A challenge within the challenge

My friend Lady Maysun Nura al-Ishfahani al-Samarkandiyya decided yesterday to issue a challenge to the artisans in Artemisia to make a hat in the month of May. Beginning April 24th and continuing until the last day of May, the populous is challenged to make a hat, veil, headcovering, headfrosting, intricate hairstyle or some other kind of 'do. No prizes or judging, justfor fun and to stretch ourselves.

Conveniently, I was already planning  a bonnet to go with my cappotto. Everything was sitting in a pile to start it, just hadn't gotten going yet. So, I got going yesterday afternoon.

The extant Don Garzia cloak has a matching bonnet so deciding what style hat to make to match was pretty much a no brainer. I did briefly consider whether or not it would go with my outfit, but even if it doesn't go with the current dress, bonnets are very popular in 1540 Italian portraits on women. One of my favorites is this woman in bronze with lattice  partlet and feathered bonnet. Venitian School 1540. With the orange and blue, the cappotto and bonnet will coordinate with other parts of my wardrobe.

Super simple basic construction on this one. I followed the Sempstress tutorial for a cartridge pleated upper class hat but did it entirely by hand rather than using my machine. I did put a layer of wool felt into the crown. There are two layers of wool felt in the brim.

I may be the only woman in North America without a curling iron, so the feathers still need a bit of shaping and once I settle on my fan decoration I want to make a matching brooch for the hat, but other than that it is complete.

So, one more complete item, and I'm ahead of the game for Maysun's challenge. I've got a veil on my to-do list as well as a jeweled hair ornament so I might end up doing a few more headcoverings in May, just for good measure.