This incredibly pretty and simple cap [11], lovingly dubbed the “head doily,” is based on portraits from the 1750s and the examples that survive in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. [12] The lace and lappets create an elegant look, and—bonus—the lappets can, and will, be removed for different looks throughout the eighteenth century.
The biggest challenge with this project is sourcing the lace. Because it is really difficult to find so many widths of passable eighteenth century–style lace, we opted to use silk organza for the caul instead.
• ¼ yard (25 cm) silk organza
• #30 and #50 silk thread
• 18 inches (46 cm) narrow cording or ⅛-inch (3-mm) cotton tape
• 30 inches (76 cm) 2-inch (5-cm)-wide lace
1. Cut out the pieces according to the pattern here. For the lappets see here.
2. Baste the caul around all edges ⅛ inch (3 mm).
3. At the bottom of the caul, right above the folded edge and at the center, poke a hole for the eyelet.
4. Whip open the eyelet using doubled #30 silk thread.
5. Attach the cording or tape on either edge at the bottom of the caul and stitch into place. Push the excess cording through the eyelet.
6. Fold the bottom of the caul up and over the tape, and hem stitch into place (8 to 10 stitches per inch [2.5 cm]).
7. Stitch a fine hem around the rest of the caul.
8. Next, for the ruffle you will need 2-inch (5-cm)-wide lace. If you cannot find lace this wide, you can make your own by stitching together an edge lace and an insertion lace. We stitched ours together with a small running stitch.
9. Roll hem the raw edges of the lace as best as you can—because lace is an absolute beast to hem.
10. Fold the lace in half, and pin mark the center. Next, do a small box pleat toward the center of the pin (⅛ to ¼ inch [3 to 6 mm] deep) and pin into place.
11. Pleat the rest of the lace to fit the caul. Follow the pleat direction dictated by the center box pleat. The pleats need to be between ⅛ and ¼ inch (3 and 6 mm) deep, and pin them into place.
12. Fold the caul in half, and pin mark the center. Match up the center of the lace to the caul, and right sides together, pin together. Pin the rest of the ruffle around the edges of the caul.
13. Whipstitch the lace ruffle to the caul, making sure that you catch all of the pleats.
14. Press the ruffle and the caul, and use a bit of spray starch if needed to create nice crisp pleats.
15. For the lappets, you can have them attached to the caul or to the ruffles; We chose to attach ours to the caul. With right sides together, whipstitch the lappets to the caul, making sure you don’t accidentally stitch the drawstring. Press the lappets open.
