Wire Cocktail Hat
Wire frame cocktail hat with strips of black and white sheer fabrics wrapped through the wire frame. Hat has a slight s-curve from the front view and is a complete circle from the side view. One-of-a-kind, handmade cocktail hat.
Posts in Category » Millinery
White Boater Hat
White boater-style hat made from sinamay (woven straw) with handmade feather flower. Hat was made by blocking the sinamay over a wooden form. A sweatband is sewn inside the crown of the hat. One-of-a-kind, handmade hat using traditional millinery techniques.
Hat Camp 2013
Hat Camp was a resounding success and the largest gathering of milliners and hatters that I have attended to date! It was really exciting to be surrounded by so many people that share the same passion. It was held at the end of September near Seattle on Vashon Island at Camp Burton, a quaint retreat center right along the water’s edge. I heard about last year’s Hat Camp in Los Angeles and was really keen to join this year to meet milliners from all over the U.S. and Canada.
Hat Camp began in 2005 as a way for a group of west coast milliners to meet up and share ideas. It has moved up and down the west coast over the years and has grown in size. Over 60 milliners and hatters from the U.S. and Canada participated this year and the networking opportunities were truly the highlight for me.
I arrived in Seattle on Thursday morning, September 26th, picked up my car rental, and headed straight to the ferry. I was pleased to meet my first fellow attendee onboard, Afia. She showed me some of her fun hats and supplies which started to build excitement for the weekend. But it was a very short ferry ride and soon we had already arrived at Vashon and were off to Camp Burton!
After lunch, Wayne Wichern welcomed us and kicked off the weekend with a group brainstorming session about different topics people were interested in addressing at Hat Camp. There was a rough agenda for the weekend, but there was plenty of time and opportunity to customize according to people’s interests. I really liked this aspect of Hat Camp. It made for a more inviting weekend. There weren’t “teachers” and “students,” rather we were all there to teach and learn from each other.
Hat Camp was largely discussion-based with a few demonstrations throughout the weekend. There was really only one session that was hands on — indigo dyeing, but more on that later. The entire first day was spent in discussion, from fashion trends to business models. It was a good way to ease into the weekend.
Friday was chock full of discussion, demonstrations, presentations, and a materials swap meet. We covered working with feathers, dyeing feathers with cake dyes or koolaid, repairing and altering blocks, attaching petersham with a special binder foot, hatting, and so much more!
One of my personal highlights was indigo dyeing. Jean Hicks set up an indigo dye pot and gave us an introductory lesson to this plant-based dye. I had never dyed with indigo before. I knew there would be dyeing at Hat Camp so I had brought some vintage Swiss and Italian straw hoods to dye. The hoods were baby pink, a color I don’t care for, so anything would be better! I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we would be working with indigo. Jean shared some sample pieces that she had dyed and gave us an overview of the process. It’s quite a finicky dye as the indigo needs to be reduced (a bit of chemistry going on here!) to dissolve into solution. For the indigo to remain reduced, you must not introduce any oxygen into the dye pot so that means stirring slowly, submerging your material slowly, etc. I saw how this type of dyeing could be a very meditative process. Once the material is removed from the dye pot, it starts to oxidize. Despite being a chemist, it really did feel like magic. Initially the material is a bright lime green and gradually it oxidizes to beautiful indigo blue. It was great fun seeing all the different materials that were dyed. They all take up the dye a little differently and the material’s starting color makes a difference too.
Saturday was largely more discussion with topics like working with leather or fur and distressing techniques. In the afternoon we had a tour of Bergamot Studio on Vashon. They design fabrics and print the designs on all kinds of fabrics using wide format printers. As a photographer with a very nice printer of my own, this opened my mind to all kinds of new ideas. Imagine taking my own photos, printing them on fabric, and using the fabric to create (hats or otherwise). Genius! And talk about bringing many of my passions together. Stay tuned as I delve deeper into these possibilities.
Unfortunately it was raining most of the time that I was at Hat Camp (surprise!), so I didn’t have any opportunities to take nice photos of the property or Puget Sound. But nature was abundant, including a family of deer that was hanging around all weekend.
As with everyone else, I tip my hat to Wayne Wichern for being the driving force behind this year’s Hat Camp and thanks also to Jean Hicks and Daria Wheatley, the rest of the Hat Camp Steering Committee. All of your hard work does not go unnoticed and I look forward to seeing everyone at the next Hat Camp!
Peacock Cocktail Hat
Cocktail hat with round black sinamay base, adorned with green crin, and peacock feather and spears. Hat is secured with an elastic band that goes under the hair. One-of-a-kind, handmade hat using traditional millinery techniques.
Chateau Dumas
This past July, I was fortunate to attend two weeks of millinery classes at Chateau Dumas in the south of France. The classes were recommended by my good friend Melissa who went to Chateau Dumas last summer and spoke so highly of the experience. I was keen to dedicate two full weeks (not just evenings and weekends) to advancing my millinery skills in such a beautiful location with fantastic people!
The Chateau is located in the French countryside, about one hour north of Toulouse. The lovely Lizzie is the proprietor of Chateau Dumas. She keeps everything running smoothly while still finding time to join us for meals and tea! Located at the top of a hill, the Chateau has panoramic views of the surrounding farmlands. The benches at the front of the Chateau are a great place to take in the warm, golden morning rays and prepare for the day ahead. While in the evening, the terrace is the best place to enjoy sunset, the view, great conversation, dinner, and wine.
The first week of classes were taught by Dillon Wallwork from London, UK, and focused on vintage Hollywood hats from the 1920s and 1930s. Dillon has decades of millinery experience and many great stories to share. He is a fantastic teacher who made every skill accessible and had the perfect solution for every problem. Dillon started the week with an overview of hats and fashion from this time period so we could think about what we wanted to create. We were also privileged to use vintage blocks from Isabelle Rey who is a sixth generation hat maker at Chapeau Willy in the nearby town of Caussade. More on Chapeau Willy below.
We spent the entire week engrossed in our projects. It was hard to pull us away! From a flapper-style bandeau to a classic east-west brim with deep crown, I was very happy with the hats I created at Chateau Dumas. Each had it’s own vintage flare. Here are a couple of shots of some of my finished products.
The second week of classes on millinery trimmings was taught by both Dillon and Bridget Bailey of Bailey Tomlin. Dillon led us through the construction of bows out of all kinds of materials, various types of flowers that can be made from cotton organdie or using heated flower making tools, and feather trimmings. Some samples follow below.
From there, Bridget took over to cover hand-dyed sinamay feathers and hand-dyed silk flowers. Bridget is also a world-class instructor and also from London, UK. I am so grateful for the opportunity to study with both her and Dillon. Bridget shared her exacting techniques for creating true works of art. She was such fun to learn from. Here are some samples of my end products.
At the start of each week, there is an outing to the town of Saint-Antonin Noble Val for their weekly market. Saint Antonin is a quaint town in the Aveyron Gorges. I visited Saint Antonin a few times while I was at Chateau Dumas. Here are some shots from town and the view of Saint Antonin from above.
Chateau Dumas is situated in the center of France’s hat industry. Thus it’s not surprising that the nearby town of Caussade hosts an annual hat festival every July. Caussade is also the location for a long running hat factory, Chapeau Willy. We got a tour of the hat factory which specializes in straw braid hats that are first sewn and then pressed into the final shape between heated metal plates. It was fascinating to watch how they create their hats. I have heard of this method but hadn’t seen it in person. It’s a different process for making hats than what I do, but with an equally rich history. The sheer volume of hat molds, blocks, and millinery materials at Chapeau Willy was both overwhelming and exciting. I bought plenty of goodies to bring home and play with. Here are some shots from the hat factory.
In between the two weeks of classes, I make a quick jaunt to Toulouse to meet up with my friend Michelle who was travelling around the world. I was so pleased that our schedules aligned so we could meet in France! We spent the weekend as one should when in France: exploring food and flea markets, walking the city, cooling down with refreshing drinks at cafes, and lingering over fantastic food with even better dinner conversations. It was great to refresh and see more of France!
Another highlight of this trip was an evening excursion to Charlotte and Tom’s. Who is Charlotte you ask? Charlotte is the amazing chef at Chateau Dumas. Charlotte and her team make truly heavenly food. Each meal uses fresh, regional ingredients and was a high point of the day! We were invited to have dinner one evening at Charlotte and Tom’s home near Saint Antonin. Their home is truly amazing. I felt like I was witnessing my dream home realized before my eyes with beautiful grounds teeming in history, color, and beauty. I think the photos speak for themselves.
All of the above is just a taste of my experiences at Chateau Dumas and in the surrounding area. There was also the cinema night under the stars, the amazing pool, the hat festival, and more! I could be here all day. But I’ll end here with a couple of shots of the fantastic people who made this trip truly memorable. Á votre santé!
