The dates for the next millinery forum in 2011 have been announced so mark it in your diary now. From feedback given at the forum the organisers are committing to providing the following:

• Ensuring workshop material lists are appropriate and include essential items only; they will be looking into kits and methods of making this process easier for all delegates (particularly those who travel by plane!).
• Improving the skill level system to prevent delegates registering for workshops above or below their capabilities. They are looking at a check list system, whereby delegates have to complete the check list to determine what skill level you fall into.
• Introducing varying length workshops according to the skill level and technique. This means they will have a range of 1-2 day workshops for intermediates, a couple of 3 day workshops for beginners and a range of 1/2 – 1 day workshops for advanced delegates.

Updates on the International Millinery forum can be found on their blog at http://internationalmillineryforum.blogspot.com

The fabric used in these photos is silk, I used 1 metre of it however, it should be noted that this was slightly less than would have been desirable I would recommend 1.5m to ensure enough. Straw cloth (liase) would also be a good alternative.

The base fabric used in the class for the turban was semac this is available from Mimi Millinery in Australia, I am unsure of where is can be purchased anywhere else if you know please leave a comment on this post. Semac is sort of like 20/20 or buckram but without all the glue and stickiness. It was extremely easy to mold, we used a jiffy steamer and it only took a few seconds to mold onto the block.  An extremely versatile base fabric. Buckram or 20/20 could be used but it would take a lot longer.

When blocking the semac or alternative fabric ensure that the grain of the fabric matches up at the centre back.

The block used to shape the turban was a special made block for turbans. It was hollow inside and the shape of the finished hat. The block was about 1cm thick and rounded on the edges. This is important as the bottom edge of the turban is rounded not a straight edge… such that the semac was shaped around the bottom edge (I have tried to show this rounded bottom edge in the picture). This means that the block size needs to be taken from the inside not the outside of the block (although given my big head I shaped my semac and then brought out the back seam to fit my head size).  The block was also shaped at the bottom edge so it followed a natural hat line (covered the forhead at the front and down at the back) and the dropped down over the ears (I have attempted to capture this in one of the photos).

This photo shows the edge of the turban it is soft and rounded rather than the normal straight edge of a hat...

It is important when blocking the semac to ensure the curve on the bottom edge on the block is maintained as this adds softness to the edge and on the face line.

The semac was blocked in two pieces the band (around the head) (this was sewn at the back using feather stitch) and then the tip was added on the top.

Picture shows centre back seam with separate crown piece

Once the base has been blocked the base can be covered with a thin wadding to add a bit of softness to the finished product.

The turban was then wrapped using two pieces of fabric. The first one goes across the top and is pleated to look like the fabric is all one piece. This is then sewn on (under pleats and along the edge where the stitching will not show). The second piece is then draped around starting at the centre back and paying particular attention to the front of the turban.

The pleats at the top of the turban

The turban once finished can then be completed with embellishments at the front of the hat such at a flower or a decoration at the side near the ear for a 1920′s type of look. Or any other type of look you want.

A picture of the turban nearly finished just in need of a few more stitches and some embellishment.

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• Millinery Forum (makinghats.com.au)

Materials for making my fascinator

First I got my dress and looked at the colours of feathers, crinoline and sinamay I had in my stash and choose the colours that went with my dress. The picture shows the materials I found. I always choose more than I will need because then I can disgard some as I create or decide to go in a different direction if I choose to.

I  got a hair comb that I was using as the base for my fascinator and some netting fabric that I cut thin bias strips off. I then wrapped the end of the comb with the netting fabric. This allowed me to sew parts of the fascinator onto the comb. The netting is wrapped along the top edge going between each of the teeth so that the top edge is completely covered. I glued the end down.

I decided to go with a mainly black base with some feathers to add some

Veiling Fabric attached to fascinator base

colour. I started with some veiling material and arranged it to form a background. I then sewed it onto the comb.

I then shaped some crinoline and pinned it with a safety pin to hold its shape while I checked to see how it looked on the top of the veiling. I played around with the crinoline quite a lot and came up with with a variety of interesting shapes – it really is an amazing hat making fabric and can add that little bit of sophistication to a fascinator.

Cinoline shaped to fit on the fascinator

I then sewed the crinoline piece onto the hair comb.

I decided to use the cream feathers that I had in my pile these feathers were straight biots. I used the back of my scissors to add a bit of curl to them and then glued them in the spaces between the loops in the crinoline.

I distressed the ends of the crinoline  and to finish the fascinator off – I added a flower brooch.

Completed fascinator

Image via Wikipedia

I just thought I would put up a quick post to share with you my favorite website for Millinery information. This is a vintage sewing: http://vintagesewing.info

This site contains a number of different vintage millinery books. The books have been copied and indexed onto the site. These books are from the 1920′s, 30′s and 50′s, times when wearing hats was still popular and as such more was known about the art. These books are a great source of inspiration and provide great instructions on how some classic hat making techniques.