Millinery!

Millinery is something i have enjoyed from the start. I love making hats!

My university module was millinery. The theme I chose for the range of hats were hats that appear in the Harry Potter films.

 This is a blue felt hat with a wired brim.
To get the shape in the top of the crown which was quite pointed, I could not use an ordinary block. 
I carved my own hat block from polystyrene first, then used this to block the hat into shape.







This hat was more complicated!

The lion headdress was started by creating the shape of the lions head. this was made from a material called buckram. The head structure was attached to a blocked hat on the inside, so it could be worn. A yellow felt covers the headdress. 
The face I stitched on by hand, creating straps to attach under the chin.
The mane was done by adding strips of fabric and yarns to the back.

This hat was based on the hat worn by the Harry Potter character Luna Lovegood.

The Sorting hat!

I picked up a new skill for this one, leather moulding!

The pattern was cut from the natural leather, hand punched with an awl and hand stitched. I moulded the leather, putting in the face and then dyed the whole hat using leather dye.

This has to be one of my favourite hats!