Jacob Fugger's bonnet (SPRANG BONNETS PART 4)

SPRANG BONNETS PART 1

SPRANG BONNETS PART 3

Jacob Fugger as portrayed by Albrecht Drürer

My version of the bonnet

The portrayal of Jacob Fugger by Albrecht Drürer leads me to think that Mr Fugger wore a sprang bonnet. I tried to make a similar bonnet.
I interpreted the heavy lines in the bonnet as lines of horizontal twining in a sprang bonnet. When I tried this myself I found that there may be a reason for the twining in the sprang bonnet, as you will see.

Thinking about approaches to incorporate horizontal twining into the sprang cloth, I thought of two ways to do this. One way (method #1) is to create a line of weft twining as I created the cloth. The other way (method #2) is to add the twining stitches after completing the sprang. The twining stitch does not have the stretch of the sprang cloth. Maybe, indeed, this was the whole idea of the twining line. This risk of method #1 is that the line of twining is too narrow for the desired width of the bonnet. I found method #2 to be more effective, in that I could place the sprang cloth on a head shape (styrofoam head) and then work the twining stitch at the desired tension, creating the desired width of the cloth, fitting the bonnet to the head.

How did I work the twining stitch?

1. I placed a safety cord in the rows where I anticipated later adding the twining .... OK, two safety cords each time, one on the Z-side of the cloth, and one on the S-side of the cloth.

2. In my drawing I use two colors of thread, so you can better see what is happening.

3. The blue thread passes behind the first stitch of the sprang cloth.

4. The pink thread passes in front of the first sprang stitch, and behind the 2nd sprang stitch.

5. The blue thread passes in front of the pink thread, in front of the 2nd sprang stitch and behind the 3rd sprang stitch.

6. The pink thread passes in front of the blue thread, in front of the 3rd sprang stitch, and behind the 4th sprang stitch.

With this in mind, I set up a warp. I used a cotton yarn (Berroco Pima 100), and set on a 12 inch (30 cm) long warp of  44 loops (88 threads).

I worked the doubles grid stitch (you might see the instructions I gave for Mrs Luther's bonnet for more information about the doubles grid ... or check out Sprang Unsprung).

I placed a safety line in both the S-side and the Z-side at intervals, as guide lines for the twining stitches to be added later.


When the two sides met, I inserted a string in the last row.

I removed the cloth from the frame.

I slid the loops at the top of the cloth onto 3 separate strings. 
The first 4 loops went onto thread #1.
The next 36 loops went onto thread #2.
​The last 4 loops went onto thread #3.

I set the cloth onto my head-shaped styrofoam mold.

I cinched the 36 loops at the centre into a tight loop and tied a knot.
Using the tails from that knot, I stitched together the 8 remaining loops, 4 on one side, 4 on the other side.

Cinching the loops together into a ring begins to bring the sprang rectangle into ah hat shape.

Note the edges of the cloth at the front of the head sit tightly against the head. 
 
​The edge of the cloth near the back of the head is loose, rather ruffled.

How to finish the back of the bonnet? ​How are the other loops finished?
This drawing, done in 1514 by Urs Gra gives me an idea.
 
The figure at the right may be wearing such a bonnet seen from the back side.

When I gather the loops at the other side of the cloth, forming a ring at the back of the head, that ruffling along the edges disappears.

​I worked a twining stitch along the guide lines.  This stabilized the width of the bonnet.

​The rectangular shape of the cloth takes on a very nice bonnet shape.

​I created a woven band using a tape loom, and stitched the band to the edge of the rim of the sprang bonnet.

I stitched the band to the rim of the bonnet, leaving the band not attached at the back of the head. This will make it easier to put the bonnet on, and will allow for the bonnet to be tightened to sit snugly on the head.

How do you tie the bonnet on the head?
Two approaches come to my mind.

One approach is to pass one end of the head band through the circle at the back of the head, and tie it to the other end of the head band.
This is the method if your band is short, and/or if you do not want the band to pass all the way around the head.

If you want the ends of the band to pass all the way around the head, then I would pass both ends through the circle at the back of the head.