Striped cockade

No felt on the back of this one. Haven’t decided if I like it on the hat with the existing bow or not.

 

Red cockade

Here’s a smaller one with loops that are one and a half times the ribbon width.

I found the felt, so this one has a slightly smaller round of felt on the back that I can use to anchor the loops.

 

Another cockade

Here’s another cockade, this one is probably a more typical specimen.

It’s made with 1″ grosgrain ribbon and loops that are 2″. I’ve used a little over 52″. It turned out about 4 1/2″.  The loops are stitched onto a round piece of cotton batting. It’s pretty ugly, so you don’t get too see that part. Ideally I would have attached it to a similar or complementary color piece of felt, but I couldn’t find any around.

 

Historical trimmings: the cockade

As I do more research into various periods of historic costume I find myself having a more and more difficult time properly trimming various garments. Sure there are places that sell historic trims, but how often are those going to match what I’m making? Many historic trims were made from the same fabric (or contrast fabric) as the garment they went on.

My search into historic trims led me to fabric manipulation and to ribbon trims for hats. Many of the techniques are related.

I just got a reprint of an old book on hat trims and this is my first attempt. It’s a ribbon cockade that goes on a hat or is for a dress decoration in the 30s/40s. I made it with a thinner that usual grosgrain ribbon I had on hand that is about 3/4″ wide. I’d say I used about a yard. The technique involved folding the ribbon into a continuous strip of triangles and tracking the selvedge, not unlike making ribbon roses as a kid. A final trim would have a button in the center and maybe another layer of trim under this one.