St. Birgitta’s cap

I swear by my St. Birgitta’s cap, as you could see in the post “How I wear my veil” I use it as a base when I pin my veils. It can also be worn as it is as you can see in these pictures.

Here you can see it on the woman on the left
The cap have a long strap that is put over the head two times
A collection picture
There is also a extant cap

There is a lot of people that have written about this already, Isis post on it on Medieval Silkwork is a good read.

What I will show here is a simple version, without the fancy embroidery.

If you have looked at other peoples patterns, you will see that my patterns differs slightly. Most patterns have a square lower front, my pattern have that part rounded of, the reason is that I find it easier to gather it when it is like that. I have tried the square pattern, but the rounded of corner works best for me.

Start of by cutting your cap parts, you will need two parts. I use a medium weight linen fabric, make sure to make the marks both in the front and back, these are important later on in the process. As the pattern does not include seam allowance, you can choose what is best for you. In these pictures I have 1,5 cm seam allowance on the back seam and 1cm on the front of the cap.

Pin the top seam, you will sew from the front to the marking in the back. To be able to put the cap on you will need a slit in the back and the back marking marks out where it begins.

I sew backstitches with silk thread.

Sew with backstitches all the way to the mark for the slit.

Now you need to press the seam you sewed apart, I use my fingernail to simply scrape it open.

Fold in the raw edges to make the cap neat on the inside.

Then sew the felled seams down, I use small stitches and only pick up a few threads of the outer layer, this makes a almost invisible seam from the outside.

Hem the other side as well.

Now it is time to gather the lower edge, this gives the cap it’s shape in the back.

I stitch with big stitches from the back up to the mark in the front.

By sewing two lines of stitches you will be able to gather the fabric nicer.

Now it is time to sew on the ties straps. I first take a strip that is 70 cm long and 5cm wide. On one side I mark out my 1 cm seam allowance and on the other side I press that seam allowance down.

Now on to some measuring, on the centre of your 70 cm make mark, this is where the top seam of your cap will be. From the centre you will mark out the distance of the front of your cap, in this tutorial it is 26,5 cm, a total of 53cm. This will make it fit a head measurement that is around 56cm. The measurements is 3cm smaller then the measurement of your head to allow for stretching of the fabric and so that you do not pull the slit completely together. If the slit is completely closed you will have a hard time getting a snug fit on your head. You will have to experiment to find what measurement fits best on you.
Put the cap part and the strap right sides together and pin them together.

The gathering should be as tight as you can to the back of the slit, sew the seam with backstitches.

As the strap should be longer I now sew on the other strips. They are 65 cm long and 5cm wide as I made this cap without a special person in mind. Most common is to have one continuous strap, but you can also pin the strap ends together when wearing the cap. When trying the cap on you will find what length you will need and you can shorten your straps later.
These two straps I prepare by folding and pressing in 1 cm seam allowance on both sides of the strip.

Then I sew them on on each sides of the strap that you have already attached to the cap with backstitches.

Like this.

I scrape the seam open with my fingernail.

Now what is left is to close the straps up and to enclose the raw edge on the front of the cap.

I pin and sew the entire length of the strap together, enclosing the raw edges.

If you wish to pin the straps together when wearing it, simply fold in the raw edge at the end of the strap and sew it shut.

And your cap is done!

To sew the strap together, this is how you both put the cap on and measure how long the ends should be. If you are planning on having a continuous strap, you should not sew the entire length of strap together out to the ends. Save around 10 cm on the ends and then do this next part before joining the ends with a backstitched seam. After that you can close the last bit of the strap up.

Put the cap on your head, if you have long hair it is good to have it in braids in the back or to put it in a low ponytail. As I have short hair I generally just put it in a low ponytail and stuff my bangs inside the cap. This cap is to small for me, I have a large head so for my personal caps I don’t use these measurements, also I could not bother with putting all my hair in the neck inside the cap, I always wear wimples so I usually don’t bother that much about some hair sticking out.
Cross the straps in the back.

Pull them to the front and cross again, make sure that the straps lay nicely and so that they are not twisted.

Then pull them over the back of your head above the bag that have formed for your hair, the straps should be snug around your head, if not the cap will slowly slide of your head. If you feel that the positioning of the straps makes the cap slide of your head you could also put it under the bag that have formed for your hair.

Put a pin where they meet, now you can see where you need to sew them together, or if you want to pin them in stead, you can now go along and putting on wimples and veil if that is what you prefer.

Here is the pattern, in cm as always, and not including any seam allowances.