“Another Cap” The Workwoman’s Guide, Plate 9, Fig 27 & 28 (Tutorial)

 

One of my favorite 'go-to' books for period sewing is "The Workwoman's Guide" published in 1838. It's chock full of wonderful things used and worn in daily life during the first quarter of the 19th century. I jokingly refer to it as "The Bible of Federal sewing". Every time I peruse it, I find something new that I didn't see before. If you don't already own a copy, it's well worth the investment. It's also available for free through Google Books.

In November, I taught a daycap workshop at the 1820 Col. Benjamin Stephenson House where I offered instruction and patterns for three daycaps from this book. All three can be found in historical illustrations and paintings throughout the early 1800s. Their shapes are not typically seen among reenactors and that's partly why I chose them...plus they are pretty darn cute too. 

The three caps from "The Workwoman's Guide" offered at my workshop in November 2023.

The first of the three caps I drafted for the workshop is referred to in the book as simply "Another Cap". It turned out absolutely darling. Of the three caps, it was a bit more frilly and fussy looking than the others, earning it the nickname during the workshop of 'Aunt Pittypat'. Those who've seen "Gone with the Wind" will recognize the name and hopefully understand why after seeing the finished cap. It may look more detailed than the other two caps but it was by no means difficult to put together. 

Can't you just see Aunt Pittypat wearing this scrumptious cap?

The original illustrations and instructions provided all the information a seamstress needed to put this cap together. Both may seem rather vague to us but it was accepted at that time that most ladies had general sewing skills already without the need to spell everything out in exacting detail. This was a guideline for someone to use to either create the cap as illustrated or change it to suit their particular tastes, style, and size. Measurements are in 'Nails' rather than inches but the book offers detailed information on how to measure using Nails on page 14. To make drafting these patterns easier, I made a ruler with the Nails already marked out. For reference, a Nail is 2 1/4".

So, without further ado, what follows is a simple tutorial to recreate "Another Cap". 

Original illustration and instructions from "The Workwoman's Guide"

I would suggest making a mock-up in a cheap fabric to get the fit worked out for your head. You may need longer or wider sides or a fuller crown. Put your hair up as it will be while wearing the cap to ensure the final draft fits properly. 

It's best to use a white or off-white, lighter-weight fabric (linen or cotton) for this cap (or any daycap, for that matter). It will make construction easier and be historically correct.  If you follow the drafting measurements/instructions in the book correctly, the final pattern should look very similar to the one below. For reference, I included the number of Nails for each section except the curve on the crown which didn't have a specific measurement.

The pattern needs to be cut on the fold which is located on the long side of the crown back (see photo below). 

1. Once your pattern is cut out on the fold, the first seam is on the top of the caul between points A & B. Offset the cut edges A-B by 1/8"-1/4". Sew a flat-felled seam as narrow as you are comfortable sewing (mine was 1/8").

Step 1. Offset cut edges of the caul.

Step 1. Beginning the flat-felled seam.

Step 1. Sewing the flat-felled seam.

2. Open the fold section on the crown and run a small gathering stitch around the curve from C to E to C. Mark center point E.

Step 2. The gathering stitch runs along the curved edge of the crown from point C to E to C.

3. Match center point B (on caul) to center point E (on crown), pull the gathering stitch made in Step 2, and distribute the gathers evenly. Pin caul to crown between points C. Sew a ¼” seam through all layers, securing the gathers to caul with a small backstitch. Overcast the cut seam edge. Press the finished seam toward the caul.

Step 3. Caul and crown pinned together matching center points B & E and points C.

Step 3. Small seam allowance between point C, with cut edges finished with a whip-stitch to keep them from fraying.

Step 3. Seam pressed toward caul.

4. Sew a narrow hem along the front edge of the caul. This can be done either by turning the cut edge in 1/4" then folding that turn in half to enclose the cut edge (as in the photo below) OR by folding the cut edge 1/8" then another 1/8" to enclose the seam. Use a small whip-stitch to finish the seam.

Step 4. Preparing the front edge of the caul for hemming.

 5. Mark the center of the lower crown neck edge. 

         Using a whip-stitch, sew a narrow casing along the entire length of the crown's neck edge for a small ribbon or cord to draw the neck edge up. Leave about 1/4”-1/2” open at the center back for the ribbon to come through and tie inside the cap.

        ALTERNATE EDGE FINISH: Another very period-appropriate neck edge finish is to run a small gathering stitch along the bottom edge, draw it up to fit your head then stitch the gathers in place with a narrow hem. This eliminates the need for a channel or drawstring at the back. Many extant day caps have this type of finish.

 

Step 5. Sew a narrow casing along the neck edge of the crown for a drawstring. Be sure to leave 1/4"-1/2" open at the center back edge for the string to pull through.

6. Run a thin cord or ribbon through the neck casing, leaving about 1" handing out of each side of the casing. Be sure to pull some of the cord through the center back opening to use to tie it up while wearing (not pictured). If using a cord, tie a knot at each end on the cheek side. Gently tug the cord to set the knot in the seam. Secure the knot with a few small stitches.

Step 6. Tie a knot into the 1" piece left on each side. There should be one on the left and one on the right of the neck edge casing.

Step 6. Pull the knot gently to set it in the corner of the casing and front edge.

Step 6. Tack the knot in place to keep the cord from pulling out when tied at the center back.

7. Cut a strip of fabric 1"- 2" wide by 72" long to make a ruffle that will be sewn to the front and neck edges. You can make it narrower or wider. Depending on the width of your fabric, you may need to piece the ruffle to get 72" length.  

Sew a narrow-rolled hem on both long edges. 

Step 7. Sew a narrow rolled hem along both long sides of the ruffle piece. 

 If you need to piece the ruffle to make it long enough there are two ways to do it:

A. Join two of the short ends together using a narrow flat-felled seam (like that sewn between points A & B in Step 1).

B. DEMONSTRATED BELOW. Finish each short end with a narrow hem. With right-side together, line up the hemmed edges and catching the very edge of the fold, whip stitch the two pieces together. Do not pull the stitches too tight because they will be opened up so the two edges are butted together.

Hemmed edges of two ruffle pieces with right sides together.

Whip-stitch the tops together only catching a few threads on each edge. Pull the thread snugly but not tight.

Whip-stitching complete.

Open the seam so the two pieces are butted together.

    8. Fold the ruffle into quarters and mark each quarter either with a pin or disappearing fabric marker. 

Step 8. The completed 72" ruffle folded into quarters.

9. Gather and attach the ruffle to the cap. I find it easier to do the ruffle attachment one-quarter section at a time (hence marking the ruffle into quarters in Step 8). Be sure to use a sturdy thread for this step. 

Sew a whipped gathering stitch over one long edge of a quarter section of ruffle. You will be sewing this over the already completely rolled hem. Keep your whipped-gathering stitches spaced 1/8"-1/4" apart.  Gather to fit one-quarter section of the cap. Pin in place. Sew the ruffle to the cap. Repeat until all quarters are attached to the cap. Be careful when attaching to the neck edge not to catch the drawstring.

Note: for detailed instructions on the stitches used here, please reference “The Lady’s Guide to Plain Sewing” and “The Lady’s Guide to Plain Sewing II” by A Lady (Kannik’s Korner). Both booklets are available for purchase in the 1820 Col. Benjamin Stephenson House's online museum shop.

Step 9. Whip-gathering stitches are being sewn over the completed roll hem edge of the ruffle. When these stitches are pulled tight, they create the ruffle.

Step 9. Whip-stiches gathered tight.

Step 9. One-quarter section of the ruffle has been gathered to fit one-quarter of the cap, then pin in place.

Step 9. Sewing the ruffle to the cap.  You will be running your needle under the loop of the gather (aka 'hill') from back to front (as seen above) then picking up the top edge of the hem on the cap. Your thread should naturally lay in the 'valley' between the 'hills' on the ruffle. Pull the thread snugly but not tight. 

For an excellent description of how to sew a whipped gather (ruffle) to a hemmed piece (cap), refer to “The Lady’s Guide to Plain Sewing” by A Lady (Kannik’s Korner), page 22.

10. Once the ruffle is secured to the cap, fold it out away from the body.

11.  Attach chin ties. Cut two ¾” x 14” strips (of the same fabric used for the cap) to create chin straps. Roll hem both long edges and one short edge. Gather the unfinished edge and sew to the corner of each side.

Chin straps are sewn to each cheek corner of the cap.

The cap is complete. The original instructions suggest adding either a colorful ribbon or one made from the same fabric at point B. I chose to use leftover fabric to create a simple ribbon (see the last photo) and it was an absolutely charming detail.

 Thanks for reading. Happy Sewing!

Making an Early 19th Century Mourning Dress: Skirt, Bodice, and Bib

Skirt, bodice, and bib are together.

The dress is starting to look like something. The bodice, skirt, and bib are sewn together but do not have any lace trim, buttons, or hem yet. The sleeves are underway but not yet ready to attach.  Drafting out the bib (or should I say experimenting) took more time than expected. It's actually a fairly simple construction but I had to wrap my brain around how to put it all together and make it work.

As stated in my two previous posts, the pattern I'm using for the bodice and skirt is Laughing Moon #126 Ladies Round and Trained Gown with High Stomacher Front, c. 1800-1810. The bib started out as a combination of two of the LM bib options with modification by me to resemble the inspiration piece sold on eBay as a study garment. Overall I'm pleased with how it turned out. The bib is not an exact replica of the inspiration bib but that's kinda hard without having it to draft a pattern from.

Anyway, here is the progress so far.


Attaching the Skirt and Finishing the Bodice
When attaching the skirt, I didn't follow the instructions on the LM pattern very closely. I've studied several extant dresses over the years so I ended up attaching the skirt similar to how our foremothers did it. Instead of sandwiching the skirt pleats between the bodice and lining, I sewed the back panels to the bodice and lining as one then pressed the seam toward the skirt. I did use the LM pattern's placement marks on the bodice to know exactly where the skirt panels needed to be set.  My choice in attaching the skirt is a personal one. I like the way the skirt hangs better when the bodice and lining are treated as one. This choice is by no means a reflection on the instructions included with the LM pattern, which are great BTW. Laughing Moon has excellent patterns and instructions but I have a tendency to add my own twist to things (or as some of my associates would say, "reinvent the wheel." It a form of self-torture. 😂)

Back skirt panels are sewn to the bodice (outer bodice and lining are treated as one) using the patterns recommended seam allowance of 5/8" then the seam is pressed toward the skirt.

Another view of the skirt and bodice seam.

Now that the back skirt panels were sewn in place, the bottom edge of the front bodice could be completed. A small cut was made on the bodice piece about a 1/2" behind where the bodice/skirt seam ended (I did not cut through the seam though, just to it). This cut is visible toward the left of this photo. 

The cut edges of the lining (brown fabric) and outer bodice (black fabric) were turned in toward each other and pinned. The lower edge of the lining flap (brown section in the photo above) was folded under itself and pinned. Now, the bottom seam of the bodice could be sewn together. The lining edge was whip-stitched (brown fabric). The bodice (black fabric) and lining (brown fabric) were prick-stitched together, creating a very flat seam. The front edge of the lining flap was also finished at this point even though it's unfinished in the photo. I folded it over 1/4" twice then whipped-stiched it down.

Here is a close-up of the cut made on the bottom of the bodice edge (two pictures above). The lower seam of the bodice is now complete but the cut area needed to be overcast to keep it from fraying.

Interpreting the Original Bib Construction

Time to tackle the bib piece. It took some thinking but I'm pretty good at Tangrams so it was kinda fun. I downloaded all the photos of the inspiration bodice I could find then studied them as close as my computer resolution would allow. My bid is not an exact copy but I'm pretty pleased with the final product.

Below are the four photos I used to figure out how the original bib was constructed. As mentioned in a previous post, this bodice was the only part of a c. 1800 gown to survive. It was sold on eBay but very little information was available on it.

The extant bodice date 1800.

Each side of the original bib appears to be made up of three sections with a centerpiece down the middle.  Without actually having the bodice to examine I had to make several assumptions on how it was put together. The assumption I went with was that each half of the bib was created separately and connected with the centerpiece. The buttons are purely decorative.

The inside view of the bib appears to support my assumption stated in the previous photo. The only lining is at the top of the piece and possibly the lower half. The snap is definitely a much later addition to the garment. For those who are unaware, snaps didn't appear on clothing until the late 1800s.

Side view of the original bodice. Such a lovely piece....sigh.

My Method of Attack! (aka The Weird Way My Brain Works)

After studying the photos as closely as possible, I decided to make each half of the bib separate. I used the smaller of the two gathered bibs in the LM pattern as a starting point.

I copied the LM gathered bib pattern (the smaller of the two gathered bibs in the pattern) then sectioned it into three pieces. The center section needed to be angled out to the sides, making it wider to the outside and narrower toward the center. Marking each section was important because keeping the sections in order was not as easy as you'd think.

The upper and lower sections cut out. A 1/4" seam allowance was added to the top piece's bottom seam and the bottom piece's upper seam. There was no need to incorporate additional seam allowances anywhere else since it was already figured into the LM pattern piece. The 1/4" seam allowance was very small but so was the originals. It could have been bigger but I chose to keep it narrow.

Three inches were added to the side of the center section when I cut it out. This could have been longer but I didn't want it to be overly full when all the pieces were sewn together. Seam allowances of  1/4" were also added to the top and bottom of this piece.

After sewing a gathering stitch on the top and bottom of the center section, I gathered it to fit the bib top and bib bottom sections. Here is it pinned in place and ready to be sewn.

This image shows the bib top and bib bottom sections pinned and ready to sew to the gathered centerpiece. This is the same image as above just flipped over.

All three sections of one half of the bib have been sewn together and pressed. The top section's 1/4" seam was pressed up and the bottom section's seam pressed toward the bottom. Another bib half will be sewn and the two pieces joined in the middle to create the full bib.

A small spaced back-stitch was sewn the length of each bib section, on the right side, to secure the seams and add stability. 

At this point, I realized that I hadn't added a seam allowance to the side of the bib pieces where the two halves would be joined (center front of the entire bib). In theory, the three-sectioned bib pieces could have been cut on the fold (like the LM pattern instructions) but, alas, they weren't I hadn't accounted for a center front seam....sigh.  So I had to punt. I ended up pinning the two halves together down the center front and running a small overcast stitch along the edges. The stitch was firm but not tight so that the seam could be opened up flat when complete.

I worked the tiniest overcast stitch possible in order to join the two bib halves together down the center front.  This join butted the two halves together without creating a wide seam. 

The completed center join once it was opened and pressed. A center strip will be added over the top of this seam.  The purpose of the seam was simply to join the two bib halves together with the smallest seam possible. You can see some of the overcast stitches holding the two halves together in the photo.

Both halves are joined together. 

I cut a 1" strip of fabric for the centerpiece of the bib.

A 1/4" of each side was folded over and pressed.

The strip was laid on top of the bib's center seam and pinned. The strip was sewn in place with a small whip-stitch hidden on the sides. A spaced back-stitch was also sewn the length of each side.

I wanted the bib to be lined but not with anything bulky that would affect the drape of the outer fabric. In my stash, I had some thin navy colored silk. I taped all the bib section pattern pieces back together and cut out a lining on the fold.

The sides of the bib lining and outer fabric were folded to the inside 5/8' and pinned. I prick-stitched the sides for a nice flat seam. The top edge was folded over to create a channel for a drawstring and pinned. A simple whip-stitch was used on the drawstring channel edge, being sure to catch all layers of fabric.

Close-up of the sides and drawstring channel before sewing.

The lining on the bottom of each side was left loose until the bib could be attached to the front skirt panel. Here is it folded up and out of the way for the time being. The bib was attached using the instructions for the LM pattern. The lining will be finished once the ties are attached to the front skirt panel.

The bib is sewn to the front skirt panel as seen from the right side.

In this photo, the skirt ties are being attached. These overlap slightly the section where the bib attaches to the front skirt panel. I followed the instructions from the LM pattern for this so I won't go into the details since they are explained very well in the pattern.

Once the ties were attached, the bib lining could be finished. The sides (left unfinished above) were prick-stitched to the outer fabric. The bottom of the bib was folded under and matched to the seam (created when the bib was attached to the front panel) then whip-stitched down.

Almost done. Not be bad if I do say so myself. 

The finished bib. Three button molds were covered in wool crepe then sewn down the center front. These buttons are purely decoration. Two additional fabric-covered buttons were attached to the bodice. Simple ribbon loops were sewn to the top corners of the bib. These loops go over the bodice buttons to keep the bib in place.

The Hem
Now that the bib was complete, I could put the hem in. This was going to require a helper so I went to visit my friend Dottie. Without her help, the hem would have been a disaster. After a couple hours of fussing with the line, the hem was finally ready to go in.

To help keep the skirt from draping limply at the bottom, Dottie suggested using horsehair braid. Skirts in the 1820s had a distinct bell shape. I could have stuffed the hem to give it shape but I took Dottie's suggestion and purchased some modern horsehair braid (1" wide). No, horsehair braid is no longer made of real horse hair but it used to be.

In this photo, I've measured, marked and pressed the hem 1" plus 1". The horsehair braid is folded into the first fold of the 1" hem then pinned to hold it in place.

Better image of the first hem fold with the horsehair pinned in place. Now it will be folded over again to completely enclose it.

A hemstitch the holds everything in place.

To be continued..........

Other posts related to this project

Making an early 19th-century mourning dress

https://sewhistorical.blogspot.com/2019/09/making-early-19th-century-mourning-dress.html

Making an early 19th-century mourning dress: The Skirt

https://sewhistorical.blogspot.com/2019/10/making-early-19th-century-mourning_18.html

Making an early 19th-century mourning dress: Sleeves

https://sewhistorical.blogspot.com/2019/10/making-early-19th-century-mourning.html