This style of simple straw hat was worn by 16th century German farmers, to protect them from the sun.
This peasant straw hat has been on my list for ages, ever since I found a roll of ‘straw braid’ for sale (actually it turned out to be seagrass). The straw hat I’ve been wearing for years is not the right shape – great for Netherlandish, but not southern Germany!
I’d done some research into the correct shape, and had noted that my roll of ‘straw’ braiding was a good match for the straw braided hats in the images, and to the rare extant example from 16th century Germany. But the project remained low priority until I was going camping for a few days (modern style) and suddenly needed a project I could work on outdoors, at short notice.
I had the research, I had the materials, I could put together what else I needed in a couple of hours…. perfect!
This same technique could be used to make straw hats of many other sizes and shapes too.
Research & Design
Early 16th century German Baueren (farmers) wear practical headwear to go with their practical clothing. Zander-Seidel (1991) notes that these these wide-brimmed straw hats, called Schaubhut (‘show hat’) or Scheibhut (‘disk hat’) were worn primarily as sun protection during fieldwork.
There are many examples of artwork showing men and women in the farm or field wearing these simple straw hats. The women often wear theirs over a Haube (linen coif) – perfect to hide my short hair.
These hats show a flat brim, moderate crown and flat top, made with a very broad straw braid. Some examples show a hanging cord, to secure the hat.
One such straw hat has survived and is held in the Kempten Allgäu-Museum. In 2014, Marion McNeally shared some excellent photos, which show the same features. She estimated the braids to be about 1″ wide. I love the simple ornamentation made by plaiting in dyed straw, just for the first row around the brim – an easy addition if you are weaving your own braid.
Straw hat, 15-16th century, Kempten Allgäu-Museum. Photos: Marion McNeally, used with permission.
These pictures also confirm the construction process – the hat is worked from the brim inwards, ending at the top of the crown. The layers are sewn together with a small overlap, working small stitches over the edge of the braid, with long stitches underneath (Marion noted that these appear to be original, not conservation).
When I dug out my roll of braided straw, I realised it was not straw but seagrass – much softer and a green/brown colour, although that will change to golden over time. Straw would be more historically accurate and stiffer too, but the widest straw braid I could find online was 15mm. At 25mm, my roll was spot on…
So I decided to go ahead with this for the fun of making it, and hope it will be stiff enough once constructed.
Construction
To ensure the right size and shape, I tried my standard headsize ovals over my Haube, with all its padding. Wrong shape, so I tried a simple circle – yes! Then I made a heavy paper mock-up to check the crown height and angle – some adjustment and I had something that looked close enough.
Next step was to make a crown block, using a few layers of XPS foam (the same method I use for blocked felt hats). I’ll use this to ensure the braids follow the right shape.
I finished off the crown block before we left, sanding it to a smooth shape (no need to be perfect – this is straw, not felt).
Since the brim was flat, I used a scrap piece of thick acoustic felt in lieu of a brim block, and drew both the brim and crown circles onto this. Guidelines make it easy to line the brim block on the base.
Then off we went, to drive to the coast and set up for a few days of modern camping.
The next day I soaked the first few meters of braid in water until thoroughly wet, about 30 mins (wheat straw would only need 5 minutes). I blotted off the excess water and laid the braid out onto the felt, shaping as I went to match the marked circle.
The seagrass is much softer than straw, so I made a double rim to reinforce the edge, then started spiralling in. I stopped when I got to the crown circle and let it dry overnight.
While it was drying, I did a sewing sample, using a bit cut from the far end of the roll, using 50/2 waxed linen thread worked double. Copying the extant example, I worked small whip stiches over the edge every 2 wraps, with long stitches underneath. Should work well.
The next day, I removed the dry brim from the felt base and basted around the double edge, plus another 2 rows.
I sewed the braid together using waxed linen thread. For the brim row, I sewed back from the edge to make the stitches less visible, then switched to the whipping for the overlapping braid. After the first rows, I could sew the braid in my hand without basting first, making sure to keep the brim flat.
To avoid weakening the straw, Dreher (1981) advises against backstitching to start and finish, and recommends leaving a thread tail and knotting this to the next thread. I did this, then ran the tails under the weaving to finish off.
Before working the crown, I attached the block to the felt base using T pins from underneath. I estimated the length needed to finish the hat and soaked the braid. I put the brim back on the felt, securing with a few pins, then started to fit the braid around the base and up the crown block, keeping the overlap constant. I needed to stretch the lower edge and compress the upper edge to form the shape.
At this point I realised I should have brought the wool strips I use for leather casework and felt blocking – they have a slight stretch, hold well and breathe so the material can dry. Ah well, I used lot of pins instead!
To finish the crown centre, I coiled the braid until the hole was smaller than the braid width, then cut and folded the end under, shaping it to a rounded end. And set it all to dry again…
Back home, I removed all the pins and considered how to keep the shape while off the block and being sewn. It’s easier to sew the braids with the top open to put my hand it, but I didn’t want to lose the alignment, since this would change the shape.
Tailor’s chalk did not work at al! In the end, I tried 2 approaches – thick basting threads down the crown to act as tailor’s tacks, and lines of fine masking tape both cut at every row.
Then I sewed my way up the layers of the crown, matching the marks as I went. The masking tape worked better, but the thread approach would also work if sewn into the centre of each row (with a curved needle) rather than the edge as I had done.
When I was done, I trimmed the excess ends and checked I’d tied off all my threads. I’d slightly stretched the crown while sewing it, so I damped the top of the crown and put it back on the block with a weight on top to dry flat.
Off the block for the last time, it looks just like a real straw hat 🙂
The finished hat is a good shape and size and fits well over my Haube. Compared with the extant example from the Kempten Allgäu-Museum, it ended up with the same number of rows of braid and the underside shows the same rows of stitches. So it’s very like 🙂
It should be a very practical addition to my lower class wardrobe – and a much better look than my Netherlandish straw. I look forward to trying it out!
Afterthoughts
The technique of wet moulding over the block, drying and then sewing worked really well. You could work directly with the wet straw, but it would be easy to stretch out of shape.
Although it is the right dimensions and it was great to *finally* make use of the roll of braid, seagrass is not the right material – it is just not stiff enough to support the hat through many years of use.
I recommend using commercial straw braid (from millinery suppliers), or finding an inexpensive straw hat with wide braids, which you can take apart and re-work.