I bought a bonnet at a flea market, but can't figure how to make it. It has elastic around the crown and a clothes hanger to bend the outer edge around the face.
By R MC from Paragould, AR
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Without seeing the bonnet you bought I'm having to guess, but more than likely the wire used is a commercial sewing notion called millinery wire. It's lightweight and won't drag the brim out of shape.
The maker may have adapted a coat hanger by bending it to the shape of the brim pattern he/she used, and then stitching it into the edge of the brim, or forming a casing (tube) to insert the wire, but I think it would be too heavy, frankly.
The elastic probably is either across the back, or around the crown to provide a 'one-size-fits-all' fit.
The best thing to do if you are interested in reproducing the bonnet is to look at the costume or historical section of the majour pattern companies like Simplicity, McCall's, and Butterick; there is also a pattern company called FolkWear with a huge catalogue of historical patterns including bonnets. I've included links to these catalogues, hope it helps:)
folkwear.com/
Sometimes it's a good idea to invest in a commercial pattern for a unique item like a sunbonnet-you learn all the secrets and can adapt the pattern to your design ideas.
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