Inspired by several caps from portraits from the mid 18th C period I patterned out a lace cap. I did not end up including it in my 18th C Day Cap pattern #64 but wanted to share it here. Also, share the wonderful photos of Breanna Bayba and Laurie Tavan. Laurie Tavan also styled Breanna’s hair to match the style I liked best to be worn with the cap.
Madame de Pompadour
The cap looks quite different on Laurie because she has a slightly larger head size and had her hair puffed out more. I’m thinking that in the two portraits to the left above the lappets and the tie are tied to the back. Giving things a different look. I think that it’s important to starch the lace to give it structure and do not forget the grouping of small silk flowers in the center front.
The pattern can be printed out in 4 pages and taped together it is sized for average head size. Try it out first in paper and if it too small you can print a reduction of 96 percent for every inch smaller. If you need to go up 104% for every inch larger. You should take the taped pattern to a copy shop for that.
This image shows how I created the cap. I took apart a vintage lace dresser cover. Some parts I left attached, like the center round, the boarder around that and the wedges of lace with diamond shapes around that. Then I sewed the sections around that to the core piece with a zig-zag stitch over a heavy Melt Away stabilizer. In the picture I’m pinning the final row of gathered lace to the edge ready to sew. After that is can be soaked in hot water to melt the interfacing away.
You do not have to repeat the same sections I have but you do need to have a light blue section of the pattern and a gathered lace around the entire shape. The light blue is a ~1/2″ wide flat lace. Another important thing is to gather the back to fit the shape of the head. I gathered the bottom section with the 1.5″ wide lace with cartridge pleats. It’s fixed but there is also a little ability to make is smaller using the tie. The tie runs thru the guides along the back edge just where the edge lace is sewn to the rest of the cap. I used short lengths of flower trim the make the loops.