But I pulled out my linen-iest 1750s ensemble, and put on my Christmas mitts and my Christmas hat and went down to the beach!
A placemat is a good budget option for a bergere, but doesn't have any crown.
It isn't going to sit on the head like a hat with a crown, and for these earlier
decades of the 18th century, where there weren't masses of hair to cushion
one's headwear, the difference will be noticeable.
But if you're wanting a quick and easy seasonal hat that looks brilliant from 100 paces and still pretty all-right up close, a a placemat is FUN!
I've wanted to try making an 18th Century bergere from a placemat for a while
now, and when I saw a selection of silly Christmas mats in the local Jumbo
supermarket, it felt like the right time to try.
I bought some Christmas- colored ribbons in a cordoneria downtown, and made a
trip to the Best Mart dollar store to see what sort of Christmas froof I could
find for decorations, came home and dug out my spool of millinery wire - and I
was ready to go.
The placemats are VERY floppy, so I started by sewing two circles of millinery
wire onto each placemat - one circle about an inch in from the edge, to give
structure to the brim, and another circle about 2.25 inches in radius around
the center, to stiffen the "crown" of the hat.
IMPORTANT NOTE HERE: When sewing millinery wire by machine, you need to be wearing proper eye protection. Millinery wire is solid metal, sewing machine needles move swiftly and safety goggles are cheap in any hardware store. Even sewing slowly and deliberately, the needle can snap - and when it does it will happen faster than you think.
I set the sewing machine to a zig-zag stitch, of about medium width and about
medium stitch length, and I stitched at a slow and deliberate pace - I wanted a
zig-zag that would be short and narrow enough to hold the wire securely, but
also wide enough that I didn't have to risk the needle hitting the wire on
every stitch.
When I came to the end of my circle I kept going and overlapped the wire by
about 2 inches to keep the circle circular - and then I cut the wire free with
a pair of wire cutters.
I trimmed the hats with my ribbon, using the pleating to hide the wires.
The red ribbon was pleated in a box pleat, which sprang up in lovely puffs.
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The gold ribbon I pleated in wide knife pleats.
I didn't worry about measuring the pleats, I just eyeballed them to keep them
relatively even, and let the small variations between the pleats give a happy
organic feel to the hat.
Once I had the ribbons sewn down, I tacked on dollar store Christmas-y corsages and other wintery floral bits until the hats looked pleasantly tasteless and festive.
Lastly, I cut ribbon ties about 24 inches long and hemmed the ends so that they
didn't unravel. Then I flipped the hats
over and sewed on ribbon ties. On these crown-less hats, you need to sew the
ties about 2 inches out from the crown line, or you risk looking like a festive
pageant pancake.
(See warning photo below)
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The red hat is suitable for the 1750s and early 1760s when a single sprig of ornamentation, discreetly placed, was VERY chic
The gold hat is suitable for the 1770s and 1780s, when they wore the
entire kitchen sink.
Bold, Brassy, Cool and Classy - two fabulous Christmas Bergere Hats!
