Tinted Day Caps

They are somewhat rare but there are 18th and 19th C portraits of women with day caps in pastel colors. If you are perhaps tired of wearing a white day cap and want to give pastel colored Day Caps a try. You can easily color yours by adding food color to your starch the next time you launder you cap.

There two different caps are from my patterns from my late 18th, early 19th C Day Caps. The blue and the white are the same linen cap white before coloring and blue after. I colored the cotton fabric for the pink cap with pink starch before I made it.

Laurie Tavan is modeling the pink cap in these photos.

I like making my own starch because there are lots of chemicals beside starch in spray starch including silicone and a scent I really can’t handle.

SPRAY STARCH – WATER AND CORNSTARCH, HEATED

I knew there had to be a way to keep the starch suspended without adding chemicals. I decided to add heat:

  1. 1  Mix together 2 1⁄2 cups of tap water and 1 1⁄2 tbsp cornstarch in a saucepan (make sure there are no lumps).
  2. 2  Bring the mixture to a boil for 1 minute then cool to room temperature.
  3. 3  Fill a glass spray bottle. Because it does not have preservatives. You should keep it in the freezer between uses. In liquid form it can mildew.

The starch above can be used as a spray starch or you can dunk your cap into it. You will need to dissolve a 1/4-1/2 a teaspoon of paste cake coloring into your hot mixture and then add more water if necessary so you can cover your wet day cap. Wring out your cap and spread it out on a towel until it’s nearly dry. Press it.

This was the blue cap right after I dyed it. It does not look quite the same because the tucks in the back that give it shape are removed so I can press it more easily then I press them in again and tack stitch them down until the next laundering. Some of the other caps from the pattern have drawstrings that serve the same purpose. And it is very historical to do so. It really makes is so much easier to press them. Note the silk ribbon tie dyed darker than the lined cap and the cotton bobbin lace.

This is the blue cap worn by Laurie Tavan.

The color might not come out with a single wash it will slowly fade after several washes, if you want to remove it right away then wash it with a load of white clothes in the washing machine with bleach added.

Amy Liebert wearing the pink cap which at that point was a little less pink.