Hat Confessions

Often I have blogged about my love of hats. 

And for the last few years I have seriously pursued learning millinery skills so I could create hats that I would love.

Well, I've made MANY hats and I have yet to love ANY.

The following pictures are of the almost good, the bad, and the ugly of my hat making quest so far...

Recycled hat made from a sweater. B+

Hat I made while learning to knit. C-

Knit hat I totally made up. B+

First fascinator. A-

Second fascinator. C+

Buckram and linen hat that took approx 20 hours to make. C+

Buckram and fabric hat that doesn't fit. D+

Current cloth hat project. B+  ( so far )

First blocked hat. A-

Second blocked hat. B+

 So as much as I love sewing clothes the truth is that I have greatly distracted by hats!

What tops a Hat

Making hats is a very challenging undertaking and without a doubt the best part of the process has been the wonderful people I have been meeting in my millinery quest...

Jasmin Zorlu steaming a hat for blocking

 I was fortunate to take a very informative hat blocking class is San Francisco with Jasmin Zorlu. She really knows hat making and is now living teaching and pursuing her millinery dreams in NYC.

www.jasminzorlu.co.

My fellow hat blocking students

Joan Goodspeed modeling a student's fascinator 

My only other formal millinery education has been a 16 week millinery class at Saddleback College with Joan Goodspeed. She is an extremely entertaining teacher.

Seeds Studio in Jerome, Arizona

Learning about millinery skills is very interesting but, what is really inspiring is finding artisans who are actually practicing the millinery arts.

Sawdust Festival Laguna Beach, CA
www.edithlagunabeach.com

New York Milliner Guild Hat exhibit
www.millinersguild.org

But, of course the best part of ANY creative endeavor is the hilarious, fabulous meeting of fellow wacky wonderful people who totally understand a hat obsession :)

Hats off to Louise Green

My occupation and obsession conveniently intersected on April 26th. 

I arranged a field trip to three time Milliner of the Year, 

Louise Green

Louise Green's manufacturing and showroom are located in her 9,000 square feet building at 

1616 Cotner Ave, Los Angeles.

Imagine my delight when diminutive, dynamo Louise Green ( not an employee ) was our tour guide.

Surrounded by hundreds of fabulous hats in the showroom Louise told how chance led her into the millinery arts 30 years ago.

Louise Green hats have been in magazines, on movie stars, rock stars, television series, the Kentucky Derby, and at the Royal Wedding.

Her hats are amazing and sold at Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Ave and various high end boutiques.

Beyond the showroom was any hat lovers dream..
.hundreds of hat blocks ( many vintage )
thousands of hat blanks waiting to become fabulous

AND there was Louise Green in the middle of it all answering questions, telling stories, and sharing her amazing wealth of millinery knowledge with joy and openness. 

Flowers are a big part of the "romantic" look of her gorgeous hats. A delivery of hundreds of handmade flowers had just been opened. And I loved her board of dried flower buds, made me feel at home.

The entire ninety minutes spent in the wonderland of her millinery world was informative, uplifting and throughly enjoyable.

     To make a life of doing what you love is inspiring.

                                     
And here is my class before the mystical, magical millinery tour...

And here is my class after, succumbing to the marvelous millinery that surrounded us.

What a difference a hat makes !

A sincere thank you to Louise Green

Saddleback College Fashion Department presents Fashion a 'la Mode

On April 19th, 2013

Saddleback College Fashion Department

 hosted hundreds of Orange County high school students at it's third annual 

Fashion a 'la Mode

The object is to highlight what a great fashion program exists at Saddleback College. 

Also to make students aware fashion is a viable career option and that Saddleback College is an affordable path to their future in fashion.  

There were approximately 19 different hands-on workshops in various classrooms and each class had at least one fashion industry person to help open student's eyes to jobs in fashion.

The workshops ranged from fashion draping to textile dying to how to blog to inspiration boards to hair accessories, etc.

 Each high school student got to rotate through three different 45 minute workshops of their choice.

After much thought I decided to have my workshop students create leather earbud cases. 

I chose the cases because I thought it was something the students could actually use AND it required no sewing :)

Earbud case success stories!

I was so busy in my own workshop I didn't get out to take many photos but, the draping on half-size dress forms was right outside my class room and the students were doing awesome work.

 The final fourth workshop of the day was for contests. My industry person, college student aides and myself were in charge of the ' Denim Deconstruction '.

Approximately a dozen teams of students each received a very large pair of jeans and had 45 minutes, duct tape, safety pins, needle and thread to make something wonderful .

Students created vests, fringed bags, bustiers. men's ties, and scandalously short dresses to name a few denim creations.

Fashion a 'la Mode is a whirlwind of activity and harmony. 

Each year I am thrilled and encouraged by the joy and talent the teenagers bring to the event.

And even better is when I see a student again in my Saddleback College Fashion 100 class :)

...And then the Fashion a 'la Mode party moved outside where it was a beautiful day; 

with informative fashion industry speakers,

examples of high school student work and contest entries,

lots of student work done in the Fashion a 'la Mode workshops

a student fashion show ( these are models on the way to the staging area )

numerous Fashion a 'la Mode contest winners and great prizes,

food, food, food, and more food. Amazing how much teenagers can consume!

And finally the a 'la mode part of the day...

ice cream sundaes with a selection of toppings that boggled the senses.

Fashion a 'la Mode 2013 presented by Saddleback College Fashion Department was a sweet success !

Frilly & Fast Hair Fashion

This is an idea from a product I saw at the Free People store in South Coast Plaza.

I couldn't take a picture but, I certainly could easily replicate it :)

I had so much light-weight scarf fabric left from my earlier project that I could cut a nice 32" X 10" rectangle.

In my household junk box ( spare knobs, nails, hooks, etc ) I found this wire. I think it may be speaker wire. The wire is the right size,  bends SUPER easily, and is coated in plastic. Perfect.

I folded the fabric rectangle right sides together ( now it measured 5" X 32" ) and sewed a 1/4" seam down one long side creating a tube. Next I sewed a line of stitching parallel  to the fold and 1/4" away from the fold. This creates the casing for the wire to be inserted into.

I turned my fabric rectangle which is now a tube right side out and inserted the wire which was cut to a length of 31".  Next the open short  ( 5" ) ends of the tube were folded in and edgestitched down. This finished the ends nicely and prevents the wire from falling out.

And that's all folks!

Wrap the thing around your head and twist the wire ends together and it is really secure on your head.

The twisted end looks kinda like a bow but, trust me it's super easy to make and a feminine frilly touch to your spring wardrobe :)