Girls Regency Cap

I've had it in mind for a while now to make my daughter Jane a cap that she can wear for late 18th c. / early 19th c. reenactments.  When I saw a girls cap for sale at the 18th Century Market Fair of Locust Grove, I thought, for a brief moment, that I might just buy one instead of making it.  However, when I saw that they were asking $20 for it, I thought differently.  So, using some scrap white linen that I had hidden away in my stash, I set about making Jane's cap.

The first thing I did was to consult the ladies on the Sense and Sensibility Forum. They are always a treasure trove of historical costuming knowledge.  Suzi Clarke, a reputable costumier from the UK, directed me to the Kannik's Korner pattern image, here.  Look at View A, Round Eared Cap.  That's the style I was going for.  She also guided me as to how to cut the fabric to get the shape I wanted.  You can see the layout above...

I decided early on that I wanted to hand sew the cap.  Hand sewing is, after all, the method that would have been used during the Regency era.  I started by sewing up the ties, and then turning them right side out, as seen in the above image.  Then, I hemmed and gathered the front ruffle, and sandwiched it between the inner and outer layer of the brim.  The brim is the only part of the cap that is essentially, "lined." 

I also placed the ties inside of this "sandwich", and then did a sort of running, back-stitch to sew up the top edge and sides.

Once done, I turned the brim right side out, and folded in the seam allowance on the bottom edge.  Here it is before the main portion of the cap was sewn on.

I gathered the top, or arched side of the main part of the cap, and then created a casing with strings that tie at the center bottom edge.  The strings are used to adjust the width of the bottom, neck area.  Once these tasks were done, I placed the gathered edge of the cap into the two layers of the brim, and whip-stitched these three layers together.  All that was left to do, was to draw-in the adjustable strings, and tie the cap under Jane's chin.

It turned out to be a little too big for her tiny head.  But, I'm sure that this is the most practical approach as she now has room to grow into it.  It's also not quite as round eared as I would have liked it to be, but all-in-all, it's not a bad looking cap.  I might do a bit of simple embroidery on it somewhere....what do you think?