A camel colored wool base trimmed in vintage brown velvet ribbon, with a spray of pheasant, ostrich, coque and guinea feathers. It can attach with either a comb or an elastic band. 

I'm so happy with how it turned out - can't wait to make more!

For those of you looking for your own millinery supplies, eBay is a great place to start looking.  There are a few specialty millinery supply shops online that you can try as well:

www.judithm.com
www.hatsupply.com

I've used them both and have had great results. 

Over in the UK there is a wonderful block manufacturer, Guy Morse

www.hatblocks.co.uk

I have yet to order a block from them since the shipping costs to the US would add quite a bit to the price, but I have heard nothing but great things about them.  I drool over their webpage regularly. :) 

And finally, there is a man in the US who has started making hatters tools again - hooray!  Most of the time, hatters and milliners have to haunt antique shops hoping to find an old vintage piece that's in good enough shape to use.  But now, we can go to Mark DeCou and get our tools brand new!

www.decoustudio.etsy.com

Now you have no excuse not to try a little hatmaking of your own! 

"Her Majesty’s Representative wishes to point out that only formal day dress with a hat or substantial fascinator will be acceptable. Off the shoulder, halter neck, spaghetti straps and dresses with a strap of less than one inch and miniskirts are considered unsuitable. Midriffs must be covered and trouser suits must be full length and of matching material and colour. Gentlemen are required to wear either black or grey morning dress, including a waistcoat, with a top hat. A gentleman may remove his top hat within a restaurant, a private box, a private club or that facility’s terrace, balcony or garden. Hats may also be removed within any enclosed external seating area within the Royal Enclosure Garden."

A bit of Ascot trivia:  that beautiful scene in My Fair Lady, with all the gorgeous black and white hats and dresses?  Costume designer Cecil Beaton based the look of that scene off of an actual event - the 1910 "Black Ascot", when everyone attending wore black to mourn the recent passing of King Edward VII.  Beaton won an Academy Award. 

ConDFW is this weekend!  It promises to be a great show with guests of honor  Jack McDevitt, Elizabeth Moon, and Vincent Villafranca!  There are tons of great panels to go to - writing seminars, author readings, and my favorite - costuming panels.

The Dealers Room opens at 4pm on Friday, and we'll be there with your favorite hats, plus a few new styles and some great custom creations.  See you at the con!

'"This hardcover book showcases the entire Philippi headwear collection
and more in over 1,000 fascinating and exclusive photographs.
The Philippi headwear collection is currently the world’s largest
collection of clerical, ecclesiastical and religious head coverings—
and is unique in both its scope and size. Whether they are ceremonial
or worn as a part of everyday life, you’ll fi nd examples of
headwear from every religious persuasion around the globe. In addition,
the collection includes photos of 116 religious objects, making
it a truly fascinating study of diverse cultures and traditions."

It's available at www.powells.com

Actually, I got married. 

It's amazing - even the most low-key, well organized wedding will completely take over your life.  I always heard this from others, and now I can say it from experience!  On the plus side of things, I also learned a lot about making wedding veils.  See?  I'm always looking for the millinery side of things, just for you guys. 

But now it's back to the grind, and I've got shows coming up, and renaissance commisions already rolling in....so back to the sewing machine for me. 

Hope everyone had a great St. Catherine's Day (you do remember what that is, don't you?), and may the winter holiday of your choice be warm and filled with happiness. 

I'm trying to mentally reconcile the differences in technique between mens hat blocking and womens millinery work. Very different, even when working in the same medium (felt).  Here's my finished project:

The red satin mini topper is about 90% finished, and it turned out so nicely I wanted to let you all have a peek.

It will eventually have a small gold lace veil attached as well.  I'm quite happy with how it turned out; so happy I'm already planning the next one (black chinese brocade). These little things are addictive, I tell ya!

 "Distinct from hat-making, with its large-scale production of standard hat types, millinery focuses on the creation and decoration of elegant, experimental and often whimsical hats. Jones permits us to examine the world of millinery from the inside out, following the life-cycle of a hat from its point of inception in the milliner’s mind to its final incarnation atop the wearer’s head."

The full size versions of these shots, plus others, have been added to the gallery pages.  Go have a look.  Then go to the faire! We'll be waiting for you.

The Babbage Patch Kids were there running steampunk panels in a nearby room.  I've heard rumor of these people, and had been hoping to meet them at some point during the con.  Imagine my surprise when some of the panel presenters turned out to be old friends of mine!  There was much fun kerfuffling, and a splendid time was had by all. 

Here's a quick picture of the table at ConDFW, with me in my shirt of stripey happiness. 

Come check us out at All-Con.  We have neeewww stuuuuuffff....!

The photo quality is poor, and dear Maria's hair is in desperate need of brushing - but isn't the hat great?! I'm quite happy with how this one turned out.  I was so excited I grabbed the Blackberry and took a picture immediately (I'm surprised I took the time to scoot the workroom tools out of the way).

Anyway, this lovely topper will be with me at All-Con, as  will a few other one-of-a-kind pieces.  See you there!

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/01/27/jeeves-and-wooster-l.html

They're lamps, inspired by the Jeeves and Wooster series by P. G. Wodehouse's .  They've been altered to withstand the heat of electricity and lightbulbs, so kids - don't try this at home!

Ok, so she was originally the patron saint of unmarried women  (and students, philosophers, potters and lacemakers), but in France in the 19th century, so many young unmarried women earned their living as milliners that St Catherine became the patron saint of the profession. 

In the middle ages, unmarried women would pray to St Catherine for husbands.  Centuries later, it was still customary for unmarried women to pray for husbands, and to honor women who've reached 25 years of age but haven't married -- called "Catherinettes" in France.

Pilgrimage is made to St. Catherine's statue, and she is asked to intercede in finding husbands for the unmarried lest they "don St. Catherine's bonnet" and become spinsters. The Catherinettes are supposed to wear a hat all day long (usually yellow for faith, and green for wisdom), and they are usually feted with a meal among friends. Because of this hat-wearing custom, French milliners have big parades to show off their wares on this day.

-taken liberally from www.fisheaters.com, who know more about saints than I ever will!

New things are coming out of the workshop all the time, so keep checking the gallery and blog for updates.  And if you have something special in mind, just let us know.  Custom creations are our specialty (but you already knew that, didn't you?).

My sewing machines, fabric stash and trims are in an extra bedroom in the house, but my big cutting table and other tools are out in the garage. Admittedly, I live in Texas, but it still gets cold out in that garage in the winter (and as for my friends in NY, Missouri, Montana and Wisconsin....shaddap!).  Last night it was in the 40s out there, so I bundled up in order to work.  My wookie thought I looked cute and came out to "talk to me" and snapped a picture of me, the stinker.  I'm wearing my to-my-knees cable knit sweater, fingerless gloves and a hat to stay warm.  He called me Pip the rest of the night.  It's nice to have a literate wookie... ;-)

Besides just being a goofy picture, you can see part of my work area.  Behind me are the wooden hat blocks used for shaping felt hats, some straight edges and  an architect's curve, and the weird stringy colorful things hanging right behind my head are trimmings of felt brims I've cut off.  They're useful for color reference, and for padding the inside of a hat if a person's head shape isn't a perfect oval (no one's really is, so they come in handy).

In the picture I'm drawing out a shape onto some buckram.  Next I'll cut it out, wire it, mull it (cover it in a fuzzy, flannel-like material), then cover it in a pretty fabric.  The shape I'm working on there is a wide brimmed Victorian hat that will eventually be a lovely vision of purple and champagne satin.  I'll be sure to post a photo of it when it's finished. 

You'll have to excuse the background - I don't have a good place to take photographs.  So enjoy the hats, and my dining room!

The only downside was that I somehow broke out in hives.  I had one or two little dots on my hands earlier in the week (from what I have no idea), but at faire site they just exploded into a riot of red, itchy welts all over my hands, arms and chest.  Owie!  I hid in the shade of my tent as much as I could (only venturing out to make one quick trip around the festival, just to see what was going on), but even playing vampire didn't help.  They just kept growing and growing.

But now I'm back home, safe in the comfort of a giant bottle of Caladryl lotion. I wish I could have seen more of the faire; those of you who were out there, fill me in on what I missed! 

Ok, not really.  But isn't it a great shot?  And now you know why ostrich plumes are so expensive.  Who'd want to tangle with a bird that size?!