Project: Onion-dome/pagoda parasol for Pride & Prejudice

[labricoleuse]

Perhaps one of the most popular parasol canopy shapes is the pagoda or onion-dome, with its striking peaked center point.

The simplest way to do a parasol with this shape is to purchase a frame specifically made for it, with a piece of spike hardware called the pagoda spring attached. However, in this post, i'll explain how to do it without a specialized pagoda frame.


First, here's a couple pictures for reference.


Standard plain black pagoda canopy parasol (mass produced).


Detail shot of interior illustrating spring.


Custom extreme pagoda canopy parasol by Jacki Blakeney Armit,
made for Decorative Arts class in 2008, on vintage frame.


The reason you need this spring mechanism is to push up that central peak of the canopy when it's open, yet allow it to retract when you close the parasol. As long as your frame has a long spike, you can add the spring yourself.

For Pride & Prejudice, i was asked to make a silk striped parasol on a beautiful antique frame. The antique frame didn't have a built-in pagoda spring, but it did have a long spike to work with, though:




"Mrs. Gardiner" carries this silk parasol in Pride & Prejudice,
featuring a gentle pagoda peak canopy.


Crafts assistant Samantha Coles created this custom pagoda spring addition.


Basically, my assistant took a length of black 18-ga millinery wire and wrapped the spring right onto the spike shaft. Then she made a final loop a bit larger (visible in the above photo) to which she tacked the central canopy opening, and voila! A stunning shape variation for your parasol canopy!


If you are interested in learning to recover parasols, check out my manual on the subject, Sticks in Petticoats: Parasol Manufacture for the Modern Costumer.

Comments

[eggies-red-dres.livejournal.com]

I think I'm going to buy your book.

I have an umbrella that I'd be happy to re cover. Thank you for the link again!

[labricoleuse.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see some photos of your finished product! Sounds cool!

[txreisende.livejournal.com]

Can this method also be used to produce the sharp-peaked canopy such as in the reference picture? Ie, are there inherent limitations to putting this on a standard frame? This is a fascinating concept, and one I think I'd like to play with!

[labricoleuse.livejournal.com]

Yes, you can vary the height of the peak by making a longer spring, and you can vary the sharpness of it by cutting your canopy triangle panel sharper at the tip. Let me know if you do any "experiments"!

parasols in your book

[danielle nunn-weinberg (from livejournal.com)]

Hi,

You do stunning work. All of the work that I have seen in your LiveJournal pages is fabulous. I envy your students. I have covered some of those cheap "reenactor" nylon parasols, and even made one foldable. However, I have a vintage umbrella that I want to turn into a parasol. Does your book cover how to deal with a metal ferule? I would like to keep the metal ferule but am not sure how to remove it and replace it after the new cover.

Re: parasols in your book

[labricoleuse.livejournal.com]

The ferrules are usually set onto the frame with crimped divots. Look and see if you can see a little indentation on it--there will probably be two directly opposite each other. To remove a ferrule if i want to retain it, i take a tiny screwdriver--the size you fix eyeglasses with--and loosen the ferrule by levering it between the ferrule and the stick. It's fiddly sometimes depending on the type of metal used for the ferrule, and you might have to upgrade to a sewing-machine screwdriver before it comes off. Then to put it back on, i re-crimp it with jewelry pliars or calipers.