I also needed something on my head to go with my new “Borgia” dress.
So I decided to make a simple headband (kind of a stripped down french hood) with a hair net to hide my hair, or lack thereof.

For the construction I used ” A Damsel in this Dress” great tutorial on hoods.
(www.adamselindisdress.wordpress.com/2014/09/16/how-to-make-french-hoods)

The materialsI used the same striped brocade as n the dress, on top of buckram and lined with cotton scraps.

Cutting the outer fabric

Using the machine to attach the milliner wire to the Buckram

Pinning and stitching the fabric to the frame

Adding lace to the edge

And a velvet strip to be decorated with pearls. 

Then I attached the lining

I used a bought, blue hairnet to pick up the colors from the dress. 

I really wanted to add beads to the hairnet as seen in paintings of the time (and in “The Borgias” series) but it didn’t work at all.  So after a few tries I decided to go on without them.

I finished the headband by stitching the hairnet to the cresent and adding wig snaps to the inside to keep it on my head.

Finished headdress (and a sneak a peak of the dress being worn)

Just the facts:

Challenge: Nr 5/2016 Holes

What: a 1490s Italian headwear – Cresent with hairnet.

Pattern: I made my own.

Fabric/notions: Thread, Scraps of striped brocade, cotton, buckram, lace ribbon, velvet ribbon, some pearls and about 60 cm of millinery wire. And of course a hairnet.

How historical accurate: Not sure., Since I didn’t really did any research for this one, but just wanted a pretty headress to go with my dress (Sorry). maybe 3/10.

Time: Most of it are hand made, so I guestimate about 2-3 hours.

Cost: Slim to none since it all was scraps, but lets say 50 Sek (8 Usd) for everything (including the hairnet*).

First worn: Late august for photos, and a few days later on he yearly Medieval fair.

Final thoughts: I think it looks pretty and works well with the dress. It does also do the job of (togheter with some lose hair ringlets) hiding my own short hair.

*Gott’a love Ebay 🙂