

Katie sent me a delightful box of goodies. A pre-made, silk-covered blank bonnet from Timely Tresses was the base.

Loads of lovely flowers and ribbons from Etsy!

I consulted several fashion plates for design inspiration, including these. Katie asked me to just be creative with the design, and also said that more is more!

I started with a double layer of gathered cotton net. This was easily the most challenging part. It's very hard to do any sewing on the tight inner curves inside the bonnet.

I tacked the net at the far back, the edge of the brim, and at the midway point.

Flowers were next! I had several bunches of flowers, velvet leaves, glass berries, and golden and green sprigs to work with. I started with the ones for the inside of the brim. I gathered a few flowers and things into tiny bunches like so:

Then I wrapped their wire ends together and covered them with floral tape. If you've never used floral tape, you should know it's amazing. It has a papery texture, it stretches, and it only sticks to itself. Perfect for covering up all the wire and locking everything in place.

Several of the finished sprigs, before taping.

I sewed them down with white thread at the edge of the inside brim.

As I went along, I pulled the net over the stems and tacked it down to hide the stem ends.

I played with the layout a lot before committing. A lot of 1860s bonnets have just a few flowers, or one central bunch, or a bunch off to one side. Katie told me more is more, so I just went ahead and filled the whole inside brim!

Then I started the bunch for the top. First I made a flat base of velvet leaves. Then I made some larger sprigs of flowers. I thought keeping the glass berries together would have the best effect.

I started sewing them to the leaf base, crossing their stems.

All sewn down!

Finally, I bent the stems back up to cover all the sewing. The finished piece!

I cut several loops of ribbon to pleat and lay under the flower piece.

To trim the outside, first I sewed two pieces of ribbon over the crown, pleated the long way to give them texture and help them shape over the curve. Then I added the loops and the floral piece right on top.

The last step was to add the chin ties. I used two lengths of ribbon, cut the ends at angles, and sewed tiny hems. Then I pleated up the other end into a little fat stack of pleats so it was only about 1/2" wide, and sewed it to the pointy tip of the bonnet brim. 

The ties are about a yard long to make a nice full bow.

Here's Katie wearing this bonnet at an event in Gettysburg! I love the way it coordinates with her dress!

This was a super fun project. Trimming hats is definitely my cup of tea!

Linen Cap and Smock

I made this linen cap and smock to go with my yellow wool kirtle.

The cap was based on the pattern in The Tudor Tailor.

I have a lot of hair, and I usually find that hats and caps either refuse to fit over it, or they end up comically large because I overdo the adjustment. To make this cap fit, here's what I did.

First I pinned my hair up in the style I'd be wearing. Two braids coiled into a wide, flat-ish bun.

I measured around my head where I wanted the band to sit. I cut the band and brim based on this measurement and sewed them together. I hemmed each piece individually and then whipped them together.

When the band and brim were all done, I tried them on for size. Looking good!

I positioned the band where I liked it, not too far forward. My hairline is very high and I didn't want to look totally bald from the front, which can happen if I don't let a little of my front hair show!

Fits around the hair! At this point I measured from the edges of the band over my hair, from side to side and then from top to bottom.

I cut a circle of linen about 4" larger than those measurements and wrapped it over my hair, then slid the band over it, tucking all the edges in.

Edges of caul/bag portion tucked in to check the fit!

I pinned it in place, took it off, then trimmed the excess fabric off the bag/circle, making sure to leave sufficient hem allowance, about 3/8".

I used a whipped gather stitch (I really feel like this should be called an overcast gather stitch since that is what you are actually doing) to finish and gather the edge of the bag. I joined it to the finished edge of the band with a whip stitch.

All done!

The hand sewing techniques are probably more 18th century than 16th century, but I thought they made for a lovely, delicate finish. And I'm not such a stickler that I care much. It's a cap, it's white, it's linen, it's the right(ish) shape, and it's hand sewn! Good enough for me!

All together this cap took me about a day to make. I really enjoyed hand sewing it and I love the way it looks. So cute! And all my hair fits inside!

The smock is the same hanky linen, cut from The Tudor Tailor's diagram. (I swear I read another book once!) I did it mostly by machine but used hand sewing in some of the parts that showed, namely, the cuffs and the neckline area.

Most of the following pictures were taken after I had worn it and washed it and shoved it, crumpled up, in a drawer a few times. And didn't iron it.

The smock is about 44" from shoulder to hem and falls to about the top of my calf. This is the perfect length for me: good coverage, but not so long that it wraps around my legs as I walk.

The neck is high with a band and a small ruffle. I have a feeling that historically, for the lower class look I was imitating, the neck would probably have been lower, a plain scoop, but I really like the neck/shoulder coverage of the high neck so I don't get so much sun exposure at Fest. I could've done a low scoop + a partlet, but this was simpler. 

All the main seams are flat-felled by machine. I love how tidy the flat-felling makes the underarm gusset!

The front slit is hand-hemmed. The very bottom is covered with buttonhole stitch and there is a buttonholed bar to strengthen the bottom of the opening.

The neckband was applied by hand in a manner shown in Janet Arnold's book. The band is cut as one piece and folded in half the long way. Both long raw edges of the band have their seam allowances folded in. The outside of the band is pinned over the neckline's raw edge and secured with a backstitch from the right side. The inside edge is folded over the seam allowances and secured with a fell stitch.

A photo of an original from Patterns of Fashion 4 showing this technique.

Janet Arnold's sketch of same (or similar).

Here is mine.

You can kinda see my little stitches! Everything you can see in this shot is sewn by hand. Backstitch on the outside (left) and fell stitch on the inside (right).

The neckline ruffle was hand-hemmed and then whip gathered to the folded edge of the finished neckband.

The cuffs were done almost the same way, but I fell-stitched both sides instead of backstitching the outside one. (I don't remember why!) The cuffs are left plain and I confess I never got around to sewing a button and loop to them. Maybe next time I wear it!