Hats, Caps & Bonnets: 1855-1875: 12 Patterns for Dolls & an Illustrated History Hardcover – August 3, 2009

This is a fun little tome that is handy especially if you buy the hat kits you can still get for a steal on Ebay and various doll stores have them. Or you can gather the items yourself, they are not hard to find: fabric stores or your local Hobby Lobby have them. I am somewhat dotty about dolls and you will find there are a lot of grown women who are little girls at heart who just can't stop messing with dolls. This book is geared more toward a smaller doll, but I would be able to easily adjust the patterns to a larger doll, and I am not very imaginative. The patterns are cute, but like I said, more suitable for a fashion doll or hurt. But with a bit of adjustment, could be fixed to work for any doll using any medium. A very handy book.

Seldom do I get so excited over a pattern book, but this is so much more. As an artist who adorns my characters in period clothing, I was looking for a reference book with accurate hats. What I got was a book full of beautiful vintage photos,illustration and current photos, of not only hats, but hairstyles and costume. Excellent illustration of aforementioned items abounds on every page. The author gives you a thorough and interesting history of each hat and bonnet style. The icing on the cake is the easy to understand instruction for making many hats in the back of the book. Even if you don't sew or draw, this book is a fabulous visit to the past fashions of the 1800's. Anyone who loves vintage clothing should add this book to the library, it is a interesting read and a feast for the eyes.

I am relatively new to the world of doll clothing and fashion although I've sewed all of my life. Ms. Burke's precise, step by step explanations, carefully executed and detailed illustrations and patterns, and personal commentary inspire me to try making these very intricate and beautiful caps, hats, and bonnets based on her careful research into French fashion dolls of the nineteenth century. I loved reading this book; this book to me is also a work of the heart because of the historical research her work is based on. The book is fascinating - filled with illustrations and photographs from the period and numerous line drawings with the infinite variations of the hat and hair designs current for that time period. Especially poignant to me were the photographs of French women and girls, some carefully posed with their own fashion dolls.

You get patterns, detailed instructions, and pictures of original examples. The best book of its kind on mid-1800s doll millinery. Excellent. A must-have for collectors and costumers.

Love this beautiful book. Excellent instructions. Great patterns. As a Huret collector I cannot recommend another book like it. It’s the best pattern source for hats I’ve found so far.

The book itself is wonderful and full of helpful info. I just wish Amazon hadn’t given me a damaged book.

Great product easy to understand patterns. Good for children to learn how to sew.

Really nice book. Lots to work with. Lots of different materials to work with, felt, straw, wire. Everything I wanted to know and plenty of room for my own embellishments. Nice ideas on the hairstyles of the era as well.

delightful book a must have for doll makers

Fabulous book. Great quality

Heureusement que nous pouvons piocher dans des éditions anglaises pour élargir des recherches en ce qui concerne les arts décoratifs, les poupées anciennes, l'habillage de ces dernières, les styles vestimentaires et les patrons ad hoc...aussi bien que sur l'Inde, la Russie, les bijoux...Fort bien documenté avec photos d'époque et 12 ravissantes coiffures à réaliser de bout en bout. Envoi également très soigné.