aMuse: artisanal finery--Millinery, Vintage Jewelry, Bridal

2012 Millinery Classes, Workshops, Courses

2012-01-03T18:20:00.003-05:00

While I'm getting all my things packed for the International Millinery Forum in Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia, I thought I'd stop long enough to let you know that my 2012 schedule is now complete and posted. You can see the full class titles and descriptions, registration links, and more on my 'classes' webpage--www.hatshatshats.com/classes.htm. Please click over.

I'll be in the following cities in the USA: Atlanta, Chicago, Washington DC, San Antonio, Berkeley, and
Brasstown.

I'll be at the following venues: Spruill Center for the Arts, TLD Design Center, The Art League School, Southwest School of Art, Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, and John C. Campbell Folk School. I'll be at Spruill and The Art League School twice.

I hope I will see some of you in class this year! Please contact me if you have any questions that aren't answered on my above website or the venues' pages.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Chicago & DC Millinery Classes--Flowermaking, Flat Felt, and Felt Blocking

2011-12-18T11:18:00.003-05:00

Last post of the year, dear readers! We'll start fresh in 2012!

Spent a lot of time in November teaching the last two classes of 2011. It was a whirlwind year of teaching and I thank all the venues and the many, many students who spent their hard earned money and time to come take a class from me. I'm very honored to have met and worked with so many this past year.

First--Chicago! Two one-day classes at TLD Designs in Westmont, IL. Looking for some great fiber classes? Check them out!

The first class was Blocking Felt, and was meant for those who had never blocked felt before. We started with very simple blocks--pillboxes, gentle domes, Fedoras. After a bit of confidence building they progressed to some free-form blocking. Try it some time...you'll have a blast. Sorry I don't have any pix from that class as my camera battery went down on me. Shame on me!

The second class was entitled The Complex Block--Blocking Fur Felts. Students worked with the dozen or so complex hatblocks I sent in from my studio. These are from my collection and included quite a few puzzle blocks. Enjoy the pictures of these ladies and the hats they created. Learning to steam and pull hoods over a block is a little more challenging than most imagine, but worth it in the end.

Love the large beret you see in the pictures above. Note that the hatblock has cinch lines to pull in the felt to make the headsize opening. The first picture shows what it looked like when it came off the block before the excess was cut away.

And isn't this a great hat? Sorry I didn't make a picture of the block. It will fit further down on the head once she get the petersham sewn in...in the above picture there are lots of pins underneath! Ouch!! Love this shape, one of the puzzle blocks. I have it in the shop in navy with some pheasant and turkey feathers on that high side of the brim.

A seemingly easy block in the picture above, but wait! The brim must be pulled over and under to create a slightly rounded brim edge. So what happens is that the edge of the hood is pulled back into the headsize opening underneath. Not as easy as it looks my friends!

Next stop--Alexandria, Virginia...a suburb of Washington, DC. Class was held at The Art League School, one of my favorite places to teach. If you ever consider taking one of my classes there be forewarned...they fill VERY quickly so don't wait until the last minute. I'll be teaching there twice next year.

This class was Retro Hats From Flat Felt Skirting and French Flowermaking. The thought being that they could use the flower on their retro-inspired felt hat. Above is the final group photo of lovely, lovely flowers made in class.

Some of the fabrics drying after they have been processed.

Petals and parts have been cut from the silks, cottons, velvets, linens, and other yummy textiles. Love to see a flower with different fabrics, colors, textures all mixed together...that is, if they are all complementary colors. We had some beautiful examples in this class, as you saw in the group photo above.

Below you will see a few of the retro-inspired hats made during class. Some students used supplied patterns, or used some of the flat felt vintage hats I brought along for inspiration, or came up with their own designs. This class did an INCREDIBLE job with the flat felt! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

OK, so that's it for me for 2011! I'm busy planning for my teaching trip to the International Millinery Forum in Australia in just a short few weeks. I'll post about that when I return at the end of January. That will undoubtedly be a wild and crazy blog post with some of those jazzed Aussie hats I love so much!!!

Until then, have a wonderful holiday season...Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hats in France and Italy: an assortment

2011-11-14T17:21:00.001-05:00

During our first week in Paris we discovered there would be an art opening, while we were traveling, that was completely dedicated to Coco Chanel. I'm sure everyone reading this blog will know that Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel was a milliner before she started her couture fashion house in Paris.

The paintings you will see here were from that incredible exhibit at the Opera Gallery on St. Honore, entitled Coco: The Testimony of Black and White. The artist, Lita Cabellut, has a very unique biography. She was born to a prostitute in Barcelona, never knew her father, raised by a Gypsy grandmother, who never sent her to school. Somehow she ended up attending an art school in Amsterdam. Quite a remarkable story!

When we returned to Paris at the end of our trip, I was set on seeing the exhibit. What I didn't expect was the SIZE of these paintings! Most would not fit on any of our living room walls. They were HUGE! I was so drawn to these very mesmerizing painting and the vibrant spirit they created in the space.

If I remember correctly, there were 34 paintings in the exhibit, with the vast majority of them being paintings of Chanel. A few were of her models...I'm assuming models she had with here for quite a while in the couture business.

Again, as you look at these, imagine they are the size of living room walls...from ceiling to floor...and larger!

The following photos are random shots of hat-related sights in France and Italy. Enjoy for what they are.

In a shop window in Montmartre, Paris.

We stayed in Vernazza, Italy, in the Cinque Terre, for several days. The shots above and below were from a restaurant right on the harbor. All their centerpieces for tables were hats! Love it!

The photo below is from Nice...the French Rivera. We were strolling along the Promenade des Anglais, looked down on the top of a cafe, and saw this! Seagull with top hat!

That's it for my posts about France and Italy. Hope you enjoyed. And thanks for reading!

Retro Hats From Flat Felt Skirting--Millinery Course in France

2011-11-08T08:13:00.002-05:00

Part Two of my trip to France. Here's the real reason I went to France...to teach! Yes, it was a great reason to see the beautiful sites in Paris, Nice, and Cinque Terre (Italy) leading up to our arrival in St. Quentin La Poterie, in the South of France, but teaching was the 'working' part of the trip.

If you've been reading this blog for awhile you know I love teaching and passing on millinery skills. But being able to teach these skills in France was an absolute honor. And I thank Lucy Till for the opportunity. If you are ever in the area around Uzes or Avignon, make a trip to St. Quentin and specifically to Lucy's atelier.

St. Quentin is a tiny village just bursting with creativity as it has been an important pottery making area for hundreds of years...something about the clay in this area. But there is also something about shaping and molding felts and straws that seems to be a perfect fit. And besides, a village needs more than just one type of craft, right? Note Lucy's sign in aqua...Creatrice de Chapeau!

One of the flat felt skirting hats, in progress. Flat felt is worked differently than capelines and hoods, as patterned pieces of felt are stitched together. Lovely use of color here. Note she's marked CF on her creation with a beaded pin. For those of you who are new to millinery...we always mark center front (CF) on our hats and it is either done with a pin or with a stitch of thread.

A picture of Lucy working hard on one of her flat felt hats. We worked around Lucy's big table in the center of the shop. This created lots of interest from passers-by, many who came in to see exactly what all these women were doing!

I took quite a few patterns that everyone could be use to make their vintage-inspired hats. All my patterns have been taken from actual vintage hats. I've collected flat felt hats through the years and took about 6 of them to France with me, again, as inspiration.

Here's another hat in progress, taken from one of the vintage hats I took along. Wish I had a picture to show of the finished product AND the vintage hat. The drooping part you see will eventually be pulled up and under itself to create a doubled brim piece, also gathered to make it fit nicely.

In the background you see a beautiful grey velour hat of Lucy's. She was recreating it in purple, for a customer. Loved the positive/negative leaves from the cutouts along the brim.

On the last day of class, a Friday, the shop became a fun-filled gathering spot! Lots of people in the shop trying on Lucy's hats, and yes, observing what we were doing with felt. I have to tell you a quick little story about the lady on the far right.

She and her husband, along with two other couples, were visiting from the US. Everyone in class spoke English so lots of conversation ensued. It turns out all 6 were from Mississippi, my home state! What are the odds of finding someone from home in a tiny village in France? Anyway, the woman on the right wanted to buy hats for her granddaughters back in Mississippi. Lucy only had the one children's hat, the teacup hat in from of the customer. Ah, but she needed THREE hats. Could we make her three hats before the end of the day???? They were leaving the area the next morning.

Here the discussion of what we would/could make, price negotiations, time negotiations (!) and the purchasing of even more hats from Lucy's shop! We decided on flat felt berets as this was the quickest thing we would be able to make in a matter of hours, a typical French 'hat', and a great souvenir from Grandmother's trip. BUT we didn't know the children's headsizes. However, being industrious milliners we came up with a design plan and got to work. In a hurry!!! Lucy and I had less than 4 hours to design, work out the problems with a new design, cut, create, and embellish.

Meanwhile, Meaghan and Sarah finished up their hats. As it turned out, we spent a good deal of time on that Friday doing free-formed felt. Everyone was astounded at the many designs you can create with this method. Even though it wasn't a part of the class curriculum I think everyone found a new, easy way to create some fabulous hats--free-forming! Meaghan, Sarah, Katia, and even Lucy are now anxious to get going on these type hats.

Here's a picture of the finished product you saw earlier in the post, and a fabulous heart-shaped hat that was free-formed by Sarah.

And lastly, and I do mean lastly (it was a looong afternoon!), our gentleman from Mississippi came and picked up all the hats for his wife and granddaughters. I just HAD to take a picture of him with a big grin on his face and a pink bag to walk down the street with! Priceless!

Paris Millinery--Supplies, Blockmakers and More!

2011-10-26T20:19:00.002-04:00

Back from France and Italy! I have so many things to tell you. I'll probably break the trip into two posts.

But first---PARIS! This was my first trip to the City of Lights and I can tell you I can't wait to get back. What a beautiful city! Lots of hustle and bustle, but somehow at a slower pace, if that makes sense. I love the cafe society, the long lunches, the lighter fare, and of course the fashionable French women...and men.

But this post is about the millinery establishments I visited...and wanted to visit while there.

First, La Forme. If you are not familiar with La Forme I am here to tell you that this is probably one of the last 'true' hatblock makers in the world. Yes, there are those you make fabulous blocks on a lathe. One of these is Guy Morse-Brown, in the UK, who makes outstanding crown, brim and fascinator blocks. (I stayed with Guy and Ann when I taught at the Womborne School of Millinery and they are lovely people.) But there is a difference in what Monsieur Lorenzo Re does. He actually carves the blocks by hand; a sculptor of wood. And you should see the sculptures!

I had contacted Madame Re to ask for an appointment and was graciously given one. La Forme is almost hidden. It took my husband and me over an hour to locate their establishment and we had a map and an address! Later we discovered this is not unusual in finding addresses in Paris. If you look closely you will see that I'm pointing to the tiny sign announcing La Forme!

We were ushered into their apartment and Lucie Re and I quickly discovered that they didn't speak English and my French is so very poor that we both relied on the few words we knew in common. I was a little intimidated being in the company of such an important man in the industry! Monsieur Re acknowledged me as we entered but continued to work on a very curvacious block for some lucky milliner.

I was not allowed to take pictures inside his workshop, which was much smaller than I would have imagined, but absolutely chock-a-block (pardon the pun) with sweeping, swirling hatblocks. Truly incredible! My breath was practically taken away with the range I saw there.

I asked if any were for sale. Yes, with a waiting period of about 6 weeks. Not bad. How much for the incredible swirled beauty I fell in love with? 600 Euros. You do the math....

I asked cryptically, "Philip Treacy, Stephen Jones?" "Oui!" responded Madame Re. So THIS is where Philip Treacy has those incredible hatblocks made! Some milliners send in illustrations of the blocks they want but the traditional way is to send a sparterie (or buckram, I suppose) model so that Monsieur Re can make an exact replica. Cool!

Here's the picture of Madame Re and me in their foyer.

We left Paris and headed to the South of France and the Cinque Terre in Italy. Also to my teaching assignment at Lucy Till Hats in St. Quentin La Poterie. More about those in my next past. Upon our return to Paris I found more millinery establishments.

I tried to no avail to get into Legeron, the foremost flowermaking atelier in the world. They had agreed to give me an appointment, but when it came time to actually come through with the appointment I could never get a date set with them. Maybe they were busy. This is the ONE place I really wanted to visit. I did find them and here is the picture. I almost had the nerve to just go knock on their door, but it was lunch time, and you do NOT interrupt the French during lunch! So, maybe next time.

Here's the picture of the entrance to Legeron anyhoo.

I also went to one of the few millinery supply houses in France--Artnuptia, also in the millinery district. I bought some great printed and embroidered sinamay that we can't easily get in the US. I also bought some flocked tulle that I've never seen. They have lovely feathers and flowers as well, and many trimmed out hats that perhaps someone on staff makes. My stash just arrived today!

Ultramod is another millinery and trim shop that I visited in the millinery area. Beautiful old petersham from the WWII era, and some vintage blocks that I'd love to have. Could have spent much money but I'd already spent my budget at Artnuptia.

That's it for this post. I'll be adding other posts about the trip in the next week or so.

Thanks for reading!

Blocking a Fur Felt Hat...before France!

2011-09-25T17:53:00.001-04:00

I have been busy packing my bags for France for the last few days, but have had loads of nervous energy that I had to expend some way. So I've been making hats! What else?

This Summer I was lucky enough to purchase about 15 fabulous vintage hatblocks and I've been using those with some soft, luxurious fur felt hoods. This post is about the latest hat from one of the blocks.

Here's one shot of the final product. The photos are not going to show the interesting color of this felt. It is somewhere between hot pink and orange, with a tint of purple-blue. At first I didn't like it but it has grown on me.

Here's the block covered in Press n Seal, which works much better than clingwrap. (It actually sticks to the block and protects it better.) I love the deep 'S' in the tip. This is the kind of block that creates the complete hat, not just a crown that will be added to a brim. I'm not keen on brim brimmed hats so this suits me just fine.

...and a better view of the tip.

I've steamed the hood and pulled it over the block, using a wide elastic band to hold it against the block at the headsize opening. That elastic also allows me to pull any fullness under it. I've used smooth roping to hold the felt against the tip indent--the 'S' on top.

After the felt has cooled down and dried I remove the roping and let it continue to dry underneath. I don't saturate my felts with water as some milliners do. The steam and maybe a spritz of water where needed work just fine, and it cuts WAY down on the drying time!

I don't like stiff felts so I don't always use sizing on my felts. However, the fur felt in pretty flexible and I want it to be a little stiffer, particularly to help hold the shape of the 'S'. I sprayed the inside of the hood with felt stiffener, and used a foam brush to help the stiffener penetrate the felt.

Here I've cut the excess away from the bottom of the form so that I'm left with the hat shape.

I've tucked under the edge of the hat so that there isn't a raw edge to the headsize opening. I've used clothespins to help hold the edge under, plus I've dampened the edge to help hold it to the inside. The pins are also helping to hold the hat up without it laying flat on the table and perhaps misshaping the hat shape.

After I've creased the edge of the hat I then unfold it and pin my petersham ribbon to the edge. I love to add a different color petersham as a surprise to the inside of the hat! Sew on with a very tiny stitch. No visible stitches!!!

To help keep the 'S' in the tip I've added some invisible stitching to the outside of the hat, but very visible on the inside. I cross back and forth on the inside, pulling the edges of the 'S' toward each other.

Not sure how much you can see here, but this is the inside of the hat with the stitches to hold the 'S'. Stitches are to the right of the needle in this picture. I've seen this technique in many vintage hats to help hold a crease, a shape, an edge.

Front view with the fan made from the roundings cut from the edge.

Further around the side with the fan and the velvet orangy-red velvet ribbon with the purple satin underside, laid out in a chevron style.

Close-up of the velvet ribbon chevron.

I will be posting again once I return from my teaching trip to France. I hope to have some fantastic pictures of some amazing millinery establishments in Paris. Stay tuned and I'll see you in about 4 weeks!!!

We will be making some additional changes to the look of the blog over the next few weeks. Enjoy!

Block Making and Felt Hats — Millinery Class at JCCFS

2011-09-07T07:00:00.016-04:00

This post is Part Two of my teaching trip to John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. Part One is the entry below this one. Hope you enjoy my pictures and descriptions.

Teachers and students stay in housing on the campus of the School, all spread out over 300 acres! Luckily the housing is usually pretty close to the center of it all...and the studios. There is even a campground if you love camping. I had two students stay in tents while they were at the School.

If you saw my last post you know I woke up every morning and made a picture of sunrise. Here I was a little early for the sunrise shot but I loved the glow of the sun peaking over the mountains just seconds before it popped over the ridge.

This class was entitled Block Making and the Felt Hat and was a weekend class. We started on Friday night, then worked all day Saturday, and only for about an hour on Sunday...so a short amount of time to create. The purpose was to create your own hatblock, which you designed yourself, and then block a fur felt hood over it.

The class spent a good 3 hours carving their blocks. Some created two blocks! We were all covered in dust when we got to lunch that day. Most said they loved the physicality of carving the blocks. It IS stress-relieving...that is, if the block turns out like you like. Ha!

Cory, one of two Hosts at the School, begins the steaming and blocking of her fur felt.

Robbie chose a bronze fur felt. She spent a considerable amount of time carving her block. She is a graphic designer and therefore has a great eye for lines on a block/hat.

Right before we left for 'Show and Tell', where all classes at the School show their work from the weekend, we went out to the Festival Barn and made pictures. Enjoy these pictures of hats made from blocks the students created themselves. I think you will be amazed!

Carla's hat.
Jennie's hat.

Cory's hat.

Mollie's hat.

Terri's hat.

Leonard's hat.

Susan's hat.

Robbie's hat.

All the hats! We displayed them so that the audience could see the block that was created in class and the hat that came off that block. They were impressed! And so was I! Great job, class! I believe this was the best group of hatblocks to come out of one of my blockmaking classes.

Oh yes! The group shot of everyone in the class.

I love John C. Campbell Folk School and the beautiful countryside around it. Here are a few shots around the school I hope you will enjoy.

The new blacksmithing studio. Notice the HUGE hammer over the door and the anvils holding the beams. Spectacular building!

While this picture is looking East, over the range where I made my sunrise shots, this is actually sunset and the colors from the West are tinting the clouds in the East. So peaceful.

With that said I will end the story of this year's teaching trip to JCCFS. Already looking forward to next year. Hope you can join us in August 2012!

Straw Hats Class at John C. Campbell Folk School

2011-09-03T07:54:00.038-04:00

I just spent an incredible 8 days of teaching at John C. Campbell Folk School in the mountains of North Carolina. I live at the beach in North Carolina, so this place is about as far away from me as you can get and still be in the same state. I love the beach...but I also love the mountains.

This was my second time to teach at the Folk School. I cannot say enough good things about it: the remoteness, the mountains, the staff, the FOOD, the activities, and some very enthusiastic students.

This post is strictly about the weeklong class. Next post will be about the weekend class.

There were other classes going on at the Folk School as well, maybe 6 or 8 others. Anything from making chocolate truffles (we all wanted to be their friends), to paper arts, to blacksmithing, to dulcimer building, and more.

Bear with me as I try to give you a taste of what it is like to be in this magical place.

Coming out of the dining hall one evening I walked past this beautifully lit bunch of flowers. I don't know what they are called but I've seen them all my life. Folklore is that once these flowers show up the first frost of the year is 6 weeks away. Loved the natural spotlight! See the mushrooms? They are carved, probably from some long ago woodcarving class, and randomly placed around the flower beds.

This is Jan Davidson, Director of the Folk School. Each morning the day starts with MorningSong. Jan told us the history of the School and how it came to be in Brasstown, NC. I wish I had the space here to tell you the whole amazing story, but if you are interested, I'd suggest going to their webpage. Interesting little note: before I was Jan Wutkowski, I was Jan Davidson. Last year when I taught at the School I didn't get to meet him, but this year I did! Turns out we had 'googled' each other for years! He's a great, gregarious guy; totally dedicated to the School, and a talented musician as well.

One of the locals at MorningSong. What's the BFD? Brasstown Fire Department!!

Reed, one of the staff the School, plays Dobro, or resonator guitar, for MorningSong...one he build in a class at JCCFS! He did one of my favorite songs, 'Dear Abby' by John Prine!

One night a week the School has a Contra, Square, Folk Dance for students and locals. A traditional band of fiddle, autoharp, and guitar played for this dance. I had done a little square dancing in college but never some of the other traditional dances, many which come from England, Scotland, Ireland. These were the people who immigrated and settled this region of America and that is where the songs, dances, instruments originated. That's Victoria, one of my students whirling on the dance floor.

I went to the dance to observe. But the locals don't allow that! They want everyone dancing!! So I did...and I do-see-doed a hole in the bottom of my foot! But what fun!! I'd do it again in a second!

'Deuce' showed up early one morning and walked me to breakfast. We were walking through the woods on the way to the dining hall and he was bouncing and running through the woods chasing squirrels, then coming right back to my side. I said, "Turn around and let me take your picture." He DID! And I got this shot of him. He had the most amazing crystal blue eyes. What a cool dog. I've have taken him home in a minute but his owner came and got him after he stayed all day...looking for a class to take I guess.

A few more shots (thanks for indulging me) and then on to the hats.

Every morning I got up and took a picture out my second story window of Farm House. Some days you couldn't see the mountains in the distance for the fog. Beautiful and eerie.

Other days the sun came up bright and shining!

I love this place! Can you tell yet?

OK, so now on to the class itself. There were 9 students in the class, and the vast majority had never made any kind of hat before. A couple had made some things and were self-taught. We were basically starting from A and trying to get to Z.

We worked a parisisal capeline (blocking, cutting, wiring, petersham), worked with sewn braid, and blocked sinamay on crown and brim blocks (and all the skills that go into putting those together), plus some featherwork.

Carol Ann with her sinamay crown and brim, putting in the petersham.

Jeanne (all the way from Oregon) finishing up her incredible two-toned sewn braid crown. Brim you'll see later.

Suzanne starting to work on her blocked brim. Lots of work goes into the processes for each kind of straw.

Leonard (all the way from California) starts the 'button' in the tip of his sewn braid Fedora. Sometimes when I teach sewn braid I hear that it is too repetitious. However, this class LOVED sewn braid. And they created some fabulous hats from it.

Susan's cloche braid hat with sequined applique. She chose not to make a brim for this hat. Love it, Susan!

Jeanne's parisisal capeline with a free-formed brim after wiring. See the leaf? That was made during the week by one of the blacksmithing students she became friends with during the class. Much prettier than this picture shows. These are the kind of friendships that develop over the week--sharing, telling stories, laughing, dancing, eating. That's JCCFS!

Cory, one of the Hosts for the School, finishing up her sinamay hat. Pretty in Black!

Couple of shots of Jeanne's sewn braid hat after it was finished. Front view.

Back view. Love the two-toned look. Putting feather pieces together was another of the skills they learned during the week. Here you see bleached peacock, biot, pheasant, and coq.

Victoria (you saw her dancing in the red skirt earlier in the post) is a Work Study student at the School. Great eye for detailed work. She was our speedy sewer!

And her finished hat! Love the aqua braid and that she chose the Fedora style. Very nice!

Two shots of Carol Ann's sewn braid hat. She used the tip of the Fedora block but stopped there to make it a fascinator. Simple and elegant. Great lines of the hat too.

OK, Suzanne! She sewed a fascinator base out of sewn braid but couldn't decide how to finish it. She tried numerous ideas. Here she decides it should just be a pirate's eye patch!!

I left Suzanne and several others in the studio the last night of class at around 9pm. They can stay as long as they like in the studio's at night--not sure how late they stayed that night! The next morning I came in to find what Suzanne decided to do with her fascinator base...she calls it 'The Night Aliens Invaded the Millinery Shop.' What a hoot! You can't tell, but there are tiny 'aliens' perched in the feathers. Suzanne had a great sense of humor and it carried through to her hats. You go, Suzanne!

Couple of other sinamay hats on display; one is Leonard's (top) and the other is Cory's. Great job!

Cory's sewn braid hat in navy straw. I love this straw and used it myself for the instructor piece all teachers are required to submit for the week.

Cory's finished product after adding some swooping pheasant feathers and a bit of peacock.

The class, with me on the left, minus two who couldn't make it to the final 'Show and Tell' all classes present the last day of the week. While we displayed our hats on a table for everyone to see, when the final moment came we donned our hats and did an impromptu fashion show to the front of the exhibit hall. People loved it! We got sooo much buzz from the other students throughout the week. I even had several tell me they'll be taking millinery classes next year!

Thanks, John C. Campbell Folk School! Can't wait to get back next year!!!

French Flowermaking in California--Lacis in Berkeley

2011-08-03T06:36:00.027-04:00

This past weekend I taught for the first time at an amazing place called Lacis, in Berkeley, California. I have been buying from them for years but had NO idea what a treasure the actual brick and mortar shop is. If you are ever in the San Francisco Bay area, you must make your way to this special place. They are totally dedicated to preserving many ways of creating and embellishing laces and textiles. Want a class in corset making, tambour lace, hairwork, ribbon cockades? This is your place. And there is a museum attached to the shop as well. And the books! I could go on and on, but you get my drift. GO there!

I taught two one-day classes there--French Flowermaking: Roses, and French Flowermaking: Orchids. Below are pictures of the processes the class went through to get their flowers.

Vanessa came all the way from Yucatan, Mexico to take the class. Here she is hanging some of the many pieces of fabric the class sized in order to make the roses and orchids.

Did I mention lots of fabric? So much that the clothesline wouldn't hold them all and we had to use the fence! They actually were very pretty flapping in the cool San Francisco breeze.

Using a supplied rose pattern, the class then cut out the different petal shapes and sizes and kept them in neat stacks...a time saver during the pressing and assembly.

And here we see the beginning assembly of the flowers. You can use all the same color or fabric for a particular rose, or mix and match colors and even textures.

Here's an example of a flower that will incorporate different colors and textures of fabrics--sheers and opaques, all in silk.

Kalico with her big beautiful rose! See how she's used different colors and patterns too? Nice

Doreen's rose incorporated multi-colors and textures too. Her flower was very crisp. Everyone starts with the same pattern but due to different fabrics, how much they are sized and shaped, and even how they are assembled makes a difference in final product.

Again, different sizes and shapes. And all beautiful!!

A shot of most of the flowers from the Rose class. We had 13 in the class!

Close-up of a few roses.

And another close-up.

And then the next day we had a separate class, of 11 folks, on making orchids. There are lots of different orchids but I chose the cymbidium orchid for the class to make.

Petals are cut, ironed and ready to be wired.

Joan wires her petal pieces before assembly.

Vanessa chose to use a black velvet overlayed with a vintage lace she purchased from Lacis.

Wired and ready to assemble. Don't you love how she's combined these fabrics?

And here's the final product all shaped, wired and assembled. Beautiful!

Leonard's cashmere felt (he's a felter) and cotton velveteen pieces for his orchid. Interesting combination and it turned out so nice! As long as the fibers are natural you can use anything to make a flower in the methods we used...even cashmere felt!

Leonard's orchid...of cotton velveteen and cashmere felt (the light blue). Gorgeous!

Ingrid, ME, and Doreen. Love the orchids in your hair, ladies!

I stayed in a fabulous bed and breakfast about 6 blocks from Lacis, in Berkeley. I'm only showing you this because, well, it was a great place to stay...AND it was called The Rose Garden Inn! How appropriate for a weekend of flowermaking!

We can't possibly compete with Mother Nature! She knows how to make a rose or two. This rose was almost the size of a dinner plate!!!

As was this one. Just spectacular. Something to aspire to, wouldn't you say?

Thanks, class...and Lacis, for making this a great time in California. Can't wait to get back next year for some millinery classes at Lacis! Stay tuned and thanks for reading.

Dyeing Straw--Millinery Class in Atlanta, Georgia

2011-07-12T19:48:00.028-04:00

This past weekend I taught a spanking new millinery course at the Spruill Center for the Arts, entitled 'Dyeing To Make Hats.' It is a class I've been thinking about for quite some time; a skill I've been working on for my own hats for a few years now.

Have you wanted to dye your own straw, whether a hood, capeline, or one of the straw yardages like sinamay, paris cloth, jinsin, silk straw or raffia? See the results of this class' wonderful dyed straws.

All these beautifully dyed straws began as natural or white straw and were dyed with professional, permanent, fiber reactive dyes. Easy, safe, and effective.

HINT: International Millinery Forum attendees...check this post out. Details forthcoming about this class at IMF in January 2012.

A look at some of the dyed straw yardages as they dry and are made ready for the hatmaking portion of the class. Note that each straw is different...from painted flowers to stampings to abstract usage of dye on straw.

Here are a few of the stamps used in class. Very simple but used to beautiful advantage!

Suzanne did a fantastic job of using stamps and stencil brushes to create this design on silk straw.

Absolutely love this Asian-inspired design (partly done with chopsticks) by long-time student Judy. Great colors too.

Claire created this simple but lovely polka-dot design on raffia. See the great fringe?

Oooohhhhh! Gotta love this stamping/drizzling piece by milliner Diane of Hats To Di For! Pretty blue butterflies!

Here's an example of a free-hand design created by Margalee. Quite nice!

Claire and Suzanne hang up some of the dyed and washed out straws. More about that next.

After we vat dyed, tie-dyed, painted and stamped our straw yardage, and then allowed it to 'batch' for a period of time, it was time to wash out the residual dyes. Rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse. Right class? Rinse, rinse, rinse....

Sonja and Gloria with a couple of end result hats dyed in class. Sonja (left) in her tie-dyed sinamay and Gloria in her vat dyed parisisal hood. Both free-style shaped. Lovely!

Claire in her chartreuse dyed hood which she then free-form blocked. This was Claire's first true millinery experience and she did a fantastic job!

Sonja in a free-form silk straw. GORGEOUS! Love, love, love the lines!

Margalee in hot pink silk straw fascinator. Don't you love this?

Pretty tie-dyed sinamay from Gloria. Gloria is the milliner behind Gloryous Hats.

Stop the presses! Sonja's free-form styled green raffia straw topper. Everyone loved this! Vat dyed raffia yardage.

Another of Sonja's hats...dyed and styled in class.

Ooooooo. Love Margalee's tie-dyed headpiece you see here. This is an easy technique of dyeing but with dramatic effect. Margalee and her sister Melissa (see later post) have heretofore done mostly Kentucky Derby type hats, since they are from Kentucky! But I have a feeling they will be expanding their scope of styles for those ladies attending Derby next year.

Claire in her purple tie-dyed fascinator. Her second hat ever! Great job, Claire!

Diane takes her 'eggplant' knotted sisal hood and creates this amazingly styled fascinator. Who needs embellishment with design like this? Love it!

Melissa (from Kentucky) spent alot of time designing and creating this bias-fringed, tie-dyed fascinator. I think it is a fantastic piece, and a departure from the styles she and her sister Margalee are usually creating. Love it that they are open to new styles for their clients.

Suzanne, an art history major, used her vast artistic knowledge to create her pieces of tie-dye, stamping and drawing yardage. Great use of color ranges and styles, Suzanne!

As usual, you are looking at pieces that may or may not be completely styled and finished hats and headpieces. I always treat my classes as 'process not product'. In other words, you will know a number of techniques at the end of my classes, but your hat may or may not be complete as far as embellishments, etc. I think learning the millinery techniques is so very important. Everyone can embellish to their heart's content either in class (time permitting) or at home with all your accoutrement. A very personal decision, and one I really shouldn't even be involved in with your hat. I'm soooo much about the technique being perfected, NOT just the embellishment.

I hope you enjoyed just a taste of what it takes to dye straws. Look for classes in 2012 that will expand this newly created class from moi!

International Millinery Forum Announcement!

2011-06-28T08:55:00.003-04:00

Hi, everyone! So excited to tell you that I've been chosen to teach at the International Millinery Forum in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia in January 2012!!!! I am so very honored to be asked.

Much more information is forthcoming but you might want to pop over to their blog and see the announcements as they are posted. Here's the link--International Millinery Forum Blog.

International instructors are: Lina Stein (Ireland), Misa Harada (UK), Eugenie van Oirschot (Netherlands), and ME (US). A whole host of Australian milliners including Richard Nylon, Neil Grig, Waltraud Reiner, Serena Lindeman, and Jane Stoddart, plus many others, will teach a wide selection of millinery techniques over a 6 day period.

You would NOT be disappointed to attend this event, held every other year. This is the 3rd IMF and it promises to be even bigger and better than the last two. Believe me, that is saying a LOT, as I've taught at the past two as well, and I know the quality of the classes and the organization.

Get yourself to OZ!!! And keep checking the blog...

Millinery Courses in France--Buckram, Surface Design, Feathers, Flat Felt

2011-06-06T16:11:00.007-04:00

Have you heard that I'll be teaching in the South of France in October? No? Well, listen up!

Milliner Lucy Till has graciously invited me to teach in her beautiful atelier. Two classes--a one-week class entitled Fabric Frolic on a Buckram Base...and Feathers!, and a shorter 3-day class entitled Retro Hats From Flat Felt Skirting, will be held in early October in St. Quentin La Poterie, near Uzes. Find out more about Lucy and the classes by clicking here.

Specific dates: Fabric/Buckram class is Oct. 3-7, and Flat Felt is Oct. 12-14.

Below you will see some examples of hats made by the two techniques. First up are 2 examples of hats made in a Fabric Frolic class in Australia several years ago. The last 3 pictures are of hats made in a Flat Felt class, also in Australia. Sooooo many options but here are a few.

One of many, many different ways of creating richly textured coverings from fabrics is pictured above. You will learn numerous surface design techniques for manipulating the fabrics by gathering, folding, pleating, darting, burning, overlaying, and other ways to make a textured fabric to cover your own buckram shapes, created in class. We'll make at least 3 hats in the class...and learn lots of ways to create feather mounts by cutting, curling, shaping and combining feathers commonly used in millinery.

Another example of covering a custom designed buckram shape with a custom created fabric.

The short 3-day class, using flat felt skirting (yardage), will concentrate on designing fabulous vintage styled hats and producing them from an age-old millinery medium---flat felt. You can 't make these style hats from hoods or capelines!

Below you see examples of flat felt hats.

Love to see some of my European readers for these classes! While they are listed as advanced classes on Lucy's website, they are, in fact open to anyone. I don't list any classes as beginner, intermediate or advanced, they're just all different skills. So don't let the advanced level scare you. None of the students in the above pictures had any skills in either technique and look what they created!

There is a max of 4 people for each class so don't delay in signing up! See you in France!! If you have any questions about class content, please contact me. If you have any questions about lodging, class fees, etc., please contact Lucy.

Au revoir!

French Flowermaking and Wire Frames--Chicago

2011-05-26T07:16:00.015-04:00

I recently taught two one-day classes at TLD Design Center in Westmont, IL (Chicago), a venue I've taught at many times. The classes were French Flowermaking and Wire: Fascinators and Bridal.

Below you see the class collection of finished flowers. Most were made from silk fabrics but I know of at least one cotton flower in the mix. Nice, huh?

I'll be teaching a flowermaking class in Berkeley, California, at the end of July. Be sure to check out my 'classes' page on my website for dates and other information.

Pretty petals all cut out according to the supplied patterns. Some ladies chose to create flowers with multi-colored, multi-textured petals. Some of these fabrics are hand-dyed. Beautiful!

Here's an example of a silk chiffon that has been hand-dyed. Lovely color combination. She created this dyed piece in an earlier class at TLD. TLD teaches many, many different fiber-related classes. Check them out!

Laura and Mary Alta begin the shaping process. Each petal is shaped with heated flower tools. Different flower tools create different shapes.

Kathleen and Peggy hard at work!

Mary Alta's completed flower. You will note that each and every one of these flowers is different, even though everyone started with the same pattern. This is the beauty of flowermaking! Variables include: different amounts of sizing on the fabrics, amount of heat and pressure on the petal pieces, the kind of fabric being used, the way the petals are assembled...all contribute to the uniqueness of each flower.

This particular flower is composed of embroidered cotton. Embroidered fabrics can sometimes be difficult to shape since the embroidery threads 'hold' the fabric in place and don't allow it to be shaped as easily, but this is so pretty!

Lovely and suitable for so many uses on hats, gowns, home decorations and more.

The second class I taught was meant to teach some very basic skills in working with millinery wire. Because of the Royal Wedding event and the attention it brought to both bridal and fascinator type headpieces, the class used the wire skills to create their own headpieces.

Peggy's completed form, wrapped in black eyelash yarn to cover the wire. I don't have a picture of her completed piece but I love the form just like it is!

Laura created a very nice form then wrapped it in hand-dyed silk.

Michele used a multi-toned yarn to cover her frame. Here you see her adding beauty-marked veiling to a certain 'space' in the form. Nice use of veiling! You'll see the completed piece further down the page.

Mother/daughter team of Dwana and Donna showing off their big-looped wire pieces. While these are not finished products, they do show great promise! Wish I could see their final embellishments!

Jennifer created a wonderful mass of wires, each wrapped in brightly colored Indian sari fabrics. What more do you need?

Pretty Edwardian-inspired wire frame, covered in lace, veiling, trims and a fabulous applique piece. Looks oh-so-vintage with a modern twist. Love it, Kathleen!

Michele's finished piece with some great 'bobbing' crystals. See the way she's added the veiling to just a small portion of 'space' on the frame? Very nice!

So that was Chicago! Next teaching gig is Washington, DC, where we'll be making Big Beautiful Brims--covering buckram frames and creating large fabric covered brims. Class is already full!

Be sure to check out the other classes I'll be teaching the rest of the year--www.hatshatshats.com/classes.htm.

Buckram, Bird, and Nest--The Hat!

2011-05-17T18:28:00.006-04:00

Last post I promised to show you the progression of a custom hat I made for a client going to a Spring dance...which would also have a hat contest. She is a funky, cool dresser; lots of European designs, lots of abstract cuts, fun layering of pieces. Love her style! And she wanted a hat that would NOT be typical, something that would compliment her style.

Oh, and she is a collector of bird's nests, and wanted that to be the focus of the hat. Scroll down and follow the making of her hat. What fun this was!

I started with a Juliet shaped buckram frame. Client loves neutral tones so we decided to stay with black, to go with the fabulous black tulle skirt she was going to wear.

I've covered the buckram form with black velour. She loved the black patent leather bird I had on hand, but requested that she 'fly.' Hence, the black millinery wire you see here.

We also wanted to incorporate bits of straws, the kind a bird might use to make a nest--here you see sinamay and tangle tuft.

Starting to come together! I've attached the bird to her wire, the messy straw bits, and the moss green nest.

Here you see how I've bound the end of the beauty-marked veiling that will be added to the hat. Veiling needs to be bound on the ends before being attached to a hat or fascinator.

I used a tiny bit of super glue to attach the egg to the nest. Also, I've attached the veiling to the hat.

Next I added the lining to the hat. I attached all the elements of the hat before I added the lining so that no stitch lines would show. The lining hides those stitch lines and make a nice finish on the inside.

Here you see the lining stitched in. For some reason any kind of slick/shiny fabric shows stitch lines much more prominently than they show in person. Hence the pick marks you see in the photo above. Bummer.

Here she is! I just love this hat and that the client wanted to step out on a limb, so to speak, in her choice of design.

Close-up of the nest and egg.

And here is the client when she picked up the hat! She was sooooo pleased!

Next post will be from Chicago classes--flowermaking and wire (bridal and fascinators). See you then!

Fascinators, Kentucky Derby, Hat Wearing Events for Spring

2011-05-09T18:53:00.016-04:00

Hello, everyone! It has been an incredibly busy Spring. I've been making hats non-stop since January. First for the hat show (several posts back), then our city's largest hat-wearing event in early April--Azalea Garden Party, then Easter, then the Royal Wedding, then Kentucky Derby.

I'm posting quite a few of the hats and fascinators I made for these events. Most were made to coordinate for specific dresses, but some of these were made for a trunk show before our local Royal Wedding event where, I'm happy to say, almost everyone there wore a fascinator! Thanks, Kate Middleton!

Sinamay base with 12" diameter silk flower, vintage green veiling, stripped coqs, curled biots, and a swirl of vintage rooster feathers.

Close-up of the fabulous vintage veiling--delicate and stylish.

Made for a client who had not been, up until this one, a hat-wearer. In fact, she specifically didn't want a hat that would draw attention to herself. However, after she wore this hat, gained some 'hat confidence' she came back and had me add more feathers and some hot pink veiling for another event. I love that kind of story! Now she is a dedicated hat-wearer!!

Close-up of the dyed peacock feathers, coarse petaled flower and a bit of the sinamay.

This hat was made for one of my models from the Spring in Paris show in March. She wanted a show stopper and this what she got. I love the way this hat turned out.

Made for the official photographer for the Azalea Garden Tour. She needed a hat that didn't have a brim, so that it wouldn't interfere with the camera, and one that was NOT traditional. Hence, the free-form, tri-colored sinamay fascinator. I actually added a vintage button to this after the picture was made, but was too busy to make another picture. Yikes!

Another custom-made hat to match a dress. Love this big lily.

Close-up of the lily and the peacock eyes. Guess you have noted that I love the green peacock feathers since they were in another hat further up this post.

Grape parisisal bowl base, 12" magenta flower, and ripped horsehair. This was made for the trunk show and was sold to a very happy customer for Kentucky Derby.

Vintage ribbon, fuzzy pussy willows, yellow rose, and forget-me-nots, all from my collection of vintage embellishments. This was one of my favorite traditional styled hats I made this season.

Black calla lilies, beauty-marked veiling and some rhinestones on the stamens. I added some aqua stripped coqs and this little darling went to the Kentucky Derby!

Vintage blocking net (lacy) form with multi-colored posies, some soft veiling, and a tuft of ostrich feathers.

Close-up of little yellow fascinator.

Simple and sophisticated. I made this as a give-away for a lucky attendee to the Royal Wedding event we had at the beautiful mansion next door to the shop. Confetti feathers!

Custom-made for a grandmother for her newborn grandson's christening! And she has the personality to pull it off.

Store stock...now sold. Made for the trunk show. Horsehair, guinnea feathers, and netted 'jewels' on a hairband.

Hope you enjoyed these. My next post will be about a custom made hat you are going to LOVE. I'll be showing each step of the process. So stay tuned! Thanks for reading and happy hatmaking!

2011 Millinery Classes/Workshops/Instruction

2011-04-02T20:14:00.006-04:00

For those who have been asking....here is the millinery class schedule for 2011. If you are looking for millinery instruction on any number of skills, please consider these. Click here, http://www.hatshatshats.com/classes.htm , for the schedule. (We have a new website, so if you do not see the new webpages, please 'refresh' your browser.)
Skills being taught this year are: French Flowermaking (Chicago, IL)--May; Wire: Bridal and Fascinators (Chicago, IL)--May; Big Brimmed Buckram Hats (Washington, DC)--June; Dyeing To Make Hats (Atlanta, GA)--July French Flowermaking: Roses & Orchids (Berkeley, CA)--July; Three Straw Hats and a Feather in Your Hat--John C. Campbell Folk School (Brasstown, NC)--August; Blockmaking and the Felt Hat--John C. Campbell Folk School (Brasstown, NC)--August; Fabric Frolic On a Buckram Base...and Feathers! (St. Quentin La Poterie, France)--October; Retro Hats From Flat Felt Skirting (St. Quentin LaPoterie, France)--October.

Will we see YOU in class? Already scheduling 2012 millinery instruction. Will we be teaching hatmaking near you? Time will tell.... Happy hatmaking!

Hat Show Video

2011-03-22T07:41:00.004-04:00

The last post on this blog was all about the recent hat show I produced, entitled aMuse's 2nd Annual Haute Hats--Spring in Paris. Three milliners besides myself showed our hats on a beautiful spring day here in Wilmington--Diane Shagott, Jenny Pfanenstiel and Andre Baxter. This is a quick add-on to the last blog entry.

Click http://vimeo.com/21185495 for a short video of our recent hat show! I think you'll like!

Milliner--Jan Wutkowski (L), milliner--Diane Shagott (R)

Love this hat by Diane! It was inadvertently deleted from the last post; I really like this hat and decided it MUST be on the blog.

Please scroll down to see the last post...the one with all the pictures from the show. Enjoy!

aMuse's Haute Hats Show--Spring in Paris

2011-03-20T17:37:00.024-04:00

Wow! It has been quite a while since I have posted on this blog. I have been incredibly busy making hats, hats, hats for my annual show. It has now been 2 weeks since the show and I am finally able to breathe just a bit. With that said, I want to share with you the experience. It is hard but very worthwhile work to plan and execute this type event.

This year's event was called aMuse's 2nd Annual Haute Hats Show--Spring in Paris. We held it in a beautiful venue in our historic district. The historic building has a stunning balcony and staircase which we used to our advantage in presenting the models with the hats from 4 milliners: Diane Shagott of http://www.hatstodifor.com, Andre Baxter of http://www.designsbyandre.com/ , Jenny Pfanenstiel of http://www.formeonlineshop.com/ and myself. Each of these milliners is a former student of mine. They do beautiful hats, each handcrafted with old-world craftmanship they've learned in class.

I'll post very little text throughout this post. I want you to enjoy the beauty of the hats and models. I'd love to get your opinions of the show. Please post your comments.

BTW, all photography is by a very talented and detail-oriented photographer Lisa Brown of http://www.bellarosephoto.com/. Her work is phenomenal and I think you will agree.

Designed by Lisa to represent a vintage Parisienne postcard...filled with images from the show.

Backstage before the show. Models are donning the hats, dresses, vintage jewelry, bags, and gloves before hitting the staircase.

My very good friend and astounding fashion stylist, 'Style Girl' Jess James, in one of my hats. Jess styled all the models in hats, dresses, jewelry and other accessories. Amazing eye for style! She publishes a weekly newsletter chocked full of fashion tips. Sign up for her newsletter at http://stylegirljessjames.com/.
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Milliner--Jan Wutkowski

Pre-show and ready to go!

Milliner--Jenny Pfanenstiel

Milliner Diane Shagott (center) chats it up at lunch with local fashion blogger, donning one of Diane's beautiful hats.

Milliner--Jenny Pfanenstiel (L), milliner--Jan Wutkowski (R)

Milliner--Jenny Pfanenstiel

Milliner--Andre Baxter

Milliner--Jan Wutkowski

Milliner--Diane Shagott

Milliner--Jan Wutkowski

Milliner--Andre Baxter

Finale bride! Isn't she gorgeous? Milliner--Jan Wutkowski

Milliner Diane Shagott (center) and the finale models in her hats. Beautiful ladies, beautiful work! Fabulous, Diane!!

Milliner Andre Baxter surrounded by gorgeous models in his finale hats. Fabulous work, Andre!

Final staircase shot with all the models in their finale hats and fascinators. This was a very vintage-inspired show and one I think the models had fun with. Very different from the show they are accustomed to working. Great work beautiful ladies!!

Final postcard montage from Lisa. Don't you love it??

Thanks for reading.

Bridal Millinery--Birdcage Veils, Handmade Hats, etc.

2011-01-23T18:32:00.007-05:00

I do quite a few bridal shows each year. Today was the last of the season. It was in an intimate setting with a select group of wedding professionals showing their wares--florists, dress salons, event planners, photographers, bakers, muscians, and a milliner!

Because of the lighting in my space, and because I chose a black and white color scheme, the photos have a beautiful monochromatic look which I really like. Wanted to share them with you.

Above is one of my handmade flowers, made of silk organdy and centered with AB rhinestones that sparkle like crazy. The necklaces are vintage and from the selection at my shop.

Beautiful Juliana necklace. This is a totally over-the-top necklace with AB rhinestones and crystals. Very collectible! Also very pretty on a bride...or mother-of-the-bride.

Shot of a toasty tulle headpiece spotted with pearls (L) and a huge, no, HUGE, handmade silk flower headpiece (R) with a vintage rhinestone pin as the center.

Winter wedding. Snow. Dr. Zhivago? Faux sheared beaver headband and hand muff. Both with vintage rhinestone brooches as accents. Vintage ostrich boa--full and fluffy.

Lovely beaded clutch and a white handmade silk rose. Love the shadows!

Here's to bridal season!

Wire Frame Construction Hat--To Santiago, Chile

2011-01-20T06:24:00.003-05:00

Before Christmas I was contacted by a potential client in Santiago, Chile--a gentleman who wanted to surprise is fiancee with a hat for Christmas. What a great guy, huh?

Below you see the picture of the inspiration hat. He had some changes, such as: straw crown, no polka dots, not as sheer, no flower or other embellishment, all black, straight brim.

After many emails back and forth across the distance, I started the project. Since I had to make some assumptions about the hat in the supplied picture, I decided that I'd use a wire construction brim. Instructions were that the brim was to be 8-9" wide! Now that's a WIDE brim, especially when using sheer fabric.

Follow the pictures below in the process of making this hat.

Blocking the crown from parisisal straw. Simple crown shape.

Black millinery wire, #18 guage. By using black wire with black fabric I didn't have to cover the wire with ribbon or fabric. You will see the wire because the fabric is sheer.

Cut and bound headsize rings, cut to the customer's headsize and ovaled out. Our heads are oval, not round.

The bracing wires have all been cut and shaped. They will hold the two headsize rings together.

Voila! A headsize piece for supporting the crown and the brim. A very important piece of the puzzle!

I've cut and joined the outsize brim wire. This was done with the 8-9" wide brim specification in mind.

I took the brim wire and used it as the 'pattern' for cutting the silk organdy--a stiff but sheer fabric I had on hand. It is a beautiful crisp fabric, perfect for this job. Note that I have cut TWO pieces of the brim fabric. One will lie on top of the wire and one on bottom. Remember that the client didn't want the brim to be TOO sheer, hince the double thickness of fabric.

Headsize opening cut out.

I've left out a couple of steps here. Suppose I was so intent on making the hat I forgot to document a few steps. Anyway, note that I've attached the headsize ring to the brim edge by using three arched pieces of wire. I did this instead of just typical straight wires because I wanted to add some visual interest. Particularly since you will see the wires as a part of the hat design.

Overlapping the cut fabric edge to the bottom headsize ring.

I chose to attach the lower fabric piece first. Here I'm attaching it to the brim edge. I don't have to worry too much about what this looks like because I know it will all be covered with a bias fabric strip eventually. Eventually! I do, however, pay close attention to make sure I'm pulling tight enough that the fabric is not drooping. It needs to be fairly tight.

Close-up of the stitching. Just an overhand stitch across the wire.

Trimming away the excess. Although I'll be putting on a bias strip, the sheer needs to be cut down so that it is not so wide as to be seen past the bias strip. Careful with the trimming!

Ready to attach the upper brim fabric.

This part is now complete. Whew! That took some time and patience, let me tell you. Since there is no block or other guide to this structure, you need to always be checking all parts of the hat. Things can go awry and get out of shape very easily. Check, check, check.

Close-up of the wide bias strip I added. Always adds a bit of luxury to a hat!

The crown has now been placed over the headsize rings and has been stitched into place.

Hatband added and that is the final step! Complete!!

The hat was so wide I had a hard time photographing it. Not a very glamorous shot here on my living room carpet. Keep in mind the brim is 8" wide from the headsize to the brim edge. Much bigger than it looks here with no reference.

Here she is on a mannequin head. I do love this hat and may try to recreate it for the upcoming hat show I'll be doing. However, it will not be exactly the same. I DON'T make the same hat twice.

Thanks for reading!!

Washington, DC Sinamay Millinery Class

2011-01-15T17:48:00.011-05:00

Last weekend I taught at The Art League School (Alexandria, Virginia) in a suburb of Washington, DC. If you ever have a chance to go the the adjacent Torpedo Factory Craft Center, you definitely should do so. Amazing high-end craft. Lots of classes.

Last year when I taught there we had extremely cold weather with snow and ice on the ground. This year the weather cooperated with us. More about that later.

The class I taught was Sensational Sinamay: Two Techniques. Class was centered on blocking sinamay crowns and brims, and then learning the skills needed to create free-form hats as the second part of the class.

Below you will see a picture made on the way home the next day. For those of you who don't know, I live in coastal North Carolina...in the southern United States. We don't do snow. At all. We freak out. Hurricanes we can do. Snow, no way!

Below you see the first attempts of the class in blocking sinamay over crown and brim blocks. The school is in a very urban area with not much green space around our classroom. Hence, we had to lay the just stiffened pieces out on the ground. Not ideal but what we had to do.

Below, a brim in the bush is worth, oh no, wait, one in the hand is worth two in the bush! Anyway, nice black sinamay on a vintage '30's papier mache block from Hollywood Blocks. One of my oldies!

Class members sizing, or stiffening, their crowns and brims. Had to be careful of cars (you don't want sizing on your car!), plus it was cold and that has an adverse affect on the drying of the sizing.

Above you see Allyson ready to take her stiffened/sized crown and brim off the blocks.

Mary begins taking excess sinamay away from the brim block. She also used one of my vintage brim flanges.

Anneloes checks the possible headsize opening against the width of her flat brim. Note the actual crown is in front. She is just using the block to mark the headsize opening where she wants it on the brim, before she cuts the actual headsize opening in the brim.

Penny's beautiful wide flat brim (black and red) with her headsize opening cut. Again, note her crown in front. It will be laid on top of the lip or neck she has created at the headsize opening. Very important that this part be done absolutely correctly. Also, see the paper pattern she created (in the background) to make sure the brim was the size she wanted. Much easier to cut down a pattern than man-handling the sinamay, which is very fragile at this point.

Class shot. This was a HUGE class. We had 16 people in class! However, even with that many people, many who had never made a hat, the class worked very well together and progressed at a steady rate. Very proud of them!

Susan places the petersham ribbon in the headsize opening. Note the stay stitches she has placed in her flat brim. This is to keep the two layers from shifting during the cutting and sewing. We use two layers for the crown and brim. This helps to maintain shape.

Cate works on her free-form shape. While free-form shapes are not for everyone, I think it is important to experiment with what this straw medium will do. And I think the class will agree with me, free-form is fun but not as easy as one would expect in getting a shape or form that is pleasing to the eye. Somewhat like abstract painting...not as easy as it looks!

More free-form styling by the class. Everyone is very serious at this point! Class is almost over and the clock is ticking.

How far do you take the shaping? How do you know when you've done enough? Hmmm, no real answers to those questions. You have to be your own judge, but always place the shape on your head to see what it looks like. It looks very different on the block than it does on the human head!

Anneloes continues to shape her black sinamay. We spent about an hour in shaping, re-shaping, and re-shaping the sinamay pieces. Hint: Always work sinamay on the bias for shape.

Nice job, Allyson! She's used some brown veiling and a nice button as embellishment for her free-form white sinamay.

Crystal in her high-rise, very nice free-form sinamay. Several students told me they didn't think they would like the free-form part of the class, but in the end it was their favorite. Don't be intimidated by this medium. It can provide a tremendous amount of creativity to your bag of skills.

Class shot with many of the hats made in class. Nice job, ladies!

The rest of the class. See some nice hats in there? I do!!

The following shots have nothing to do with class. However, they do tell a story!

We knew there was a MAJOR snowstorm heading our way as we left Washington. We also knew we wouldn't run into this until we got about 2 hours from home. Below you see the road about 1.5 hours from home. Traveling about 70mph. Not bad.

Here you see the rapidly deteriorating conditions. Here we are about 1 hour (normally) from home. Traveling about 20mph. And in a looooong line of travelers.

Just getting into to outskirts of the city. It doesn't look it, but there was about 9" of snow on the ground here. Please note all the signage for BEACHES. It took us 9 hours to get home; normally takes us 5.5 hours. The last 90 miles of our trip took us over 4 hours!!! Sooooo glad to get home safely!

Happy hatmaking and may your travels be safe and your head warm!

Millinery Classes 2011

2010-12-29T18:58:00.005-05:00

WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!

I'll be posting more about the upcoming millinery courses schedule later, but wanted to let you know right away where I'll be teaching courses next year. Again, more information later but here are the cities/schools where you can register for millinery instruction.

Washington, DC (Alexandria, Virginia)
Chicago, IL (Westmont, Illinois)
Atlanta, Georgia
Berkeley, California
John C. Campbell Folk School (Brasstown, North Carolina)
St. Quentin La Poterie, France

I also teach private lessons at my atelier in Wilmington, North Carolina. You choose the amount of time and the class curriculum when studying with me in the atelier. All skill levels welcomed in ALL my classes--private or public.

Hat Made vs. Hat Televised

2010-12-08T19:26:00.004-05:00

Remember the series of photos I posted recently about the hats I was asked to make for locally filmed television show One Tree Hill? If not, please scroll down the blog posts to see them. I want you to see this.

Below is the hat I made, per specifications from the costume shop at OTH, for the Halloween episode. OK, not bad. I might have made it differently if I'd had complete control over the design, but this is what the specs asked for.

At the time of the post I said I'd be pleased that the hat(s) even made it on camera. And I still am very pleased to have been asked and that the hat made it on screen. Scroll down please.

Below is a screen shot of the actress in my hat. Notice anything different? Why, yes, I think I do! Hmm, the brim is turned down, the vine has been removed, as has the veiling, and 'something' has been added as an embellishment. It IS still orange....

I worked so hard on getting this hat to the costumer. And in record time. Am I disappointed that the hat didn't get on camera as I executed it? Yes! Am I disappointed that it made in on the screen at all? No! Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I call this a draw.

Happy hatmaking!

Felt Millinery Classes in Chicago--Flat Felt & Hoods

2010-11-17T19:57:00.009-05:00

TLD Design Center, in Chicago, has been a long-time venue for my teaching. In fact, it was the very first place outside of Wilmington I taught classes. Because of the expanding interests of Chicago students (and those who flew and drove in from great distances) way back then (1999?) I continued to expand the list of skills I taught to these prospective milliners. I'm now up to about 13 different classes. Check out the list at www.hatshatshats.com/classes.htm. Be sure to scroll to the very bottom to see the list.

BTW, the complete 2011 class schedule will be up before the end of the year. Maybe I'll be in a venue near you! And be sure to check out the classes I'll be teaching next October in FRANCE!

One of my favorite classes to teach is Retro Hats From Flat Felt Skirting. You may have seen pictures on this blog from other classes in flat felt. It is an old medium, one which isn't used much anymore, but I love the styles you can create from flat felt--no hoods, no capelines, just felt yardage. Here you see the class as they begin the process of discovering just what flat felt will do, how it will perform.

Mary and Mimi are well into the creation of their retro-inspired hats. Mary used a 100% winter white wool to create a draped style, plus her brown fur felt to make a patterned shape. Mimi used a burgandy fur felt to create her crescent patterned topper.

Close-up of Mary's two flat felt hats, still on the blocks of course. The brown one was created by making four crescent pieces then overlapping them to create the hat. A little steam rounded out the pieces so they'd lay flat against the block.

Monique chose to create her very dramatic style on the block by hand shaping. So very RETRO!

Another view of Monique's hat with just a few feathers added for interest. No need for much embellishment on these hats as the shape speaks for itself.

In the second class, blocking a felt hood, students spent a considerable amount of time just playing with the felts as they steamed them. I think it is important to find out exactly what the damp, pliable felt will do with steam and free-form styling with the hands. Limitless styles!

Here Sonja is working on a beautiful gold felt. Don't you love all the lines? I affectionately referred to her hat as an 'interstate stack' because it looks like layers and layers of loops on an interstate highway.

Mimi created the quintessential retro style when she pleated the front edge of the hood. Beautiful! And very becoming on her as well.

Final pictures of Mimi and Monique. So happy they loved their hats and new skills!

Sonja and Mary Kate show off their new free-form shaped hoods. Well done, ladies! You'll be stylish and warm all Winter.

So that is the last class of 2010! Looking forward to a little time to enjoy the holidays and then begin preparing for all that is to come in 2011. Stay tuned! And thanks for reading!!

Autumn/Winter Hats 2010--Felt

2010-11-08T06:54:00.009-05:00

Here in the Northern Hemisphere we are settling in for Winter. I'm not a cold weather girl, but I do love the seasonal changes like a crisp morning, changing of the leaves, comfy sweaters (jumpers), fires burning bright, and a beautiful, stylish, warm hat.

Below you will see three that I've recently created to send to TLD Design Center's annual hat show in Chicagoland. I've shown several angles on each so that you can see all the elements of the hats.

This one is probably my favorite of the three. Made from 100% wool felt, I've covered the crown in a mesh ultrasuede that changes tone and color balance as it expands and contracts over the hat. I love it!

I've free-form blocked the hood into a sort of abstract cloche. This is one of my favorite styles of hats and it is quite easy to fashion over the steamer.

Here you can see another angle showing the mesh. Note also that I've made 3 leather leaves as embellishment. The leather has a slightly metallic finish with swirls of subdued color in it. I used an awl to make a hole in the bottom of the leaves and secured them to the hat by sewing up through the hole, adding a bead, then back down to the underside of the hat.

Another cloche-styled hat of 100% wool, this time in chocolate brown. See how I've nipped into the edge to create a saw-toothed look, just for added interest.

Embellishment for this hat is a handmade felt button by my friend and fellow fiber-artist Louise Giordano at Scarf It Up. Be sure to check out her website if you are into knitting, crocheting, and felting.

Can you guess what the hatband is made from? Fish leather! Yes, fish leather. I believe this one is carp. I bought this piece several years ago while teaching at the International Millinery Forum in Australia. Fish leather is very strong and has a beautiful 'nap' to it, created by the scales.

Hot pink seems to be a habit with me...and I'm not really into pink that much. But when I look around the shop I see lots of hot pink things everywhere! Love pink and black together.

This one was blocked on a very old hatblock that a friend found for me in a second-hand shop.

I added black velvet tubing and a few black beads. This is an example of me letting the shape of the hat be the most important part. Minimalist embellishment.

Stay warm!

One Tree Hill Hats--Halloween

2010-10-10T11:26:00.015-04:00

I was recently asked by the costumer for TV program One Tree Hill to make 3 hats/headpieces for the upcoming Halloween show. One Tree Hill films here in Wilmington and it is an honor to be asked to create for the show.

They asked for a red ostrich headband (alice band), which I didn't make pictures of. I made it in one hour and it was picked up by costuming immediately, before I had a chance to shoot it. This whole order all took place VERY quickly. I was called, they had some specs for me to go by (color, shape, etc.), and I had to have the entire order ready in 2 days! Not much time for trying to second guess them or myself on the specifics they wanted. I just had to dive in and create around some general specifications.

The first hat was to be a tiny top hat, a fascinator really. It was to be orange straw with a green vine twining around the actress' face. OK, so here we go! Above you see part of an orange hood blocked over a tiny crown, a block I had to carve before the blocking took place...more time!

I took the crown off the block, which you can see to the right, and cut away the excess.

I've taken the full outside edge of the original hood and cut the length down to be used as the brim for the hat. Note that because this is a tiny hat, I also had to make a flat fell seam after I cut the brim to size. The flat fell seam creates a tidy edge and no fraying. The depth of the brim was such that I could have a turned up brim. See further down.

Before I could join the crown and brim I had to create the 'headsize' for the brim. I did this by placing it (the brim) over the base of the crown and used a basting stitch to pull the brim into the size I needed. Easy to do and this way I know the headsize for the crown and brim will be the same, since they both were determined by the block.

Now the crown and brim are joined and I've pulled up the brim for an upturned look. I'll join the crown and brim with a backstitch.

Next I've added a self-hatband, only because I didn't want to add any other colors, textures, or elements to the basic hat. This was in spec with the costumer's wishes.

And the final hat! I used millinery wire to create the vine, wrapped it in a bias cut of green satin, so that I'd get the nice fraying you see, then added the pinked satin leaves to the vine. A little black veiling and it is complete!

Another view of the Halloween hat for One Tree Hill.

Below is the process for the second hat I made for them. This one was based on a picture I was given of a 1930's style hat that the actress had worn in another episode and liked. I was to create something similar, in green velvet/velour.

I've wet-shaped buckram over a vintage hatblock similar to the crown in the picture I'd been given. I've used roping to hold the buckram against the block in the tip indent. Pins alone would never work.

Roping removed. You can now see the tip indent I mentioned above.

Crown and crown block. I've neatened the buckram shape and prepared it to be covered in fabric. A wire was added in the headsize to help keep the shape through all the process of working on it, plus the wearing. Buckram can easily get out of shape and be ruined in not secured.

There was to be no front brim, or not much of one, but a side brim was ok. Here you see the shape I came up with and the fabric in the background, ready to stitch and cover the buckram. I rarely use French elastic on my buckram edges. I prefer to make a flange, lay in the wire, whip stitch it down, then use an iron to flatten the edge if needed. It just works better for me than using French elastic.

Tip of the crown has been covered, as well as the brim. Almost ready to assemble.

Final product! Note that the brim is wider on the side, narrows at the front, and then narrows to nothing of the other side of the hat. I've added some beading in the tip indent to hold the indent in. The fabric I've used is green stretchy velour. Made it very easy to cover the form. I've also added some green veiling.

Second view of the hat.

Had a great time working on these, although from first call to pick-up was a mad dash! I almost always work better under pressure; with that said I was in perfect working conditions!!

I hope these will make it in the show. You never know about these things. Guess I'll be watching the Halloween episode of One Tree Hill to find out!

Leather and Wool Hat

2010-09-30T18:56:00.006-04:00

I have been working on Fall/Winter hats for about 6 weeks now. Mostly wool felts, with a few fur felts thrown in. Also a few pattern hats, which I don't usually do. I'm just no good with patterns. Although they did turn out better than expected.

Below you see a hat that more or less just 'happened' in the studio this week. I had a very supple leather, laminated in tiny, tiny shiny circles. Can you see them in the picture below?

I have been wanting to work in some leather for awhile. I've got a couple of ideas in the works, but this was my first attempt. I used a vintage buckram frame, one I've had for several years and have loved. It probably was a bridal frame at one time, but no bride of mine wears this style anymore.

So. I cut a piece of the leather in the shape of the tip of this frame and glued (yes, my munchkins) it to the buckram frame with a gem-tack glue. I very carefully did this because a lot of moisture would ruin the buckram frame, causing it to collapse or a least misshape. After that bit dried I used wool coating to cover the sides. This is a heavy woolen, almost felt, but not quite. I got it in Chicago on one of my teaching trips. I love the colors!

Above you see the inside of the buckram form after I've added the leather and woolen parts.

I've created a lining to place inside the form. You can see it to the right of the hat. See the leather tip?

Here's the hat after it has been completed. I tried numerous embellishments on its tiny frame, but all looked too overpowering or like I was trying too hard to put something on the hat. I have a hard time with too frilly or too much embellishment on hats. I like for the form of the hat to be front and foremost. I think I've mentioned that in a previous post. Anyway I decided on NO embellishment at all.

Here's the hat on a poupee. I love the almost 1940's military influence of the style. Looks like something a WAC would have worn. I may keep this one for myself.

What are your leather experiences in making hats?

Millinery Classes Just Added--Chicago, Washington DC and France

2010-09-25T08:58:00.004-04:00

Start saving your pennies! I've just announced a couple of classes--one very soon, one in the mid-term, and another over a year away. A year away? Yes, check it out below. Start saving your pennies! Further information, including class descriptions, can be found at my Classes webpage, www.hatshatshats.com/classes.htm .

November 13, 2010: Retro Hats From Flat Felt Skirting; Chicago, Illinois
November 14, 2010: Blocking a Wool Hood; Chicago, Illinois
Both classes being held at TLD Design Center in Westmont.

January 8-9, 2011: Sensational Sinamay (Straw)-- Two Techniques; Alexandria, Virginia (Washington, DC)
Class held at The Torpedo Factory, The Art League School.

October 1-8, 2011: Fabric Frolic on a Buckram Base...and Feathers!; St. Quentin La Poterie, near Uzes, in the South of France
October 14-16, 2011: Retro Hats From Flat Felt Skirting; St. Quentin La Poterie, France
Classes held at Lucy Till Hats.

Please contact the venues for information on Registration, as they will handle that.

I'll be adding more classes to the 2011 roster as they are finalized, but wanted these to go up now!

Hoping to see you in class!!!!

Wired for Fashion: Wire Frame Hats--Atlanta, GA

2010-09-19T16:39:00.019-04:00

OK, all you readers out there. You are going to have to bear with me on this post. LOTS of pictures from last weekend's classes in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Spruill Center for the Arts. There were so many people interested in constructing wire frame hats that we had to add another class.

I've divided these pictures into two sections: Saturday/Sunday class, and Monday/Tuesday class. Each one diverse and exciting in the work they did! Scroll down to see!!!

Firstly, the picture above is by one of the four costumers we had in the Sat/Sun class. Wendy, from Savannah, Georgia, created these frames from black millinery wire. The piece on the left was the first piece she made. Everyone started with a simple headband to get the feel of how to cut wire, bind wire, bend wire and design with wire. Not as simple as it sounds. After they got the hang of that we moved to a more complex piece. Wendy choose to create this great hat of circle pieces. Isn't it wonderful?

Jean, from Austin, Texas, working on her headband. She chose to add some curved bracing wires to her piece.

Here you see Jean's hat frame for the second piece--a modified madhatter. The fabric you see is what she will use to cover the frame.

Randi, from Asheville, North Carolina, another of our costumers, was making a traditional Edwardian frame to use in her costumes for SASS, an organization of people who love to shoot vintage firearms...while in vintage costume! She had everyone excited about what she does and the organization she represented. Later in this blog you'll meet another member of SASS. SASS stands for Single Action Shooter's Society--a worldwide organization. Fascinating!

Another shot as the piece began to take on a final form. To the left you see Kenna, another of our costumers. She's creating a crownless hat.

Here's the beginning of Kenna's crownless hat. I always love to have costumers in a class. They know soooo many secrets to sewing...and vendors.

Kenna's finished frame, right before she began covering it with a lovely sheer fabric.

A couple of other frames from students in class, before they are covered.

Carole, from Nashville, Tennessee, in her eyelash covered frame. She chose not to cover the whole frame, just the wires themselves.

More info: Students took an incredible amount of time creating these frames and then, in most cases, covered the wires with either ribbon or fabric. They could then chose to cover the entire frame with sheer fabrics. Due to the time it took just to do the first two skills, I don't have any pictures of finished product. But I hope some of the students will send finished photos to me so that I can upload them to a future blog entry. (HINT!)

Carole with her completed headband hat. She purchased some vintage leaves, flowers, and ribbon roses to cover the frame. She came into class on Sunday with this hat on and I truly believed she had a vintage hat on her head! She worked hard the night before finishing this piece.

Sandra, another of our costumers (actually a wigmaker!), with her second wired piece. She is wearing this to a Black and Orange Ball (Halloween). The frame will incorporate a skeleton on that curvy piece you see. Sandra, please send a picture of the finished piece!

Bethany with her second wired piece. She planned to crochet around the wire. Neat, huh?

Below you see the Monday/Tuesday class, minus one, who's taking the picture. A few of the frames can be seen in this shot. That's me on the far right, with my wacky madhatter wire hat.

Some of you readers (especially you Facebook readers) know Andre Baxter of Christine Designs by Andre. Andre is a long-time student who has worked with me before with my hat fashion shows. Here he's working on a frame to be used later in the week for a Haute Atlanta show, part of Atlanta Fashion Week.

Close-up of Andre's frame. He was covering it in lavendar organza!

Meet Jeanette, from Albemarle, North Carolina, another costumer, and member of SASS, as described above. Her wire frame was to be an abstract flower with a bee embedded in the center. This is the beginning of the work.

Here you see Jeanette's finished frame. Lots of time-consuming, hard work to get this far!

Another long-time student, Diane Shaggot, of Hats to Di For, who does complex, beautiful work. She, also, was very helpful to me in last year's hat fashion show here in Wilmington. Sent some beautiful hats!

Diane's inspiration for her hat is a rose with a VERY large leaf. Note the raised round section
to the far left. That is the base for her rose...eventually. Love, love, love the leaf. She's beginning to cover the wire with green ribbon and green pipe cleaners in this picture.

Is this cool or what?! Diane, you are sending a picture of the finished product, right???

Maggie was really into Steampunk and was making this piece for a costume she was creating. Yes, another of our costumers!

Couple of headbands by this class. On the left you see Paula's piece and on the right, Shirley's. Shirley used velvet tubing, in the true vintage style, to cover the wire.

And another two headbands. On the left is Rebecca's and on the right another of Shirley's pieces.

I was very, very happy with the creativity and sheer amount of work these classes demonstrated. Wire work is something that is rarely taught, not understood my many, but a large part of the history of hats. I think you will agree that whether the hats you see above were historical or contemporary, they were very creative. I can assure you of the huge amount of planning and work involved.

Thanks Spruill, for hosting these two classes! Always a pleasure!!!

John C. Campbell Folk School--Millinery Class

2010-08-16T18:17:00.032-04:00

Last weekend I taught for the very first time at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. The Folk School, as it is affectionately known, is 85 years old and was started as a means of preserving the crafts of the Appalachian Mountains and the people who lived there. Today there are an incredible number of arts and crafts taught there every week and weekend--from blacksmithing, to basketry, to woodturning, to clogging (a traditional mountain dance style), to printmaking, to....just name it!

The Folk School is in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the shadow of the Great Smokey Mountains. Here you see a little of what the scenery is around the School.

There are numerous original and new dormitories and studios around the campus, which sits on many, many acres. Here is the Farm House, where I stayed for the weekend. It was lovely!

Mountain tradition is that every day starts with MorningSong. At the Folk School either one of the locals comes in, or in this case one of the weekend instructors did MorningSong. This is Aubrey, who taught clogging over the weekend. Turns out she also sings beautifully and plays banjo, mandolin, and guitar. This picture show her playing banjo and doing some fancy clogging steps. She was fabulous!

Here you see the last morning of class, right before we went to the final presentation of each class' work for the weekend. We had a class of 12, including my assistant, David, whom you see at the far right. Many of the class had to leave before 'presentation' due to the great distances they travelled to get to the School.

The purpose of this class, 'Crowns and Brims: A Millinery Survey,' was to learn through observation and practice, skills including wire construction, fabric covered buckram, blocking straw, and sewn straw braid. This was not an in-depth study of any of these, yet a means to be exposed and practice at least two of the skills into one hat. e.g. straw crown with wire brim, buckram crown with straw brim, etc.

Here's Sonja with her finished product, a gorgeous wire construction brim (covered in black and white silk) with a fabric covered buckram brim. Just gorgeous!

Here you see her after she's finished the construction and is covering the frame with silk.

The early work in the construction process. Not quite as easy as it looks!

David, my studio assistant, chose to create a wire frame brim with buckram crown, as well. What a colorful guy in his elegant hat! Great job, David! Now here's a hat lover! You should see his collection! And what great guy! He kept us all sane...well, most of us!

Ah, David and Sonja HARD at work on their wire frames. Sooo much time spent in creating the frames, but with such wonderful results.

Gerald was the other man in our class. I didn't get a chance to photograph his finished product but he did an amazing job! Here he's working on this fabric covered buckram brim. He chose a blocked sinamay crown to pair it with.

Below you see some of the class with their final project, minutes before we did a catwalk before the whole school (about 100 attendees/instructors). Most classes displayed their work on tables, we strutted ours!! Such fun!!!!

Beautiful Sara in her purples and lavenders! She worked incredibly hard on her hat.

Mollie in her wire frame brim, draped in a sheer dotted fabric, with a silk covered buckram crown.

Pictures don't do this hat justice! This was a smashing hat!

Robbie begins her huge, no HUGE, wire frame hat!

See where this is going? Love the conjunctive wires.

Trying it on for size. This took an amazing amount of work to get it this far.

The final hat! The wire frame was draped in a stretchy netting that beautifully covered the circumference and area of this hat. Note the tiny silk crown--covered buckram.

I have to give Robbie, Mollie, and Sara some extra credit. They each stayed up until 3am to complete their hats before presentation on Sunday morning. Others of the class stayed up working in the studio until midnight! Now that's dedication!!!

Cathy working on combining the straw brim with the buckram crown.

Cathy's final product. Love the color combination! Cathy did beautiful handwork.

Leslie and Jan work on their hats. Leslie chose a wire frame crown and a blocked straw brim; Jan chose a straw crown and a wire brim.

Love the final outcome, Jan! And the neutral colors are soft and pretty.

Karin chose a blocked sinamay crown and a blocked straw brim. Note the stash of embellishments in front.

Karin in her finished product; again, right before presentation. Nicely done, Karin!

Thanks to the students who listened, took challenges, worked hard, played nice with each other, and trusted me as their instructor. Your willingness to trust me in the work I outlined for you is muchly appreciated.

And thanks to the amazing Folk School for the opportunity to teach there for the first time. I do look forward to returning next year for a week-long class, followed by a weekend class.

Silk Straw: Hat or Headpiece?

2010-08-14T08:47:00.004-04:00

Several posts back I showed the results of a day's worth of dyeing sinamay and silk straw. At the end of the post I showed 3 different manipulations of the silk straw. While a couple of people liked example #2, as did I, it is almost impossible to re-configure this amazing fabric into a pre-conceived style. So I had to go with example #3, which I also liked...otherwise I would have taken IT apart and tried for another style I liked.

Anyway, here is the finished product, with added beading on the edges of the 'waves' and a swath of vintage veiling. Since I live near the ocean, the whole thing reminded me of waves, and water, and currents, and yes, a fishing net! Confession: I've actually added more beading, and larger beads, to the veiling since I took these photos. The extra beading added some weight to the veil, which held it in place better, without having to tack it down, plus it adds even further to the fishing net theme--the beads are splashes of water caught in the netting!

Side view. See the silk shine?

Close-up of the veiling. Gosh I wish I had a picture with the extra beading. Oh, well. I might post it later.

Chicago Millinery Classes--Block Making and Fascinators

2010-07-22T07:56:00.012-04:00

Last week I was fortunate enough to teach in Chicago, at TLD Design Center. I've been teaching there for probably 9 years and it is always a pleasure to go back. Great students come from all over the mid-West to take not only hatmaking classes but a wide range of textile classes from the owner, Tammy Deck and other instructors. This year we had students from New York, Florida, and Kentucky, as well as Chicago.

I taught two one-day classes this year. The first was Block Making. Everyone made a least one hat block and then blocked a parisisal hood over their new block. Above, Ann and Rebecca are hard at work on their projects.

Clair and Abby begin the blocking process. Abby attended the Kentucky Derby for the first time this year and came away wanting to know more about hatmaking. Here she begins free-forming on a hatblock.

And here is her hat just as it was coming off the block. She was thrilled with the result! A few embellishments and she'll be ready for the Derby next year!

Lyn made a very simple but elegant block. Here she is blocking her black parisisal hood over it.

The next day I taught Fascinating Fascinators. One of the first things I asked the group was, "What IS a fascinator?" Of course, there is no definitive answer to that as they can take many forms. And that was my point. They can pretty much be anything you want them to be. They take no specific form! Go for it!

I demonstrated numerous skills that could be used in making fascinators: feather-work, sewn braid, free-form sinamay, fabric covered buckram, along with how to attach elements to combs, hairbands, hat elastics, clips, etc.

This photo, and the one above it, are of feather mounts created by Betty. She will probably use these on her fabulous felt hats since that is really her forte. Love the color combination!

Close-up of the fascinator base Betty created with a very dark navy braid. Nice!

Rebecca starts the final process of curling feathers on her silk covered buckram base. She created the feather mount from coq and biot feathers using the technique she learned in class.

The final product! She used an orphaned rhinestone earring as the focal point and a base for the feather mount.

Betty models Rebecca's hat.

Rebecca does the HAPPY DANCE she is so thrilled with her hat! And I agree!

Great job, Chicago class!!

Dyeing Sinamay and Silk Straw

2010-07-15T20:42:00.002-04:00

I've been having a great time doing some dyeing lately. I don't consider myself having strong skills in doing this kind of work, but I enjoy it. I don't have the scientific part of the brain to do all the measuring needed to come up with specific colors. I mix up Procion Fiber Reactive dyes and frankly, I get what I get. Below you will see the results of dyeing some natural colored sinamay straw and a short piece of silk straw. More about that further down the post.

Here is what sinamay looks like naturally. While I'd get much stronger color strikes if I used bleached sinamay (white sinamay), I have rolls of the natural colored and save my white for specific projects.

I've skipped over all the messy business with powdered dyes, water, buckets, gloves, face masks, etc., to show you a fairly easy way of 'batching' the sinamay. By batching I mean letting the dye sit in/on the sinamay until it exhausts itself and the sinamay can no longer accept anymore dye. This takes about 12 hours, but I sped it up a bit by placing the dyed sinamay in plastic bags, placed it outside in our HOT North Carolina sun, and let it process. I continued to turn the bags over every hour or so.

Above you see the bags opened at the end of the day. I'm ready to remove them from the bags and wash out the residual dye.

All balled up and getting their first shower! Because these dyes are non-toxic I don't mind washing them out on the grass in the garden.

And here they are all washed out and ready to dry. Note the smaller turquoise piece in the center of the group. This is silk straw, which I loooooove! The warp of the weave is silk and the weft is straw. The sheen on this straw is unbelievably gorgeous. Gorgeous!

Here I've taken the small piece of silk straw to the studio to play with. Can you see the sheen? This particular piece is about 18" wide and about 30" long. So not a big piece of straw yardage to work with, but wait until you see the resulting headpieces I fashioned out of this.

The following pictures are the 3 styles I came up with while manipulating the straw. The straw weft is really the only way to bend the straw for design possibilities, the silk warp being too limp to make much of a design statement. If you are familiar with Jin Sin, it works by the same concept. Sinamay bends equally on warp and weft.

Example number 1.

Example number 2.

Example number 3.

Which one do you like best? Leave a comment here on the blog.

Hats on Exhibit--Spruill Art Center

2010-06-27T10:15:00.005-04:00

I was recently asked by the Spruill Art Center, in Atlanta, Georgia, to exhibit in their art show celebrating their 35th anniversary. This exhibit will hang during the month of July in their Gallery, and the artwork will be for sale--both through the gallery and their website.

Below you will see the two hats I entered. These hats have been given names since the gallery wanted the title of each artist's work. I hate "Untitled" so I named them based on the elements they embue.

This hat is free-form shaped from natural sinamay--a straw that is manufactured in yardage/meters. I love the way it can be manipulated into beautful folds and swirls, creating very abstract shapes. It can also be blocked over hatblocks, but in this case I've simply hand-shaped the hat. There are no embellishments on this hat, except for a piece of frayed black sinamay added for contrast. The hat itself is embellishment enough, don't you think? This hat is entitled, "Roller Coaster."

I've really been interested in creating sewn braid hats recently. Probably because I've taught the skills in the last two classes--in Atlanta and San Antonio. The hat above is a combination of sewn braid circles, about 7 as I remember, tacked together just as they touch each other. I knew I wanted to use this particular peacock feather because it had some lovely shades of lavendar in it. That was the starting point for using the lavendar coqs and veiling. This hat is entitled, "Got My Eye On You."

Happy 35th anniversary, Spruill Art Center!

Texas Millinery Class--Parisisal, Sinamay, Braid

2010-06-17T20:00:00.016-04:00

This past weekend I taught a class entitled Sensational Straw: 3 Millinery Techniques, in San Antonio, Texas. The class was held at the Southwest School of Art and Craft, a venue I've taught at three times before. We had a full class of 11 ladies, ready to learn how to work with parisisal capelines and hoods, sinamay (blocked and free-form), and sewn straw braid.

I love Texas! The food, the people, the margaritas! The next couple of shots were taken on the Riverwalk, a beautiful park that meanders through the city along the San Antonio River.

That is a HUGE American flag! Kinda surprised there isn't a Texas flag that big hanging nearby.

Lovely ivy covered bridge over the river. Tour boats and river taxis traverse the river allowing riders to enjoy the beautiful buildings, wildlife, and to people watch.

Amy (from Dallas) chose to work in blocked sinamay and sewn braid. Here you see her brim and the tip of her crown. I love this natural sewn braid. Very classic.

Dale chose to work with an orange parisisal hood and sewn braid.

Here you see a top view of the shape she blocked and free-formed--nice upturned crown.

And here's her final product with a triple row of the natural sewn braid. While it was going to be her brim, it turned into a nice mid-band embellishment. This looked fantastic on her!

Jessica worked with a lavendar parisisal capeline which she then interlaced with the natural sewn braid. So the brim was lavendar, natural, and lavendar again on the outside edge. Nice touch, Jessica!

More of Jessica's hat in progress.

Elizabeth was taken with making a Fedora, which she did a nice job of. She decided to edge the Fedora in aqua sewn braid.

Wiring of the brim edge in progress. See the aqua braid on the side? This is how she will be finishing off the edge of the hat.

This hat is a very nice example of blocked sinamay (crown) and sewn braid (brim). This shot shows the petersham being added to maintain the headsize and to protect the hat from perspiration and makeup.

And this is Sarah in her completed hat! She chose to add a hatband of silk noil which had been created in a recent shibori class.

Nice hat! Aztec statuary on the Riverwalk.

Thank you, Southwest School, for another delightful class of talented students. Always a pleasure!

More Atlanta Flowermaking Pictures

2010-06-08T20:11:00.005-04:00

My friend and fellow milliner, Diane Shaggott, sent the following pictures from the recent flowermaking class in Atlanta. Diane's orchid is the one on the bottom row, center. She used silk chiffon and silk velvet for her's. Nice, Diane!

I normally don't have pictures of me in the blog...'cause I'm making the pictures! But Diane sent these along for me to include. Below you see me demonstrating using the radius head for shaping rose petals.

I have been teaching quite a few students flowermaking lately--both privately and in public classes. It is one of those classes where absolutely everyone loves the outcome. Can't beat that!

Check out Diane's website at Hats to Di For!

Next week I'll be teaching at the Southwest School for Arts and Crafts in San Antonio, Texas. I'll be posting pictures next week. Watch for them here.

French Flowermaking and Straw Braid Hats in Atlanta

2010-05-24T19:33:00.012-04:00

This past weekend I taught French Flowermaking and Sewn Straw Braid at the Spruill Center for the Arts in Atlanta, Georgia. We had a full class of 10!

Below you see the fabrics hanging out to dry. Fabrics have to be processed with a stiffening agent in order for the flowermaking process to work properly. What a beautiful display of colors and textures!

After the fabrics are dry they are cut by pattern into petals and other flower parts. Flowermaking tools are used to shape the flower parts for assembly into a full beautiful flower. Note the stamens too.

Below you will see a creative use of petals. The pattern was for a rose, however, this student decided to use the petals to create a trillium. How nice! It was a class favorite!

The next 3 pictures show some happy students with their flowers. Depending on what fabric was used, how it was processed, cut and ironed, and then assembled, the flowers each have their own look. That's the beauty of creating these flowers.

Don't you just love this celery colored 'starbright' straw braid hat with the dual-colored silk flower?

Another example of the sewn straw braid, this time in azalea pink, with a lovely triple-colored silk flower. Nice use of the braid as an embellishment, as well.

We made two flowers in the class--one a rose and another was a cymbidiam orchid. Above you see a few of the orchid flower parts wired and ready to assemble.

The final assembly of individually beautiful orchids. Each one a work of art--just like nature!

Great job Atlanta students! Thanks for a delightful weekend!!!

Headpieces for Thalian Hall--a Celebration!

2010-05-18T21:17:00.004-04:00

I was recently asked to participate in the grand re-opening of one of our city's most recognizable and greatest landmarks--Thalian Hall. It was built in 1858 and is one of America's longest running playhouses. That's it on the left in the picture below.

Thalian was in need of a facelift. She was a beautiful old lady, but now is even more of a grande dame after her recent beautification.

A grand re-opening took place this past weekend--a black tie event to unveil the new Thalian Hall. Hostesses were in place around the 3 floors to guide guests throughout the evening. To differentiate them from the guests it was decided they should wear headpieces. That's where I come in. Below you will see the pieces I made to be worn both evenings.

Congratulations to the new Thalian Hall!

2010-05-18T21:16:00.000-04:00

New Millinery Shop--aMuse's New Beginning

2010-05-06T19:44:00.004-04:00

aMuse has a new home! For the past 2 months I've been not only making hats, headpieces, flowers, and running the shop, but I've also been painting ceilings, walls, floors, and trimwork. It has been a loooong 2 months. BUT, as of May 4th, I've relocated the shop to downtown historic Wilmington, North Carolina. Wilmington was incorporated in the 1700's, is a beautiful city on the Cape Fear River, about 7 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

Here is the building aMuse is housed in. That's aMuse on the bottom floor behind the black door and that's our storefront window. This building was built by a French baker in the 1870's. The bakery was where my shop is located, and the family lived upstairs in the 2 top floors. Cool, huh?

Here's my front window. Not exactly what I want, but with all the moving stress it is going to have to work for a week or so. The old shop didn't have a storefront window so this is a treat for me. Passersby will actually be able to see my work from the street!

The sandwich board!

Our next door neighbor. Not too shabby! This is the DeRosset House, a private club where many weddings are held. The gardens are magnificent as well as the restaurant and the lodging rooms. We like it downtown!

And now for a few inside shots.

Here is what was a pass-through window for the 1870's bakery. Now it is a display nook.

Candy pink slipper chairs in front of the double-sided original fireplace. Rustic but beautiful. Exposed brick and original ballast stones from Europe make for some great charm.

Jewelry cases housing our huge collection of vintage costume jewelry. We carry most of the top costume designer names from the 1940's, '50's, and '60's including Juliana, Vendome, Hobe, Ciner, Haskell, Kramer, and many others. Lots of bling!

We still have lots of work to do to get everything in perfect order. The atelier is still a wreck, but it getting better. Very fortunate to be in such a fabulous new shop. New beginnings....

Spring 2010 Hatwearing Events--Model Millinery

2010-04-21T21:17:00.003-04:00

Happy Spring to all of you reading in the Northern Hemisphere! I am not a winter girl AT ALL and have been delighted that the flowers and Spring rains are here to brighten my world.

I've also embraced Spring because it is a marvelous time to create hats for the multitude of hatwearing events. In my city, Wilmington, North Carolina, we've just completed the biggest hatwearing event of the year--the North Carolina Azalea Festival, and the Garden Party that kicks the whole thing off. Hundreds and hundres of ladies don their best hats to eat barbeque, hobnob with the other attendees, drink champagne, and relish our beautiful azaleas! These parties go on from morning 'til night and having a fabulous hat is what it's all about.

I created more hats than I can count for the event this year. Some of them are posted below. I've also been making hats for Kentucky Derby and other Derby-inspired events here in town. Plus, weddings, commencements, and whew!, that makes for a very, very busy Spring. Enjoy!

Sinamay headband created for a customer attending a college commencement. I've included several views of this piece. Not sure how she will wear it on her head. Depending on how it is placed on the head, it can look very different. Which way do you like best?

This customer gave me a few guidelines on what she wanted and then let me run free with the design. I love it when a customer does this! It opens so many more possibilities.

I think this is my favorite angle. I like the sinamay 'leaves' sweeping down the face. But again, it is entirely up to the customer. If she asks my opinion I'll tell her what I think. I believe that is an important part of being a milliner--tactfully giving the customer your opinion on what makes her look best. They trust our ability to look at their face, their hair, their ensemble, and the hat, to give a positive impression.

This customer designed her hat completely! She is one of my models and knows what she looks good in. She even brought a colored sketch in for me to work by! Love this hat!

Another view. Note that the brim is offset so that part of the crown is seen under the brim.

One of my favorite Garden Party hats for this year. The fringed sinamay just really made the look of this hat come together.

The 'skirt' on this hat is actually made from a very, very wide florist's ribbon. There is wire in every strand of this ribbon, which makes the 'skirt' easily manipulated. Check out the glittery butterfly.

Hot pink, or azalea pink, is always popular for the Garden Party. I re-ordered three times!

Easter fascinator for the same customer as above. Another hat where I was given free reign in designing. Only guidelines were: must be a fascinator, must use turquoise and gold. I hear she made quite an impression with this hat.

Derby party hat. This has a huge brim and is very dramatic.

Garden Party hat worn by the President of the garden club. It made the front page of the paper!

Almost every hat I make is custom made for the customer. However, I do have handmade stock hats in the shop in abundance during this time of year. There are always a few people who wait too late to have something custome made for them. Choosing from the stock hats is their only option. But I was very fortunate to have the beautiful hats of 3 former students in the shop this year for them to choose from--Diane Shaggot, Jenny Pfenenstiel, and Andre Baxter. You'll see some of their hats in the last blog post about the fashion show.

While Kentucky Derby is still right around the corner, and I still have lots of hats to push out the door for that event, things have begun to settle down just a bit. I need a breather! However, next weekend I'm moving my shop to a new location. So another adventure begins! Never a dull moment here!

Happy hatmaking!

p.s. Check out my 2010 millinery class schedule on my webpage--http://www.hatshatshats.com/classes.htm . Maybe I'll see you in class!

aMuse Haute Hats Show

2010-03-12T19:01:00.003-05:00

Last weekend I hosted my first hat fashion show. I wanted to envoke the style of 1950's couture houses. A time when ladies came to be shown the newest styles in an intimate, beautiful setting. The models would be beautiful, sophisticated, and perfect canvases for glamourous hats, jewelry, gloves, and bags. I think the photo above, so Vogue-inspired, is the perfect embodiment of the day.

With so many Spring hat-wearing events coming up, we wanted to show traditional and contemporary hat styles to chose for Easter, Passover, Azalea Garden Party, Kentucky Derby, and weddings. See what you think....

Several local businesses were instrumental in helping pull the whole day off flawlessly--'Style Girl' Jess James, The Dessert Divas, Bangz Hair Salon, and Island Florals by Roxanne.

That's me on the left, with 'Style Girl' Jess James, in her hat I made several years ago for a '20's fashion show she produced. Jess is a fashion writer/editor, stylist, and all-round fashion guru. She beautifully styled the models with vintage and contemporary jewelry, gloves, and bags from my shop, aMuse. Wait until you see the pictures! Great job, Jess!

Last minute backstage instructions and clarifications! Sinatra in the background singing 'New York, New York,' was our cue for the beginning of the show! Cool jazz then set the tone for our models to step out--grace, style, sophistication, hattitude!!

I invited 3 of my former students to send hats to the show. They all surprised me by not only sending some gorgeous hats, but decided to actually come for the show!

Above (center) is Diane Shaggot, Hats to Di For (Atlanta, GA), with two of her hats.

This is Jenny Pfanenstiel (center), Forme Millinery (Chicago, IL), with two of her kicky fascinators, and of course the one on her head.

And this is Andre Baxter, Christine Designs (Atlanta, GA), with the hats he brought for the show.

Now I will just let you browse the pictures, except for credit for each hat, by milliner's name. Enjoy!

Front--Diane Shaggot; Back--Jan Wutkowski

Diane Shaggot

Jan Wutkowski

Left--Andre Baxter; Center--Diane Shaggot; Right--Andre Baxter

Jan Wutkowski

Andre Baxter

Diane Shaggot

Jan Wutkowski

Diane Shagott

Jan Wutkowski

And for our Grand Finale--the traditional end-of-show BRIDE!

Great fun! Hard work! Can't wait to do it all again next year! We had such a fantastic response from everyone who attended and we're still hearing from those who weren't able to get in since we sold out the show early!

Thanks again to Andre, Jenny, and Diane for their beautiful hats. And to my sponsors who made it all possible--Jess James, The Dessert Divas, Bangz Hair Salon, and Island Florals by Roxanne. Thank you and much love!

Photos courtesy of Andre Baxter and Bangz Hair Salon. More coming soon!

Buckram and Wool Hood Class--East Carolina University

2010-02-22T19:11:00.013-05:00

Last week I was at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, teaching a class to their Textile BFA/MFA students. I thought it would be a great idea for the students to bring in some of the fabulous fabrics they have worked on during the semester--shibori, silk dyeing, discharging and other fabric manipulation. They, in turn, requested that part of the class be working with felt hoods. So that is how the class curriculum evolved. Below are the pictures from that class.

Nice stash of dyed silks, cottons, and some feather pieces. These were to be used on the buckram forms provided for the class. All the buckram forms were variations of pillboxes.

The class prepares their buckram forms with domette. At right is Robin Haller, Assistant Professor of Textiles at ECU, who also took the class. She is a master weaver doing incredible work.

A stitch in time....

Everyone loved the way the wool felt molded in their hands. Just have to remember that damp and hot makes the work go much faster.

Above--the free-form shaping of the wool hood. Below--a very happy hatwearer models her hat in front of the mirror.

Love the multiple V's in this hat. Nice!

LOVE the shape of this hat!! So very 1930's!

Always inspiring to work with students on the university level, especially those who have a real love for fibers, fabrics, textiles. Thanks for a great workshop ECU.

O, Me! The Omo! Headresses and Adornment

2010-01-25T15:30:00.009-05:00

If this video of the Omo people doesn't make you want to get up and create something then nothing will! Be sure to turn up the volume for great soundtrack to the images. We, who are interested in adorning our bodies, especially our heads, can take away MUCH from this video.

Hatty Award!

2010-01-13T19:35:00.006-05:00

I've been awarded a 2009 Hatty Award by Hat Life Magazine! I'm thrilled! There was an international group of 30 awarded for 2009, and I am humbled to have been chosen. The Hatty is awarded to "a Website, Blog, Headwear Designer, Importer, Supplier, Manufacturer or Retailer who has made a worthwhile contribution to the headwear industry in 2009."

If you don't subscribe to to their bi-weekly Hat Life newsletter, perhaps you'd like to start. Lots of good stuff to peruse twice a month.

Washington, DC Millinery Class--Straw and Felt Blocking

2010-01-11T18:37:00.003-05:00

This past weekend I was pleased to teach a millinery class, for the first time, at the Art League School in Alexandria, Virginia--a suburb of Washington, DC. I've been trying for years to find a place to teach in the DC area because so many people have expressed an interest from that area. I taught a class called Hats For All Seasons: Blocking Straw and Felt. I believe this is the first millinery class to be taught at the Art League School. Hopefully I'll be going back.

What you will see in this blog entry are the results of the student's felt blocking experience. They started with a 100% wool hood, and were asked to free-form shape it. I always ask them to block, re-block, and re-block using this skill, as I want them to get a real sense of what the medium will do. Until you play with the wool, by steaming and shaping, will you not get a real feel for what great abstract shapes you can achieve. It's fun!

Check out the next few pictures showing some of the class in the process of blocking their hoods. You'll see the results later in the blog entry.

Millinery students begin the process of steam blocking the wool hoods over hatblocks.

Modeling their creations in the next few pictures!

Below you will see all the hats lined up in a case. It was a great way to display all the hard work these ladies and gentleman put in to fashion their fabulous millinery creations! See what you think.

Can you believe all the diversity of shapes and colors? That's the beauty of free-form styling.

There was no time to add any embellishment to these hats, and quite frankly, many probably don't need much, if anything added to them. They are truly sculptural and works or art in their own right.

Thanks to all the Washington, DC, students for participating. You all did a super job! See you next time.

Evolution of a Hot Pink Hood

2009-12-13T16:21:00.003-05:00

Follow the pictures as I take you on the evolution of this hot pink wool hood into a hat made for a recent trunk show. It will be initially blocked over a simple crown block and then free-formed from there. And finally embellished.

Here you see the hood in the very first blocking over the hatblock. It will have to be steamed and blocked several times to get it smoothly over the hatblock. In fact, because the tip of this block is rather flat, it was difficult to get the tip of the hood flat. I had to finish it off by using an iron and damp pressing cloth to get it like I wanted.

I use a length of 3/4" wide elastic to help hold the hood against the block and to give me stability in starting the free-forming.

Another view with further free-forming. Remember that I'm steaming as I shape. And using bead-head pins to hold shapes.

After I get the shape as close as I can get to what I've envisioned, I start trimming away bits I don't want or need in my final design. Be careful in this step!

Close-up of one of the twists that adds interest to the design. I've also added a bias cut silk band, a wide one, with fraying on the edges. The silk is a very cool grey to contrast with the hot pink.

After I secured the band I began adding some fringe, made from the roundings, and then 3 felt balls in different colors.

Final product on a mannequin head at yesterday's trunk show.

Millinery Shop's Holiday Open House

2009-12-06T14:53:00.007-05:00

Friday night aMuse had its 3rd annual Holiday Open House! We had a great attendance, not only for the champagne and canapes, but for the work of our featured artist of the evening. After a glass of champagne or two each guest had a great time trying on my handmade hats, handmade felt scarves and bags, plus EVERYONE loves the vintage costume jewelry! A room full of women (ok, there were 3 men in attendance) sipping, noshing, and shopping...what more could you ask for? This was an offical WAWAS event (Wrightsville Ave. Working Artists Studios.)

Debra Pyeatt, the featured artist, does incredible beaded jewelry. Her designs and color combinations are spectacular. She is a local artist and is represented by several galleries, including aMuse. Debra set up her collection in the front atrium of the shop so that as people arrived they would see her first.

Debra first came into the shop a couple of years ago. It was several visits later that we realized we had a deep connection in my sister (also a bead jeweler), whom Debra had worked with in far-away Dallas, Texas. My sister passed away several years ago. We felt an instant connection and have been friends since that miraculous discovery. I get chills every time I think about our chance meeting so far from where she and my sister knew each other.

Chef Lori Eaton, who not only is a personal chef but an internet cooking show hostess, whipped up some yummy, yummy bites. I met Lori 3 years ago as I was opening the business. She popped in to have a custom hat made for a 'milestone' birthday. We've been friends ever since. Great chef, good friend, and a fun person!

My good friends Louise Giordano and Amanda deLeon. Louise is a fiber artist, represented in several galleries, and Amanda is an up-and-coming fashion designer. She was a semi-finalist at Charleston (SC) Fashion Week last year. Very, very talented ladies!

Looking for hats, headpieces, and jewelry!

That's my adorable husband in the background. Michael served as bartender for the evening. He is soooo supportive of the shop and my millinery endeavors! Also shown are raffle winner Margit Royal (trying to decide on her choice of prizes) and Amanda deLeon.

What a great night! Sold a few hats, some jewelry, and had a slew of new folks come through that were not familiar with aMuse previously. I think they left knowing they'd be back soon...I hope so!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!

Vintage Costume Jewelry

2009-11-29T14:08:00.008-05:00

Most everyone who reads this blog is here because they have an interest in hats: looking at them, learning about them, discussing them. But I started this blog as a showcase of not only what I do as a milliner, but what my shop, aMuse, carries other than hats and headpieces.

This is my first entry about the fabulous collection of vintage costume jewelry aMuse has in the jewelry cases. Jewelry started as a tiny portion of the merchandise at the shop, but I quickly determined that practically everyone who came in was mesmerized by the bling. Sparkle in the cases, sparkle in the eyes!

aMuse is known in town as a place you can get quality vintage jewelry from the 1880's to the 1980's. Most of it is from the 1940's through the mid-1960's. There are LOTS of rhinestones! Think back to the vintage Vogue magazine photo shoots--the models in their gorgeous clothes and jewelry draped everywhere--necks, ears, arms, shoulders, fingers. That's the kind of jewelry we have.

The above necklace is in the style of Haskell, Robert, and DeMario, although it was not marked.

This sparkler is a verified Juliana necklace--one of the most sought after designer names in costume jewelry.

Very wide brushed gold-tone bracelet spaced with rhinestones. Can't you just see this on a glam arm holding a dry martini?

Bling bling!

Oh. My. Gosh! These rhinestone earrings are about 3" long and full of fire! Notice the different shapes of stones. Quality stuff.

Pave rhinestones that twinkle all over the room, especially since the bottom teardrop swings freely.

I'll post some other jewelry in the future. Just thought it was time so show off some of the great pieces in the collection, which changes constantly due to the popularity of vintage costume jewelry. Doesn't hang around the shop too long! Make a statement at your upcoming holiday parties with vintage costume jewelry; get noticed!

Bridal Millinery

2009-11-26T19:13:00.008-05:00

I make alot of hats during the year. Straw. Felt. Sinamay. Abailk. Buckram. Wire. Straw Braid. And the vast majority of those are custom-made for clients. Sometimes I sell the ones in the shop but that is a rarity. Usually those are sold to someone who has waited until the very last minute for a special occasion and comes running in to get something for the event. That's fine. Always some hats on the mannequins for folks to try on and get ideas for the custom-made hats. Ah.

And then there are my lovely brides. Gotta love them. My bridal clients tend to be young ladies (and mature ladies as well) who have a strong sense of their individuality. They are not, as I say, 'cookie cutter brides.' They are not usually the brides you see in the Sunday paper. Yes, they may have a traditional dress, but the shoes may be red, or flip flops, or none! The jewelry is usually from our vintage collection. All put together for a uniquely beautiful bride.

I have NEVER sold a single bridal piece that is in the shop. You: "Never? Doesn't that worry you?" Me: "Not a bit. I want the bride to come up with her own ideas, guided by what I can offer her to get that idea to gel. That includes looking at new and vintage materials, pictures, sketches, and talking it all through. The pieces in the shop are starting points. We design a one-of-a-kind piece from all the elements available."

So. Below you will see just a few of the pieces I've made for my brides during the last year. Enjoy!

Beauty-marked ivory veiling with emu feathers.

Very wide vintage horsehair braid with biots, coqs, and sequins, pearls and beading.

1940's inspired bridal veil with handmade silk flowers with gilded embroidery stitching and vintage glass glitter stamins. Gold embroidery edging.

Headband of white veiling sprigs and a twisted flower made from remnants from the bridal gown.

Ivory pleated silk Juliet buckram form with handmade silk lillies. Delicate vintage face veiling.

I love my brides!

More Flat Felt Hat Pictures--Millinery Class at Arrowmont

2009-11-03T20:37:00.014-05:00

Here are more pictures of the great hats made at Arrowmont School of Art and Craft. Pictures speak louder than words. All are made from flat felt skirting by my talented students.

Thanks, Erin, for sending these along for all to enjoy!

Fabulous, fabulous job, ladies!!

Arrowmont Millinery Class--Flat Felt in the Smokey Mountains

2009-11-02T15:32:00.012-05:00

Hello again! I realize it has been a while since I've posted to the blog, but I wanted the fundraiser to be front and center on the blog until we closed it yesterday. Thanks, too, to all who contributed to such a worth cause. Muchly appreciated!

Many things to catch up on, but the most recent are the results of a class I taught at Arrowmont School of Art and Craft in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, last weekend. Arrowmont, one of the US's most prestigious art and craft schools, is nestled up against the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, and the leaves on the trees were awe-inspiring...as were my students. The class was entitled Hats That Felt Good: Retro Hats From Flat Felt, and the hats were fashioned after hats that we usually think of as those in the great 1940's movies. Many of those were made from flat felt or felt skirting as it is also known. And that is what the class was based on. Scroll down for some yummy hats.

I took quite a few true vintage hats with me for the class to look at, plus some pictures of vintage hats from that era, and even a few I've made myself. To say this was a creative class is rather an understatement. There was TONS of creative spark in the class and the results showed that.

Above you see a closeup of a two-toned number. You'll see the finished product a bit down the page. Don't you love this? Fabulous job!

We had several professional costumers in the class, and McLeod, above, was one of those. Somehow I just believe they were strong influences for the class--fun, creative, willing to share, and energetic! Here she's working on one of two hats she made in class. Dang if I don't have a single picture of her incredibly detailed leaf hat. Maybe she'll send one and I'll post. (Hint.)

How many hats can you make in a weekend? Well, I think this may be a record--5!! And each and every one of them wonderful. Yep, another of the costumers.

Diane has been to quite a few of my classes over the years, and continues to impress. Here we see the front (and next a side view) of a burgandy fur felt with a snazzy chin veil.

Pretty cool, huh?

Ah, and here is the finished hat that you saw a close-up of further up the blog. Lots of tedius work in the creation. Looks like a striking water lily...with streamers.

And here are the two hats Shirley made. The one up front is an abstract version of a toque, and the other is a very delightful perching hat made from many many pieces 'patched' together. Nice.

Another two-toned hat with some biot feathers. You'll see Jean wearing this one in the final picture of this blog entry. Lots of great ideas, lady!

And here is a group shot of 5 of the 13 class members--Terri, Jean, Erin, Diane and Lynne. Stylin' with a reason!!!

For those of you who don't know, flat felt was manufactured for years and years as a millinery medium. But somehow it lost favor and was no longer produced until millinery supplier Sandra Leko of Hats by Leko found someone to make this soft as butter skirting in Russia. It is a dream to work with and can be stitched from patterns, draped, and even blocked to some extent. An old, old skill made quite contemporary by some very talented students. Good job Arrowmont students!