The Smallest Kepi

I have made a lot of American Civil War reenactment clothing over the years. However, I have never made a kepi before and I have never made anything for an animal before. When our unit commander asked me a few months ago if I thought I could make a kepi for our units mascot, a little yorkie-poo doggie named McGregor I hesitated at first. But then he said "I know you probably can't do this. . ." and that was it. I just had to prove I could!

The kepi was probably the most common form of headgear worn by Union troops in the 1860's. If I remember correctly, the kepi was adopted from the French army. They are impractical things, of course, but the army didn't seem to think of practicality in the clothing they issued at times. :) I began to study David's kepis to get an idea of the shape and realized a kepi is a pretty basic thing, after all. A circular, stiffened crown, a shaped band, a rectangular band on the bottom, a leather brim and leather chin strap- which, if pictorial evidence is any guide, was hardly ever used as a chin strap and served mainly as a decorative addition to the kepi.

For McGregor's kepi I asked for his weight and used a similary sized stuffed animal as a guide. I used scraps of blue wool flannel left over from David's sack coat for the main part, lined it with black polished cotton and used bits of soft, old black leather from an ancient duffel bag in my possession for the brim and the chin strap. Alas, I did not have any small Federal Eagle buttons to put on the kepi so two four-hole brass buttons were used instead.

To accomodate pointy doggie ears I added narrow black grosgrain ribbon in V shapes at each side. A long tie was attached to the point of each V to tie under his chin. Modeling the kepi is little David's stuffed doggie who has approximately the same size head as McGregor.

I'm crossing my fingers that this will fit him. . .hopefully it will. I will find out Friday!

Love,
Sarah