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Throughout history
there have been a great number of styles of soft hats. Simple geometric shapes are
the basis of this form. Mobcaps, Victorian breakfast caps, berets in their many
varieties, newsboy caps, are all variations of the circle. An added rectangular strip creates the chef’s toque, etc.
We are starting with basic soft hats as they are probably the simplest of all
hats to make. All three are based on a flat piece of fabric or lace, gathered,
manipulated in one manner or another and trimmed to a greater or lesser degree.
Our first soft hat is the MOBCAP.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the
English Language: Fourth Edition defines it as:
A large high frilly cap with a full
crown, worn indoors by women in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
According to Colonial Williamsburg’s
website:
A
mob was undress headwear; becoming popular in the 1730s and worn in some form into the next century. It had a puffed crown
placed high on the back of the head, a deep flat border surrounding the face, and sometimes side pieces carried down like
short lappets, which could be left loose, pinned, or tied under the chin. The flat border usually was frilled or had lace.
Our miniature mobcap consists of
a cotton batiste fabric circle, trimmed with a lace ruffle and gathered to fit a one inch scale doll’s head or hat stand.
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On white Swiss cotton batiste, using your circle template and a disappearing
ink fabric marker, trace a circle 2” in diameter and mark the quarters.
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Divide the circle into quarters with your marker and a ruler.
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Now line up the registration marks that you made on the fabric with the marks on a
1 ½” diameter circle and draw the circle with the marking pen. The second
circle will be centered inside the first and indicates the line that you wil be using for your gathering stitches, Note: If you want a really large, puffy style cap, use a 2 ½” outer circle and a 2” inner
circle.
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Cut out the outer circle, seal the edges with glue, using as little glue as
possible, and let dry.
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Cut a narrow piece of edging lace (about ¼” wide) 8” long. Seal one end of the header thread on one edge of the lace and let dry completely.
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Grab the other end of the header thread with tweezers and pull.
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Grasp the pulled thread with your fingers and slightly gather the lace on its header
thread to about 5 1/2". (You don’t want to gather the lace so much that it bunches up, just enough to assist its curve.)
Check the length by laying the lace around the circumference of the fabric
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Attach the lace to the outer edge of the fabric circle by gluing or sewing;
overlapping the straight edge over the fabric and allowing the points, scallops, or picots of the decorative edging to evenly
hang over the edge of the fabric. Make sure that the lace is firmly and completely attached , not just on an edge.
Slightly
overlap the raw edges to finish and trim off any excess lace.
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Sew a circle of small gathering stitches along the marked inner line with
matching thread .(along the glued of sewn edge of the lace). I have used a contrasting
thread so that you can see the stitches more easily in the photo.
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Gather just enough to fit a doll’s head or hatstand and fasten off, hiding
the knot on the inside of the hat in a fold.
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PARLOURMAID'S CAP
The 19th century maid’s dress varied according to her
duties and her employer’s status. The parlour maid was required to be tall,
as at times she was called upon to replace a footman. An upper level servant;
she was frequently in contact with her mistress and in the absence of a footman she might wait at table, usher in guests or
even answer the door. Consequently she had to appear tidy and well dressed at
all times.
In the 19th century, changing (clothing) in the afternoon became an established rule and at teatime the
parlour maids had to reappear in black. Towards the end of the century, the apron
had a bib secured by cross straps behind. Sometimes it was trimmed with a frill.
Indoor
caps were worn by all servants. Earlier in the century, the typical headgear
was a mobcap. Closer to the 20th century, a lace cap with streamers
like this one became more prevalent.
Making just a slight alteration; removing the streamers at the back of
the cap and using white ribbon instead of black, would make this same construction work as a 20th century waitress’
hat – Or, also for a waitress, instead of the gathered lace, one could
fold a narrow strip of white cotton batiste, starch and pleat it.
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Cut a piece of edging lace 2” long. Seal one end of the header with a spot of
glue and let dry completely.
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Pull the header thread at the opposite end of the lace to gather to about 1 ¼”. Tie off and seal with a bit of glue.
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Cut a piece of 4 mm black silk ribbon 6 ½” long. Find the halfway point on the lace and mark with an insect pin. Find the center of the ribbon and mark.
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Matching the centers, glue the ribbon along the header edge of the lace. Be careful
to use the tiniest amounts of glue and let the glue get fairly dry and tacky before pressing the ribbon into it as silk ribbon
is very thin and the glue may ooze through.
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Cut the ends of the ribbon streamers at an angle and seal the very edge with a bit
of glue to prevent fraying.
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If you will be placing the cap on a doll, when the hairstyle is completed, wrap the
ribbon around the doll’s head with the lace standing up from behind the ribbon toward the front of the doll’s
head. Secure the back of the ribbon with a knot. (You can also display the cap on a hat stand.) Drape the streamers to hang
down behind the doll’s head
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VICTORIAN BREAKFAST CAP
At the beginning
of the 19th century, caps were worn on,y by older ladies and servants; young women rarely wore them and their hair
was decorated with flowers or ribbon in the evening. By the 1820’s, however,
caps of net, muslin and lace for morning, lace and gauze for evening, had again become general wear; by the 1830’s (the
Beginning of the Victorian era), they were high crowned with brims (or ruffles) rising up from the face and quite elaborately
trimmed; in the 1840’s they lay close to the head, following the bonnet line. In the later part of the century,
indoor caps were gradually discontinued, by the 1870’s worn only, perhaps with a tea-gown or by elderly ladies. Servants and country people wore caps well into the twentieth century. This cap is loosely based on a drawing of one that appeared in Harper’s Bazar in 1871
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Iron a one inch square of fusible web onto a one inch square crinoline.
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Using a 7/8” 45° oval template and a pencil, mark an oval
on the paper backing the fusible web that is bonded to the crinoline and cut out.
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Draw a 1-1/8” oval on Swiss cotton batiste with a disappearing ink fabric marker.
Mark the quarters.
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Divide the oval into quarters with your marker and ruler.
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Now line up the registration marks that you made on the fabric with the marks on the
7/8” diameter oval and draw the oval with the marking pen. The second oval will be centered inside the first.
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Remove
the backing paper and iron the fusible web and crinoline assemblage onto the marked center of the cotton batiste oval.
Cut out around
the larger oval.
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Clip small v’s out of the batiste, all around the perimeter of the oval, just
up to, but not through the edge of the crinoline.
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Fold the v’d tabs over the crinoline and glue down. Press with your iron.
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Cut three pieces of narrow (about ¼” wide) edging lace 3”, 2 ½”
and 1 3/4” long. Seal one edge of each and let the glue dry completely.
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When the glue is dry, pull the opposite end of the header of the lace with a tweezers.
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Grasp the gathering thread and gather the largest piece of lace to approximately 2
1/2", the next to 2" and the smallest to
1 1/4".
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Starting with the longest piece of lace, glue the lace around the edge of the oval
(on the side with the tabs glued over the crinoline), hiding the tabs and allowing the decorative edge of picots or scallops
of the lace to evenly overlap the edge. Adjust the gathers to just the size of the oval and Join the lace where the
edges meet and turn them under to hide the raw edge.
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Attach the second (middle sized) piece of lace around the cap, further toward the
center, allowing the picots or scallops to come just to the edge of the cap, covering the edge of the previously attached
round. Hide the raw edges as in the last round.
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Gather the shortest round tightly and glue the raw edges
together, making a small seam (about 1/8").
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Glue the last round of lace around at the very center of the cap, overlapping the
previous round.
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Using 2 mm pink silk ribbon, make three bows using the bowmaker tool as follows:
wrap a piece of 2mm ribbon around the two consecutive tines that are spaced the
closest together on the bow maker.
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Pull one end through to the other side.
Wrap the ends to tie a knot between the two tines.
Pull fairly tight.
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Add a drop of glue to keep the knot from opening. Let the glue dry.
Slide the bow off the tines and cut the tails of the bow fairly short, angling the ends. Seal with a bit of glue. (make 3)
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Cut
two 3” to 3 ½” pieces of 2mm pink silk ribbon. Glue each to the narrow ends of the oval.
Cut
the free ends at an angle and seal with a bit of glue.
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Glue
a bow over each of the raw, glued on edges of the ribbon ties.
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Glue the third bow at the center of the topmost round
of lace. Curve the cap around your finger to shape it, Place it on a doll or hat stand and tie a bow.
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