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

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.