18th Century Miniature Tricorn (kind of)

Miniature tricorn hats were worn by aristocratic women in the mid-18th century and into the 19th century. Of course, they were not quite as miniature as mine.

To make my tiny hat, I cut three pieces of canvas:
A circle with an 8 inch diameter for the top
A circle with a 10 inch diameter for the brim
A strip measuring 11"x2" for the band.

I gathered my top circle until it had a circumference of about 10 inches. Then I stitched the band around the gathered edge, tucking the cut edges in like double-fold bias tape.
Next I stitched the top of my hat to the brim, stuffing the top of the hat with scraps to help it keep its shape. Normally a hat would be starched, but I didn't have time because I was making the hat for a same-day party and I don't have any starch at home!

Once the top of the hat was stitched to the brim, I folded the tricorn into its shape and tacked each fold in place. I had to do this about six times, because it kept coming out a little imbalanced, with one side bigger than the others.

Then the real trouble began. I tried securing it with ribbon, which looked wrong, then with a hair pin, which looked wrong also, and finally I attached it to a headband, which looked fine and held well all night.

And then the masochist part of my brain took over and I decided that what my hat REALLY needed was satin trim around the edge, taking a one-hour project and turning it into a three-hour project. So I hand-stitched (of course) red satin ribbon onto my hat. Next I'm going to find some appropriately piratey but also appropriately tiny buttons or broaches or findings or something to decorate it with the way we do our big hats.

My hat was made from part of a cloak from an SCA fighting unit I'm no longer part of. I wasn't sure what to do with it, but I made it at my own cost and with my own device, so there wasn't any call necessarily to give it back, but I also was never going to wear it again. So, hats!