Fascinator Millinery Class; Alexandria, Virginia/Washington, DC

In late June, I taught a class at The Art League School in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC.  This was a very full class entitled Fashioning Fascinators.  We used quite a few millinery mediums to make the base of the fascinators.  See the following pictures for working photos and finished product.

  
 For some reason sewn braid was the base medium of choice.  Students had a choice of sewn braid or fabric covered buckram.  The 'fascinator' pieces could then be secured to headbands, elastics or used on a sinamay base.

Black triple starbright sewn braid was a favorite.  Note that the braid is being sewn on utility blocks to hold the shape.

This was a huge class of 13!  All with their own ideas of what a fascinator is.  And, by-the-way...fascinator can mean many different things to milliners and hat-wearers.  A group of  talented ladies with fascinators on their minds.

Melissa having fun!  

Sewn braid, veiling, and a peacock feather piece.

Here's a demo I did on feathers for the class.  Click here to see.  About a 4 minute demo you might find interesting.

This sweet young lady came with her grandmother to make hats!  Love it!  Isn't she sweet?  Great hat for a budding milliner.

Ranunculus flowers and hot pink sewn braid.

Melissa creates a butterfly 'bowl' with a sweep of feather spines.

Gloria's pleated ribbon trim over buckram.  Hydrangea flowers and some sweeping feathers.  Nice.

Jewels!!

Love the veil swath.

 Stylin' ladies!

Monique's gorgeous red sewn braid base with a smashing silk flowers.

Fabric covered buckram.  Beautiful batik fabric and a handmade flower.

A fascinator of two colors of triple starbright braid, sewn into circles then sewn together for a headband effect.  A twig of crin starts the embellishment process.

Here's another demo I did on using Crin (horsehair) and Sinamay as embellishment.  So many other things you can do with these materials, but hope you'll click over here to see about a 7 minute demo.

Beautiful silk flower on black triple starbright braid.  Lovely!

Next post will be of the classes in the San Francisco Bay Area--French Flowermaking, Sinamay Fascinators, and Abstract Shaping.  Soooo much to report!

Atlanta Crin (Horsehair) Millinery Class

I'm a bit behind in reporting on my 2012 teaching schedule.  I'll be posting the three classes I've already done this year, other the the International Millinery Forum in January. (Find the IMF posts here on the blog.)  Let's start in May, in Atlanta, at the Spruill Art Center.

The class was entitled Crin (Horsehair): Hats, Fascinators & Embellishments.  I decided in this class that I was going to start calling this millinery medium CRIN, not horsehair, which is what we call it in the USA.  Crin is the standard term for this nylon woven braid that is primarily used for bows and rosettes in 'church lady hats' or the ones you see in departments stores.  But there is so much more you can do with crin.  See the following pictures of the ladies in class.

Judy works with a vintage crin with straw woven into the design.  I got this crin from a defunct hat manufacturer in California last year.  It is very nice but not that wide.  Crin comes in many designs and widths.

Love where this fascinator is going.  Good job Patrycja.

Hatsumi, who has studied millinery in Japan, works on her fascinator.

Joyce's nice use of beauty-marked crin in black and white.

Love this abstract design!

Crin fringe!!

Pretty little headband from Gloria, using two colors and textures of crin.

Judy with her vintage crin and lots of colored feathers.

Check out the two pictures of Shanna's full hat of crin.  Pretty little cloche.

Back side of Shanna's cloche.

Hatsumi's full hat. 

Each person did a full hat and then a fascinator.  Crin can be a real bear to tackle but these students did a great job of working with this very versatile millinery medium.

I'll be teach another millinery class in Atlanta, at The Spruill Art Center in September.  Here's the info on that class.

Blocking Hats: Straw/Felt Open Studio
Beginning through advanced milliners will enjoy this class of blocking straws and felts over traditional hatblocks. Studio will make available over a dozen blocks to use over the weekend. Beginners will learn the very basics of steam blocking and more advanced students have an opportunity to block as many hats as they like over the more complex hatblocks. Each will progress at their own comfort level. Learn about the blocking differences in felts, straws and other millinery mediums; puzzle blocks; shaping and couture finishing techniques. Coaching for all skill levels will be available.

Contact Spruill for registration info, fees, etc.

Stay tuned in the next few days for the class posts on San Antonio, Texas and Alexandria, Virginia.

Thanks for reading! Classes for the remainder of the year, throughout the USA, are listed here.