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!