Take a Deep Breath...

So awhile back I was harassing a Landsknecht friend of mine about his uncovered head. After bearing up under the torment for a bit, he pointed out that if I didn't like him walking around without a hat on I was perfectly capable of making him a hat to fix the situation.

Well crap...

So, after some discussion and some woodcut viewings he decided upon a Tellerbarret (a 'pizza hat' to those of you not well versed in the terms of the period). One can only assume he wanted to have a wide brim to hide his precious, fair-skinned face from the sun. *chortle* 

So I got to work, using these instructions which I posted YEARS ago to the das Heiligesturm Fahnlein BBS board after having been shown how to produce this version by a friend down south. 

Of course, the last time I made one of these up it was in linen. And let me tell you - making it out of wool was a VERY different experience. 

This project took me longer than I thought it would, but I am totally pleased with the results. I am not so sure that this is a 'cheat' really - I mean, it's a wire rimmed brim but it is totally possible that they used wire this way in the period. 

While I would be cautious to take on another one of these in wool (and would probably use a lighter weight wool than the remnant of  medium-coat-weight wool/cashmere that we used here) I actually prefer the final result in this fabric to the earlier linen model I made. It is no where near as floppy and I suspect that it will hold up better in the long run.