This Halloween, I pursued a passion project I’ve been wanting to tackle: a “Witchy Wallflower” series. I’ve long dreamed of making up witches of different aesthetics, with matching backgrounds to reflect them blending in with society. Each witch would have a different back story and style, with handmade clothing and hats to reflect their particular aesthetics. Spoonflower was the perfect partner for this, so I made a pitch and asked them if they’d like to partner. To my delight, they said yes!

For this particular witch, I wanted to make a witch bonnet but have no real millinery skills. So, I used a straw hat as a base. I often use pre-existing hats as the base for my creations, and a straw hat seemed like a good starting point. Much to my delight, I found that this is actually a common practice for people making regular regency bonnets, so with a few modifications it made the perfect witch’s bonnet.

Here’s a bit about Charlotte, the Regency witch:

Meet Charlotte, the Regency witch. Charlotte isn’t your typical witch of the Regency era. Firstly, she knows little of its historical accuracy (she’s doing her own thing, okay?) and she’s tattooed which is, like, probably not very common for Regency witches. But she has a cute bonnet with a proper bow, and it matches her floor length, empire waist gown and floral wallpaper perfectly. Was it her sewing skills, or was it magic? She’ll never tell, because she’s not too keen on being run out of town with torches and pitchforks…again.

For Charlotte’s dress, I used McCalls M8108 pattern (lengthened) and Spoonflower’s Faded Rococo fabric in Organic Cotton Sateen from lilyoake. I used the same fabric for the witch bonnet, which I made with a thrifted straw hat. The matching wallpaper is their peel and stick wallpaper in the same print. And did I make a matching witch’s bonnet for Lacy? Of course I did, don’t be silly.

You can see my video about Charlotte here, and other Witchy Wallflowers here and here.