Here are a few details for the finer points of this hat.
In theses first picture you can see where the ties to keep the hat cocked go through the brim and into the crown. The ties are made from 1/4 inch worsted tape, which forms the very prominent "11" shape that you see on the front and back of the hat.
I set the bottom hole for the 11s 3/4 inch from the bottom of the hat, and the top hole 2 inches above the bottom. The 11s are about 1 1/4 inch apart from each other. These are my measurements, but you can change them depending on the look you are going for.
To cock the sides, I tack the brim to the crown with a few stitches in the middle of where I want the brim to stay. I mark my holes and then punch the holes with an awe. Thread from the inside bottom to the outside of the brim then back in through the top to the inside and tie with a square knot. Leave some extra tape if you plan to take out the 11s at any point.
Much of the same is done with the back of the hat to make the fantial. Many of the extant hats that I have seen do not have the top part of the worsted tape for the fantial returning back into the crown. Instead the worsted tape at the top of the fantail only goes through the brim, and the tape is tied inside the crown at the bottom part by the brim.
If you follow this method, you may find that the top of the fantail pulls away from the crown. To make sure everything stays in place, I hid a few stitches of black linen thread under each of the 11s higher up on the crown. You can see the stitches with the worsted tape pulled aside in the second picture.
The lining is made from a rectangular piece of simple linen the circumference of your head plust 1/2 inch, and about 3 1/2 inches wide. The lining will not go all the way to the top of the crown so that you can undo the worsted tape if you choose to create a fantail on sunny days. If you don't want to have that option, you can take a piece of linen to the lining on the top of the crown to give you felt some extra protection.
Fold over 1/4 on one of the long sides and finish the raw edge with a whip stitch, then sew the strip into a band using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Next, fold over 1/4 inch on the remaining unfinished long edge and ease the lining into place and sew in with a whip stitch. You do not need to go through the entire hat, just enough to keep everything secure.
The cockade band is simpler than you think. This one is made from 1/2 inch worsted tape that is simply tied in place to the 11s and hooked to a pewter button.
First, decide where you want your button to be, untie the worsted tapes cocking up this portion of the brim, and then sew the button to the brim securely. You need to make this nice and tight or the button will move and throw off the aesthetics.
Cut a piece of tape that is longer than you need and tie a knot on the inside of the brim to make a loop that will go around the button and under the worsted tape that is between the brim and crown of that hat. You can see where the band goes in the last picture.
You will need to experiment the the length of this band because you want it tight, but still loose enough that you can undo the button and insert a cockade without affecting the brim shape. It's very tempting to make the band loose, but if you do that the button won't look right, and your cockade will not hold a nice shape and turn into a sad piece of fabric attached to your brim from lack of pressure on the center of the of it.
My last attempt at hat making was a (somewhat) failure. Mostly because I did not have the right tools. My second attempt at hat making was a roaring success, but that's not to say that didn't make plenty of mistakes and learn a lot. Here is my finished hat.
Unfortunately, you can't just go rolling out and making a hat overnight because it does require one specific tool to make a historically accurate 18th century hat: a round had block. No one makes them any more because your head is oval not round, so modern hats are blocked to actually fit your head. I commissioned a hat block from a local wood turner that fits my head, and I could not be more impressed with the craftsmanship. Here's his website: dougsturnings.com
You're going to need a few other things to make a hat other than just a block. You will also need:
A wool or fur felt capeline (the one pictured is a shorthair fur)
A big piece of plywood (I think mine is 24 x 24 inches)
Staple gun
Thin rope to tie the crown seam (I used 1/4 inch linen tape)
Tea kettle
Iron and spray bottle
Shellac (clear stuff)
Denatured alcohol
Cheap spray bottle you are willing to throw away
Natural fiber paint brush
Hat brush, shoe brush, or something like it
Scissors
Tailors chalk
Plastic wrap
Quilters ruler (optional)
Hat styling materials (worsted tape, buttons, cockades, etc.)
Step 1: Block the Hat
Blocking a hat is not actually as hard as it seems. You just need the right tools and some patience. Other than the hat block you may actually have all the tools you need in your house already. To before you block the hat make sure that you have you plywood and stapler handy and wrap your block in plastic wrap to prevent damaging it from the heat and chemicals.
To block the hat, heat the interior of the cape line with steam from a boiling tea kettle until is is malleable. Then put the capeline over the hat block and pull down until it sits firmly against the hat block and distinctly makes the crown. After that you need to tie something around the bottom of the crown to maintain the shape and create a crisp transition seam from the crown to the brim.
Next, you are going to stretch the brim. Remove the hat and block from the stand and place it on your plywood. Using a water bottle and iron, soak portions of the capeline and then iron them to make the brim malleable. Stretch the brim by hand and staple the edges to the plywood. I try to get the brim at least 5 1/2 inch wide from the crown. You may have to repeat the process more than once and pull out a few staples to get the brim fully stretched to where you want it. I use A LOT of staples in this step because wool/fur will shrink and then you will have to do this all over again.
Once you have the brim stretched. Heat the spot near the crown and push the tie down as far as you possibly can to get a crisp seam on the crown. I used a clothes pin to help push down the tie. Once you're happy, let the blocked hat dry for at least 8 hours. The finished product should look something like this.
Step 2: Stiffen the Hat
Stiffening the hat is the easiest but worst step in the whole process. The period recipe for hat stiffener is a mixture of shellac and denatured alcohol. I use 2 parts (clear) shellac to 1 part denatured alcohol. The easiest and most efficient way to apply the mixture is using a spray bottle and then brushing it into the blocked hat. No need to remove the hat from the plywood, just spray that bad boy down with a bunch of the stinky stiffener until its saturated and then brush it in. Wait at least 8 hours to make sure it's dry, and then assess the stiffness to see if it needs another coat.
If it's good, remove the staples and spray the underside of the brim with the stiffener and brush it in again. After you've spray it down, put the hat back on the plywood and staple it back down. If you don't do this, the brim will curl in as the stiffener drys and then you will have to iron your hat brim to get it flat again. It smells gross, so don't forget this step. Wait at least 8 hours, and your hat should be dry and stiffened.
Step 3: Cut and Style Your Hat
Now it's time for the fun part. Styling your hat. Although they may look like the brims are round, most cocked hats do not have round brims, they are slightly oval. The front and backs of my hat are 5 1/4 inches and the sides are 4 3/4 inches. You'll have to play with it to figure out exactly what you are gong for.
My suggestion is to start big, trim slowly, and check your progress by mock styling with your hands as you go along. Mark with tailors chalk because it is easy to see and comes out (somewhat) easily and use a quilters ruler for easy distance marking. I also use the quilters ruler to mark where the front and back of the crown starts, which helps with marking the pattern for the hat shape.
Once you like your hat shape, use a brush to get all the tailors chalk off and to generally pounce your hat. Once that's done, tack the brim in place with a few linen stitches so that everything is place while you're styling.
My method to styling is:
Bind the brim if you're doing that
Tack the brim in place
Mark and punch holes for ties on fantail and sides, then tie the brim in place with the worsted tape.
Sew in linen lining and sweat band (you could do this before doing the worsted tape but I find it easier to push the tape through the hat without the lining in the way)
Sew on button for cockade.
Tie cockade band tape to binding tape and hook over button.
Insert cockade
Step 4: Wear Hat
If you did it right, or mostly right, you should get an awesome looking hat like this that custom fits your head. I gotta say that I'm addicted. This hat was not hard to make and looks amazing. I may have created a monster
Nothing quite lets you know that you're in 18th century territory like the cocked hat. They are so easily recognizable and awesome to look at. They appear deceptively simple to make to get the distinctive "tricorn" look.
I had always assumed that the hats were all blocked and then had the brims cut an equal distance from the crown. Then the hat was folded into the respective shape. Not the case. Though some styles of cocked hat may be shaped that way, the prevailing styles appear to have a non-round rim.
The two prevailing popular styles that I have come across are the Ramillies, which could be described as a balanced cocked hat with a moderately sized front and fantail that matches the sides, and the Nivernois, which appears to be cocked high in the front and back with narrower sides.
I'm going to start making my own hats, so I needed to do a little research, so I recently deconstructed a cocked hat that I had made for me by a hat expert that I was less than pleased with because it was not blocked correctly with a round block.
I started by removing the cockade, vertical cording holding the cocked sides and back in place, and then cut all the stitching. Taking out all of that work revealed that though the hat would appear round, it is in fact oval. The brim measures 5 1/2 inches at the front and back, and is 4 1/2 on the right side, and 4 inches on the left side. I always thought the sides of the hat were not even! If I try to recreate this style, I will have the front and back 5 1/2 inches but the sides will be a consistent 4 1/2 inches. Unfortunately, this hat is most likely fundamentally done. I will reblock and see what I can salvage, but it may just be a plain bowler looking hat.
It's really a shame. Other parts of the hat were well constructed, but the core of the hat was bad. It also felt like it had no stiffening in it whatsoever. Myself, and many others in the hobby are becoming disenchanted with the hat makers out there both in quality and timliness, so let's hope this hat making experiment goes well. I am picking up my hat block tonight and am super geeking out about it. More on that later.
It's starting to become a coat again. The project to refurbish my 1770s broadcloth coat to make it more historically accurate is progressing nicely and the (mostly) unlined body is complete.
In my last post, I had just finished attaching the buttons and sewing the button holes on the front panels. Since then, I have sewn new pockets and attached them, lined the skirts of the back panels with China silk, sewn hooks and eyes in place to close the front, and attached the front panels to the backs completing the torso of the coat.
I've also cut all the visible lining in China silk. Most surviving coats are either lined with either silk or some form of worsted in the visible parts and some form of cheap fabric in the back. This is the first time that I've worked with China silk and it is very interesting. The stuff is slippy to no belief so it makes tracing, cutting, and pinning a frustrating adventure. It's a very flexible fabric though, so maneuvering it in place is fairly simple.
Next up, I will line and attach the sleeve cuffs, and attach the sleeves. Then it will be time to do the cape (collar).
The interfacing is, without a doubt, the most important part of an 18th century coat or waistcoat. It keeps everything where it is supposed to be and makes sure that your front panels stay erect and do not sag under the weight of fabric and buttons. At minimum, you will need to interface the front edges of your coats, but you should also interface the pocket flaps (and sleeve flaps if you are doing a mariner cuff).
For your interfacing, you will need pre-made linen buckram, or you can make your own from cheap linen fabric. I make mine because it ends up being cheaper in the long run, but it does add a delay to your sewing process. I'll cover making buckram in another post.
Placing the Interfacing
Where interfacing is placed in your coat depends on the fabric that you are using:
For Linen, Worsted, Silk, or Cotton
If you are using a fabric that the edge will fray on i.e. linen, worsted, cotton, etc. your interfacing will be cut the match the edge of the garment and will be set back from the edge of the fashion fabric right tracing seam allowance line. I use 1/4 inch seam allowances, so my interfacing is 1/4 inch from the edge of the fabric. The key is that when you fold the fashion fabric back over the interfacing, the crease forms the finished edge of the panel.
For Wool Broadcloth
If you are using a fabric that will hold an edge i.e. wool broadcloth, the outside seam of your fashion fabric will not have any seam allowances and will be left raw. If you cut your interfacing piece to match the true edge of your garment, you risk that the interfacing will stick out once finished. You will need to trim about 1/4 inch off the outside edge of your interfacing piece, and place it 1/4 inch from the edge. You will lose a tiny bit of stiffness on the edge of your garment, but it will be made up for with the underhand stitch that you will run later to join the lining to your fashion fabric.
Securing the Interfacing
Before you can do any actual sewing, you need to do some pre-sewing to make sure that your interfacing does not shift and is sewn in flat so that your garment does not come out looking lumpy. This pre-sewing is called basting, and it is meant to keep everything in place.
Basting is essentially a less stabby version of putting a ton of pins in your garment to keep everything from moving. The nice thing about basting is that it keeps everything in place perfectly without constantly stabbing you and it makes your garment very portable to work on because you don't have to constantly worry about where all the pins have gone. The bad thing is that it takes a while to do, and you will eventually pull it out.
Basting is a simple process. You are simply sewing a very spaced out running stitch down the length of your interfacing to secure it. You run your basting stitch though the fashion fabric and buckram for a few threads, then you space the next stitch about an inch or more apart. You want to use a thread that is light and that you can easily see.
I cannot stress this last part enough: to make sure that everything lays flat, do all bastings on a table keeping the garment as flat as possible. You will not realize it at the time, but the fabric is moving constantly if you try to baste with the garment in your hands. The result will be that your panel is lumpy and you have to start all over again.
To make sure that everything is secured in the right place, I pin the outside of the interfacing in place, then baste down the edge until everything is secure, and remove the pins.
Next, I turn the piece over so that I'm looking at the fashion fabric. I then do a series of bastings on the right side of the fashion fabric, moving across the interfacing to ensure that the outside of the garment is flat and that it is properly lays flat across the interfacing.
Finally, I turn back to the inside of the garment, and baste the inside edge in place. The final result looks something like the picture above.
I know this seems like a ton of work for nothing, but your garments will come out looking much better for it.
Sewing the Interfacing in Place
Now that you've done all this prep work, it's time to finally sew the interfacing in place. For linen, silk, worsted, or cotton: fold the outside edge over the interfacing and secure in place using a whip stitch. There is no need to fold over if you are using broadcloth; simply whip the outside edge of the interfacing in place. In either method try to avoid stitches coming through your fashion fabric.
To secure the inside edge, you will be using a zig-zag stitch, which is also called a herringbone stitch. Here is a video on how it's done.
This fancy little stitch works much better than a whip stitch because it draws everything in tight and it will make sure that your interfacing does not move at all. This is a strange stitch because it moves backward. Your needle will be pointed in the opposite direction from the direction that you are sewing. You get no points for big stitches here, try to only catch a few threads for your zig zags. Historic garments show about four of these per inch.
When doing this stitch, one point of the zig-zag goes through the interfacing only, and the other side goes through the fashion fabric only. Make sure that you only catch a few threads on the fashion fabric to show as little thread as possible. I keep my outsize stitch so that it nearly touches the interfacing, and the inside stitch is about 1/4 inch into the buckram.
Extra Interfacing for Coats
M. de Garsault and Diderot talk about putting an extra layer of interfacing running the length of the buttons on coats. Although, some see this as an optional step, I see it as a must to provide extra stiffness behind the weight of the buttons.
The period documentation calls for using "stay tape," which I think may be a mis-translation from French, because I could not imagine using 1 1/2 inch or wider linen tape to make a interfacing strip for my buttons. I also don't know where to find linen tape that wide. I personally have not seen linen tape used to back buttons in period garments, so if you've seen it: send me a picture!
Securing the button backing is much easier than the large interfacing. You do not need to do the whole whipping and zig-zagging to put in in place because there are other stitches coming later that will overly secure it.
To secure the button backing, I simply do a basting stitch using a back stitch at the securing points instead of a running stitch along each edge to make sure nothing moves. There is not need to go through the fashion fabric at all. Simply run the back stitch through both layers of buckram and call it a day.
Ending
Your interfacing is finally secure. Huzzah! I know that it's tempting to pull out all the bastings right now, but don't do it. You put all that hard work into it, and it's giving your garment a little extra security.
I toyed with making this a pre-step. In the end, I decided that pre-treating your fabric and cutting your pattern is actually very important to your finished product and can affect the overall garment and should be included as a step unto itself.
Choosing a Pattern
There are many various patterns out there from a few vendors that do a good job. My advise: you get what you pay for. If you are looking to make a costume, go ahead and buy a pattern from a company that makes costumes. If you want to reproduce 18th century clothing, buy a pattern that cites its sources.
You can also create your own pattern using any of the various books I've mentioned in previous posts. You can find a multitude of tutorials on how to blow up a book patterns through a simple google search, so I won't go into it here. A friend of mine uses an old overhead projector to display the pattern on the wall and then traces onto pattern paper based on the required size.
If you want my two cents, I'll let you know what patterns that I use. Selecting and Treating Your Fabric
The most fun, yet stress-inducing part of sewing is choosing the fabric. Use natural fabrics that are suitable for your impression. Avoid synthetics as much as possible (a small percentage occasionally can't be avoided in some wools). Before going out and buying that fancy silk brocade, decide who you are going to be portraying and what that person would be wearing.
Honestly, silk sucks. It doesn't breathe as well as linen and wool, and you can't do immersion laundering on it either. My two cents, linen and wool are your best friends. They are suitable to most classes and are generally durable fabrics. Linen is great in the summer for cooling and can be washed by hand or in your washing machine (if you're confident in your stitching). Wool regulates the body temperature, lays great, and is very easy to work with.
**As I rule, I do not fully immerse my coats for washing because it removes the stiffness from the buckram. I will spot clean the outside or odorous parts, and, if required, replace the lining to rid the smell.**
If you plan to wash your linen garment, wash your fabric before cutting the exact same way that you plan to wash your finished garment and hang to dry. Linen will shrink a bit, but not that much. I do not wash wool, but if you think that the color will bleed from your body heat, it's a good idea to soak your wool in hot water and then hang dry to remove that excess dye.
Tracing Cutting Your Pattern
None of my pattern pieces have seam allowances. I draw them on myself at 1/4 inch to be more consistent with extant garments. Modern patterns use 5/8 inch seam allowances, which is too big for the 18th century (you can use whatever seam allowance you want; it's really your preference). Not only that, but outside edges of wool broadcloth garments should be left raw and have no seam allowance in the 18th century fashion. Here is my pattern process:
For Linen or Worsted Wool (Fabric that Frays) 1. Lay out fabric in folded in half length ways (making a long, thin rectangle)
2. Trace the true pattern pieces pieces using tailors chalk, charcoal pencil, or heat erasing quilter's pen, etc. starting with the large pieces of the body, then the smaller pieces.
3. Add 1/4-inch seam allowance to all sides of true pattern pieces.
4. Pin all pattern pieces and cut
5. Repeat for the lining
For Wool Broadcloth (Fabric that Does Not Fray)
1. Lay out fabric in folded in half length ways (making a long, thin rectangle)
2. Trace the true pattern pieces pieces first using tailors chalk or a charcoal pencil starting with the large pieces of the body, then the smaller pieces.
3. Add 1/4-inch seam allowance to only the inside seams of true pattern pieces. Any seam that is not joined to another i.e. lapel seams, skirts seams will be cut at the true pattern piece line.
4. Pin all pattern pieces and cut.
5. For the lining: Repeat steps 1 and 2, but at Step 3 add 1/4 inch seam allowance to all sides for the lining. Pin and cut.
I'm pretty free with information. For some reason, those in this hobby don't seem to be. I'll tell you anything if you ask though. I often get asked how to actually make clothing step-by-step in the period method, and how it differs from modern sewing other than doing it all by hand, so here it is straight from the horses mouth. In this series, I plan to take you through the basic steps on how an 18th century coat or waistcoat is made in the period method, including the steps and stitches used.
In case you want to do your own research, or you think I'm full of crap. Here are the sources that I use for my methodology:
Art du Tailleurby Francois Alexandre Pierre de Garsault (1767) Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiersby Denis Diderot (1771)
In theses first picture you can see where the ties to keep the hat cocked go through the brim and into the crown. The ties are made from 1/4 inch worsted tape, which forms the very prominent "11" shape that you see on the front and back of the hat.
To cock the sides, I tack the brim to the crown with a few stitches in the middle of where I want the brim to stay. I mark my holes and then punch the holes with an awe. Thread from the inside bottom to the outside of the brim then back in through the top to the inside and tie with a square knot. Leave some extra tape if you plan to take out the 11s at any point.
If you follow this method, you may find that the top of the fantail pulls away from the crown. To make sure everything stays in place, I hid a few stitches of black linen thread under each of the 11s higher up on the crown. You can see the stitches with the worsted tape pulled aside in the second picture.
The cockade band is simpler than you think. This one is made from 1/2 inch worsted tape that is simply tied in place to the 11s and hooked to a pewter button.
