A Tudor Style Brimless Bonnet

Here's one I didn't get around to posting back in May.

I had a Tudor themed event coming up and found that my French hood has warped due to the buckram being affected by humidity. I did make an attempt at replacing it, but I didn't have enough time to do a decent job so I decided to make a brimless bonnet to wear over a wired coif.

I got this lovely brown wool remnant from an SCA buy/barter/sell day, and it seemed the perfect size. This project was very much a ''fly by the seat of your pants' project! I had made flat caps before, but never a bonnet with no brim.

The project was inspired by these Holbein portraits-

Portrait of Amelia of Cleves by Hans Holbein
Image from http://www.thetudorswiki.com/page/Hans+Holbein+Paintings+&+Sketches

Portrait of a Court Official's Wife - 1534- by Hans Holbein
Image from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/31/97/e2/3197e20e723823ba058a6f6683f05f5c.jpg

I traced out a circle shape that seemed to be the right size. Then a second one with a smaller hole cut in the centre for my head. Because I was guessing re sizing, I cut smaller rather than larger.

I machine sewed the two pieces together with wrong sides out. I tried it on, and it fit ok, so I did a small hand sewn hem around the head hole edge. I notched my seams to prevent bulk on the rim edge.

When I tried the bonnet on over my coif, I found it just a smidge snug and I worried that it might slide off over the course of an event. So I unpicked the hem, trimmed off about 1.5 cm and re-hemmed it. Much better!

The part that touches the head. The hem added a lot of stability and gave a surprising amount of support.

I was really happy with how this quick project turned out. I would make another one, but only in wool. The wool gave enough stability that I didn't need to add wire or buckram. Wool is really lovely to work with, but quite difficult to come by where I live. I'd also like to try making a Tudor bonnet with a brim and a Lettice cap. I guess I'll have to make a new French hood too.