check your head

this is a little summer straw cloche that i am working on. the vintage straw has been repurposed from a crap 80's sort of bridal hat that i found at the thrift store. i just reblocked it with a little steam love and separated and reshaped the brim. i sized the crown with my handy dandy gelatin sizing and voila! i'm leaving the brim unwired to give it a softer shape. it is still kinda mid process and the velvet ribbon will actually go around the exterior of the crown(not just the front, i was feeling lazy for pics). i heart it so. but i may want to list it in my shop. my goal(dare i talk about goals???) errrrr my dream is to do more projects like this ie. repurposing sad and unloved vintage millinery and breathing new life into them. i have another smooshed up old beater that i am just starting to play with. is beater a word? did i make that up??? i think it actually means junky car, but whatevah. k, i'm off to pollinate my squash plants. oh don't mind the self-portrait, that was thrown in for good measure.

in honour of mister jones...

i thought that i would rustle up some pics in a salute to Stephen Jones. and then i was a little miffed(ha!) when i realized that my millinery photos are pretty limited. i made all of these several years ago. the first one was for "The Merry Widow" and it is a wire crown and buckram brim.the black bird is quite old and i think that i threw some vintage lace pieces on there somewhere too(there's a lot going on with this hat!!!). the other two are from "The Marriage of Figaro." i was hooked on Philip Treacy at the time. the black one is a black velvet covered wire frame with coque feathers, tulle, fabric flowers and wired rhinestones. the second number is a bridal piece. it is a wire "fontange" style frame with vintage velvet leaves and paper hydreanges(never use paper flowers for a long running opera...most unfortunate). you can't really see the veil, but is has an added scalloped edge with embroidered flowers and then i cut out more little flowers and stitched them throughout the tulle. note to self...take camera to work.take pictures with said camera...cuz these pics are ollllllllllld. thanks for indulging me! stephen jones, YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

oh to be in london and to be a mad~hatter...or, another hero

i make hats on a fairly regular basis, but this first little film made me a little misty...it sums up very quickly, the hours of labour that go into making one simple top hat. i soooooooo wish that i was in London to see this exhibit.