Millinery: Millinery School, Houston Tx

I'm just posting the wild passion flower shot that I took on my walk in the woods the other day because:

1. It is so pretty

and

2. Because I have a passion.

I am passionate about millinery.
In case you hadn't guessed by the title of this blog, I think millinery is absolutely fascinating.

Two days ago I blogged about the various advanced millinery schools that I daydream about.
Millinery school in the Cotswold's....oh, my.
Seriously, every cell in my body is in happy hum mode just thinking about that idea.

One of my favorite parts about hat making is designing new hats and sewing ribbon flowers.
A few of my friends have been nagging me to teach a millinery class. They asked me to show them how to make ribbon flowers, and how to make some of my easy-breezy creatively blocked hats.

In a weak moment, I agreed to teach a workshop on those two subjects in my home.
I even charged them, figuring that would shut them up. Not as much as a class in the Cotswolds though. Remember, this would be a class in no big deal Houston Texas.

It didn't shut them up.
They wanted to learn.
They came, they paid.

Five ladies,they who signed up for the class which was held today, on the Saturday of the three day Labor Day weekend.
Guess they really, really wanted to learn.

(The hat on the ironing board in the background is being shaped with clothespins. You can see the finished hat further down in this post.)

Two styles of hats were offered...a flat packing travel hat and a ruffled hat.
Two of the ladies promptly decided minutes after arriving to make a totally different hat than the one I intended, because they liked one of my other hats.

Like I said, easy-breezy hats are my specialty.
No problem-o.

(Sue blocked the pink hat on the ledge behind her.)

Sue loves feathers! Her first flower was immediately jazzed up with not only stamen, but a fluffy splash of feathers as well.

Marie blocked the third option, a hat created using a wooden salad bowl.
Then she ran out of the class half way through to catch a jet to Vegas.

Yeah, Vegas baby...she has something like six Red Hat events in three days.

The life of a Red Hat Queen Mother is always lively!
Places to go and things to do...

Sue had at this point learned two different kinds of leaves, and three types of flowers.
She stacked them all together to make this whimsical blossom.

How about this hat?
It's the one that was on the ironing board in the first picture.
The hat isn't trimmed yet; it likely will have a fuchsia cluster hanging on one side.
I hadn't expected anyone to show up to the class with a capeline to block instead of a hood.

No problem-o again.

I pulled out a basic crown block and let her pinch and pleat the crown and brim.
She may later choose to smooth out some of the design, or maybe even intensify it.
It's all good....

Lady of mystery.... wearing her new hat that she blocked this afternoon on a salad bowl.

Sue jumped right in with the traditional flat pack travel hat.
Half way into making it she decided she wanted the crown to be rounded rather than flat, and the fold on the top to be soft.

All good Sue. Great designing!
(The blue hat at the top of the side bar is the flat pack travel hat, one of the hats that everyone wanted to learn how to make.)

Sue: Hippo Lady, Grandmother of five weeks, and now a milliner too!

Didn't we have fun?

Yes we did!

(The post below this one is a photo tutorial of some of the leaves and flowers that were covered in the class. Feel free to give some of them a try. Maybe you will discover that you want to be a millinery too!)