The Pretty Big Hat--Crowned

Last year I had a client come into the shop who was vacationing at one of our local beaches. She loved hats but had never been able to find one that fit her head. This is something I hear quite often. Commercial hats are either too large or too small for the purchaser's head. Well, gosh, as a milliner I'm more than happy to show clients what I can do to make a hat they can wear; not gonna fall down on the ears and not gonna squeeze your head. By-the-way, 22"-22.5" is the average headsize for today's women.

OK, so what was so special about this client's plight? She had a headsize of 26"! Now, I've made hats for some large heads, my own headsize is 23", but nowhere near a 26". Just try to find a hatblock even close to this. Believe me, I tried. I realize there are probably some men's hatblocks out there that are close to this. Besides, since she was only in Wilmington for a short period of time we didn't have much time to look for hatblocks in her size.

To be perfectly honest, her headsize isn't really 26". However, she is a lovely African-American woman who wears her hair in many, many tiny braids at all times. THAT is what makes her hat size so large. One of the many reasons I ask clients how they will be wearing their hair when they wear the hat I'm making for them. Hair styles can change the hat size.

She left town with the both of us agreeing we would look for a 26" hatblock and I'd make a hat for her if either of us was successful in finding a block. Long story short--neither of us found a block. Cut to the present.


Same client was back in town recently and came by the shop to see what we could do about making her a hat. I explained that I'd not found a 26" block but that I thought I had a remedy, albeit not the best way of blocking a hat.

Enter my recently purchased hat stretcher! Hat stretcher? To block a hat? Well, in a word--YES. And it worked!!

The capeline above was chosen for its neutral coloring. This hat was going to have to work at many, many different hat-wearing occasions for the client.

Here's the wooden hat stretcher. Jeeze, I've wanted one of these for a long time. And they really do work for stretching out a too small hat. But I digress...

Note that there is a crank on one side that opens up the two halves of the crown.

After I opened it up to 26" I placed Press and Seal clingwrap over the 'block' to protect it and also to somewhat close the gap between the two halves. I was a little worried that the straw would collapse at the place there was no block and thought the clingwrap might help, which it did.

Here's the crown being blocked over the hat stretcher. It may not be overly obvious in this picture but believe me this is a very looong (front to back) crown. Again, not optimum for blocking, but the best I could do at the time. The elastic is to help hold the straw against the block.

Here's the finished product. The client didn't want too much embellishment. We had to place the simple hatband, which she loved anyway, to cover the petersham stitching. So it was decorative and functional. The edge was wired because she wanted the option of changing the brim shape.

When she picked up the hat she told me, "You have a very happy customer!" That's exactly what I love to hear.

As she left town this year we made a plan for me to make a hatblock for her in a different crown shape. Can't wait to see her next year for yet another hat!

Millinery tip: Hair styles can change the hat or head size.

Hat Girl Names and a Millinery Clarification

Several weeks ago I posted a blog entry about the new mannequins I acquired recently. I asked you guys to help name them and I'm pleased to announce their names today.

"(She) looks like a gal with a past. She strikes me as a former Vegas showgirl, so you better keep an eye on her and keep her in very stylish hats! She looks like a Deloris." Atlanta milliner Diane Shagott

"I think a good name for the wonderful silver head would be Luna (moon in Spanish), because it reminds me of the moon light." Spanish milliner Cristina De Prada

Thanks, ladies! They will forever be known as Deloris and Luna.

OK, now for the clarification:

In the last entry I mentioned that milliners don't use GLUE--ever. Well, I'd like to amend that. Duh. Sometimes we DO use glue. But we do NOT use glue to adhere our flowers, feathers, ribbon, labels, etc., to the hats. That would have the vast potential to ruin the embellishments as well as the hat if things don't get placed correctly the first time, something that is very easy to do. You can easily ruin the embellishments or the hat by trying to pull them apart. That is why we sew the embellishments to the hat. It allows us to get the elements (flowers, feathers, etc.) exactly where we want them without globs of glue everywhere. And we can re-use the embellishments as well as the hat if we decide to re-use them later. The very worst glue (if there is a scale) would be hot glue--yuk, strings of glue everywhere except where it might be needed!

I do use glue to make the French flowers, as you saw on a recent blog entry. And I do use glue in bridal millinery quite often. That would be most often on bridal tulle. If you are adding rhinestones or pearls to the tulle you are better off glueing them rather than trying to sew them on. Sewing makes ugly puckers in the tulle where glueing doesn't. I also use glue to secure knots in thread that doesn't hold a knot very well.

Story: Many years ago I was teaching a straw and felt blocking class and everyone was embellishing their hats at the end of the day. I had given the glue lecture earlier in the day. As everyone was busy putting flowers, feathers, ribbon and such on their hats I left the classroom for a few minutes. Upon my return I was smacked by the unmistakeable smell of hot glue. Someone had the audacity to pull out a hot glue gun in the classroom and proceed to string glue all over the place!! My reaction--I didn't say a word. The class all gave me the 'what are you going to do about it' look, but I figured this--if she was brazen enough to do just the opposite of what I had just discussed at length, then a public reprisal wasn't going to do any good whatsoever. I said not a word. Why waste my breath?

Millinery tip: Sew your embellishments and labels onto your hats. You will be able to remove them easily if needed.

Labels, Weavers and Milliners

This blog entry is actually an answer to Cristina De Prada's blog where she asked how others sew in their labels. (If you haven't checked out her blog, wait no longer! You'll be glad you clicked over.) Since I was just getting ready to put in a few, I decided to make my own blog entry about labels.



First of all, the above beret has somewhat of a story. Back in October of 2008 I had someone contact me about making a headcovering for a religious habit, of sorts. However, she needed a weaver to weave a length of fabric for not only a headcovering but a matching shawl. I contacted a group of weavers here in North Carolina (members of the Surface Design Association) to see if anyone was interested in the job. Long story short, we found someone to dye yarn then weave the fabric in the colors and weave my client needed.



I had some input as the the tightness of the weave I'd need, and the amount I'd need to make this modified beret, based on the initial picture sent by the client. Due to the fact that this handwoven fabric was particularly frayable I used a woven fusible interfacing to cut down on loose threads. It helped immensely in putting the pattern pieces together without losing shape and integrity of the fabric.




OK, so that's the story of the beret. Here is a picture of my preparations for sewing in the label. My labels are fairly simple. I have two, actually. One is white with silver metallic lettering and the other is black with gold metallic lettering. As they are long and skinny they fit nicely on the petersham ribbon inside my hats. In this case the label is sewn on the headband since there is no petersham. Both of my labels read aMuse: artisanal finery, the name of the shop.



Can you see the silver metallic thread? I've found spools of thread that are exactly the same as the lettering on the labels--gold and silver. I attach the labels with stab stitches on the ends. Well, actually the stab stitches are hidden in the scroll work that surrounds the lettering. So really you see no stitches at all!

Voila! The finished product!

And a wider shot showing the inside of the beret with its lining.

I usually don't made fabric hats. For some reason they just don't appeal to my millinery senses. Maybe it is because I was never very good at matching up notches, and seams, and getting things to look professional. But something told me to take on the project. It has been an interesting job because of the coordination between the client, the weaver, and myself. I hope she will wear it in good Faith.

Millinery Tip: Labels can be sewn in in any number of fashions. Do NOT glue in your labels!
In fact, milliners don't GLUE anything. GLUE is a four letter word in the millinery world.

Flowermaking for Millinery and Hat Girls

Last week I had the good fortune to be offered two lovely vintage hat mannequins for my shop, aMuse: artisanal finery. I have a few vintage mannequins, but none like the ones this woman brought in for me to see. Most of mine don't have features, just the shape of a woman's head is about as defined as they get. I call them my 'hat girls.'

These new (um, vintage) 'hat girls' are just begging for names! And that's where you come in. I'd love to hear what names their unique faces suggest to you. Is it an old-fashion name like Rose, or Pearl, or Clarise? Or a more modern name like Susan, or Jessica, or Stephanie? What about exotic--Lolita?

I'll post their new names here in 30 days, on July 21! You can either leave suggestions for their names in the 'Comments' here on the blog (comments are at the end of each blog entry) or email them to me at jan@hatshatshats.com.

'Hat Girl #1' is above. She is rather alien-looking but with a sweet smile you can't really see in the picture. Her coloring---silver. Yep, silver, with a long swan neck. She'll be wearing some of the more artful hats.

'Hat Girl #2,' as seen above, is from the 1950's. She has beautiful full make-up and 'real' false eyelashes. (Did I just say 'real' false??) She has some 'Hollywood' about her too. She'll be wearing glamorous hats.

WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES??

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OK, on to the next bit in this blog entry.

I have a bride I'm working with who wanted a silk flower in multiple shades of silk to go with her taffeta dress from Nicole Miller. A beautiful dress that has a very, very matte metallic thread running through it. Sometimes the thread shows up as silver, sometimes, gold, and sometimes coppery or even platinum. It is amazing fabric to say the least!

The flower will be coupled with a face veil of vintage silk veiling; the very fine spider webby type that is hard to come by.

Below is the flower, and I've shown some pictures of the process to get the stamens that same silver/gold/copper/platinum color.

The flower is a combo of about 5 different colors, textures of silk fabric.

I used glass glitter to change the color of the stamens. These are 'mica,' '24 carat,' and 'sterling.' Glass glitter is very different than kindergarten glitter. It is finer, less shiny, and very dramatic.

Above you will see that I've used a tiny paintbrush to cover the tips of the pearl stamens with a quick drying glue, then rolled the ends of the stamens into the mixture of glass glitter. I mixed all three of the colors to get what I thought would be best with the fabric colors in the flower as well as her dress.

Here's a picture of the stamens drying after they have been covered in glass glitter, and the various flower petals, all before being assembled.

Now scroll back up to see the finished flower again.

Millinery tip: use fast drying glue to keep your flowers from falling apart as you assemble.

Atlanta Millinery Class--Blocking Straw Hoods and Capelines

This past weekend I drove down to Atlanta, Georgia, to teach a millinery class at the Spruill Art Center. I've been teaching there for the past few years and try to switch it up as to what I teach, choosing from the over 12 skill sets I teach. This sessions was entitled Sensational Summer Straws: Blocking Hoods and Capelines. We had a full (make that VERY full) class of 12!

The following pictures should show what can be learned in a short weekend of intense but fun study. All pictures are of the attendees and the hats they made from parisisal hoods and capelines using some basic crown and brim blocks. I believe in teaching almost everything you can possibly do with a capeline and hoods to made a straw hat. That leaves lots of possibility for creativity, and I think you'll agree with me that there was an over abundance of creativity in this class!

Here's half the class out in the parking lot spraying millinery sizing on their blocked (crowns only at this point) capelines. They had a choice of 4 basic crown shapes to choose from.

Meredith blocking her lilac brim. She switched crowns with another attendee for a two-toned hat. Very nice contrast of colors.

Vonda and Patrycja re-stitching their crowns to brims. There are lots of reasons you might want to cut crown away from brim. But at some point you have to re-attach them using a specialty millinery stitch.

The class had finished free-form shaping their parisisal hoods and had taken them outside to dry before heading for lunch. I was on my way to meet them when I turned the corner and saw this fabulous still life of beautifully shaped hats! I rushed back into the classroom to grab my camera because I HAD to document this splash of color. Wow! Wait 'til you see the close-ups below.

Meredith and Carole working on their hoods.

Vonda models Vicki's slate grey, tailored and beautifully simple shape.

LaJudith shows off her swirling pink creation. Very, very nice.

Andre with his smartly embellished free-form hat. A trio of multi-colored roses and a curled peacock sward made for a nice combination.

Vonda was everyone's model of choice. She's one of those ladies who looks good in every style hat she puts on. And she made some great hats of her own too.

Diane and her raspberry free-formed hat, topped with a fabulous loosely formed rose of a variety of plum colors. Diane makes smashing hats and has been a student for several years. She's been selling her hats and has done quite well for herself. Good for you, Diane!

A close-up of LaJudith's pink free-form hat. I just love the soft sweep of this hat. So simple and so stylish.

Patrycja is a Kentucky Derby attendee and wanted to make hats that will be different from the traditional ones we mostly see. I don't know if this hat will make it to next year's Run for the Roses, but I think it would be a stand-out!

Here's another view of her hat. Don't you just love it? She's added a couple of large pearls into the crevices. Only a couple of hats were actually complete enough to be embellished, but as I told the class, the embellishment can take quite a long time to do in terms of deciding what you will embellish with, how much or little, where will it be placed, etc.

Meredith wearing her sister Carole's hat that is styled like a wide-open flower. Would love to see this one once these artistic sisters get done with it!

Carole and another of her hats. Nice twists!

Rose said she was skeptical of the free-form part of the class as she identifies more with traditional big brimmed straws. But she was pleasantly surprised by what she created and was very happy with the outcome. I agree!

Take a natural colored hood, shape it by hand, add some hot pink veiling and some bleached and dyed peacock feathers, and look what you get! Love the shape of this hat, Candice.

Carole and Diane with their blocked capelines. Carole's hasn't been embellished in the picture; Diane choose a braided chain hatband and a smart polka dot bias brim edge. Love 'em, ladies!

I have to say this was one of those magical classes where everyone melded as one big happy family for the weekend. Folks were helping each other with ideas, trading materials, and having a great time. I left Atlanta inspired, exhausted, and ready to do it again soon! Happy hatmaking, Atlanta class!

Millinery classes for the remainder of 2009 can be found on my webpage www.hatshatshats.com/classes.htm .

Genesis of My Millinery Blog

OK, so I guess I'm finally getting on the band wagon and starting a blog. I've been meaning to do this for awhile, but several things have happened lately that have made me realize it is a 'must do.' So I'm doing!

Since this is my first post I'll tell you a little about who I am, what I do, and maybe a millinery tidbit to entice you back for another visit!

I've been a milliner since 1995. Or rather, I studied millinery in Australia in 1995 and have been at it ever since. Guess I wasn't a 'real' milliner at that point, but it was something I really, really loved doing. I started teaching after about 3 years of making hats, taking vintage hats apart and putting them back together, and learning who I was as a milliner.

I now have a shop, aMuse: artisanal finery, in Wilmington, North Carolina, where I make custom hats for clients. I also have a range of hats in the shop, but most of the hats I sell are custom--to fit, to match an outfit, to embellish as you want. aMuse also carries a HUGE array of vintage costume jewelry--from the 1880's thru the 1980's. Ya gotta see the beauties I have!! I also carry some wearable art like handmade felt scarves/bags/neck wraps, and a few fiber and bead artists from this area. aMuse is definitely an accessories shop with a heavy concentration on all things HAT!!

I started teaching because I kept getting emails for folks looking for places they could learn. And I thought, well, I don't know everything about making hats, but what I do know I know well. I started by teaching Straw and Felt Blocking. I was overwhelmed by the numbers of people who signed up for that first class...and knew I was on to something.

I've been teaching millinery workshops now for all those years and have expanded not only where I teach but what I teach. I now teach classes in wire construction, making your own hatblock, sewn straw braid, blocked and free-style sinamay, covering buckram shapes, making your own buckram shapes, something I call big buckram brims (church lady hats), surface designed fabrics with millinery, working with Wonderflex and Fosshape, French Flowermaking, featherwork, flat felt skirting (yardage) and a new one I'm currently working on called Unexpected Millinery--making hats out of materials not traditional to hatmaking.

And I now teach all over the United States and from time to time out of the country. I was asked to teach at the International Millinery Forum in Australia and returned from that amazing one week forum in January. I'll be posting some pictures soon of some of the incredible hats that came out of those workshops.

Check my website, www.hatshatshats.com/classes.htm , for an updated list of where I'll be teaching this year. Sometimes classes get added at the last minute so always check.

So now you know a little about me. I hope to post to this blog 2-3 times a week. Hope to see you here again soon!

TIP: You need to know your headsize when making a hat, or what I call a 'fitting' hat. No need to know if for a 'sitting' hat. Place a tape measure halfway between your eyebrow and your hairline, about 1/2" over your ears, across the biggest part of the back of your head, and keep your finger inside the tape to keep it from being too tight on your head. Your headsize will probably be somewhere between 21"-23", but could be larger or smaller. Average is 22--22.5" which is what the store brands usually are. If you have trouble with store bought hats being too large or too small for your head, that's why! Learn to make hats for your headsize!