MAKE YOUR OWN SUNBONNET...IN LESS THAN TWO HOURS

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by BETTY CALLAHAN

Summer sunbonnets have been worn by the ladies in our family for the past six or seven generations. My 84-year-old grandmother—who taught me how to make the head coverings—used to handstitch hers up out of turkey-feed sacks back in the days when bulk grain came in fancyprint cotton bags instead of today's "modern" paper containers. And she worked from a pattern—the very one I'm going to pass along to you nowthat was handed down to her ages ago by her mother-in-law.

I suppose I'm about the first member of our family to make a sunbonnet with the help of a sewing machine. You may use one too if you wish, but it's certainly not necessary. And I'm sure you'll have no trouble following my simple instructions . . . even if you've never sewn before!

WASHABLE CLOTH IS BEST

A sunbonnet may be made of most any washable cloth you prefer . . . such as common cotton, muslin, or even lightweight denim. The main requirement for bonnet material is the ability to withstand many washings and considerable exposure to the sun without becoming too limp or faded. Then too, since it's difficult to iron a sunbonnet, the fabric used in one of these ruffled head coverings should also be fairly wrinkle resistant.

You'll need 1-1/2 yards of a 36-inch-wide, brightly flowered print in your favorite colors plus a 36-inch by 18-inch piece of heavy muslin (or any other stiff, washable cloth that can be used as padding) to make the bonnet shown here.

THE PATTERN

Copy my grandmother's original pattern to size by following the measurements shown in the illustration and drawing them onto brown grocery bag or heavy wrapping paper.

The large semi-oval piece will become a fluffy CROWN that fits over the back of your head . . . while the long flap across its end forms a DUCK TAIL which hangs down to protect the nap of your neck. The bonnet's BRIM, or sunshade, will be made from the smaller half-oval. . . while the four strips are destined to become a DRAW, DRAWSTRING, and two chin-strap TIES. (Eventually the DRAW will be sewn right across the back of the DUCK TAIL to make a hollow "tube" for the DRAWSTRING to fit through. This positioning of the DRAW is indicated in the illustration by dotted lines.)

After you've drawn all six pieces of your bonnet pattern to size on paper . . . cut them out, lay 'em on your cloth, and pin them in place. As you arrange the paper templates on the fabric, remember that you'll need one CROWN, two BRIMS, one DRAW, one DRAWSTRING, and two TIES cut from the good material . . . and three additional BRIMS scissored out of the muslin. (You will, of course, need only one each of the paper patterns—some of which will be used more than once—to make all of these cuts.)

When you scissor out the pieces of fabric, leave about 1/4-inch of extra material on every side of each part so you'll have something to fold over later into a neat hem. And do bear in mind—since hems on a sunbonnet are used simply to cover up rough-cut or frayed cloth edges—you may incorporate some of those hems into various rows of stitching (seams) as the pieces are sewed together.