After joining a Living History Knits group on Facebook, I “attended” one of their events to knit a sontag. The pattern I used is based on a pattern printed in January 1860 Godey’s, by Colleen Formby (TRANSLATED SONTAG PATTERN by Colleen Formby, copyright 2006).
I found a 100% wool jersey in a local op-shop for $5. The light oatmeal colour appealed to me as something I could easily dye.
After I washed it and unpicked the side seams, I discovered it frogged beautifully and decided to knit straight from it, the same way you would knit from a sock blank.
Once I finally finished knitting the main part of the sontag, I decided it needed to be dyed red.
I found the knitted edging hard and opted for an easy crochet edge.
Now to figure out matching head-wear.
Helen Strachan Creates 