Styles & Shapes – Hattin' Around & Leanne Fredrick Millinery

The Hat Fairy & Live Virtual Workshops

Late at night when everyone else has gone to bed, I get into the hat zone. I work until the wee hours and occasionally into the next morning. Recently this has been while having a great time learning from and teaching Live Virtual Millinery Workshop .

When I get to a stage where I am tempted to start taking things apart and redoing the whole thing, that signals bed time. I set down the scissors and back away. Ideally, I do a quick tidy of the work space and put the hat on a poupée, which doesn’t alway happen but is always appreciated by my future self when it does happen.

Then it is off to bed for a few hours of rest before the next day begins in earnest.

In the morning when I get up I say, “I wonder what the hat fairy brought last night.” Making my way to my home studio, I look at my piece with fresh (overstatement) eyes. There are three possible reactions.

Reaction one, is joy and delight, it is beautiful and well worth the loss of sleep, maybe even a little pride in the thought “I made that.” Which is followed by me wearing the hat around the house while still in my nightgown. I feel fired up and want to make another hat.

Reaction two, the big let down of disappointment followed by why did I invest so much time into that awful looking thing. I should just throw it away. Followed by, I can’t throw it away that is wasteful and it may be a useful sample of a technique or I might be able to fix it. The reality is there are so many unfinished hats and so many more yet to be created.

Reaction three, which is by far the most common one, which is in between the other two. Pleasure with a tinge of disappointment. I like it in general but something isn’t right.

The current problem by far is the multitude of unfinished hats.

The red Swirl Sinamay and red Floating Quills just need the labels, the green Macintosh Rose need a lining and the label, the grey Kakadu Lily needs something in the centre, and the label, the white Veiling Brim with Crinoline Roses needs the trimming sewn down, the base attached and the label. The giant blue Silk Abaca Bow needs a whole hat to put it on, as do the Silk Abaca Lilies.

These are only a few of the hats that I have made in the B Unique Millinery Virtual Live Workshops which started shortly after the Covid-19 Lockdown. The workshops have been a safe haven of creativity and camaraderie.

Please keep in mind that these pieces do not reflect the skill of the tutor, only my interpretation during a 4 hour workshop.

Workshops
Red Swirl Sinamay and Red Floating Quills with Rebecca Share
Grey Kakadu Lily with Sandy Aslett
Blue Silk Abaca Lilies with Tracey Wells
Blue & White Bows with Neil Grigg
Electric Violet Free Felt with Katherine Elizabeth
Veiling and Veiling brim with Jenny Roberts and
Crinoline with Alison Clark

Green Macintosh Rose by Me, Leanne Fredrick
Next workshop on 31 May/1 June 2020

Rolled Edges and Rouleaux by Me, Leanne Fredrick
next workshop 9/10 June 2020

There are more Virtual Live Workshops on the B Unique schedule.

And Live Virtual Workshops with Me, Leanne Fredrick coming soon to Hattin’ Around.

p.s. Live Virtual workshops are working out really well. Although nothing beats human connection, there are some elements that make the Live Virtual workshops even better than in person.

Travel is cheaper
Workspace is tailored to personal preference
A close up camera is great for small details
Mute and unmute for noise control
Step away without disturbing the rest of the class
and you still get to know others in the workshop

Fisherman’s Hat

Making a Fisherman’s Hat has been on my list. I am delighted with my results in denim, a soft red leather, and I even tried it in cork.

I usually make my own hat patterns, but this time I used the Vogue V9044. I did take some liberties with the pattern.

Simple Fisherman in grey denim and pretty much to pattern.

Fisherman in red leather with interfacing only in the band but generally to pattern. I might end up keeping this one. Love it.

Fisherman in cork going seriously off piste. I have a vision of this in a high fashion photoshoot.

Custom cord, covered buttons, and likely some tassels will trim these beauties. If you are interested in how to make these things, I will be teaching various Passementerie techniques at a workshop during London Hat Week in April 2019.

A slight diversion, my husband said the leather hat looked like a motorcycle hat. Search “bikers hat” for lots of variations. He mentioned Marlon Brando’s hat in particular. the View B crown of the Vogue pattern is closer in shape. Perhaps a mash up of the view B crown & view E band. I find commercial patterns more of a suggestion or starting point. If you give it a try, I’d love to see what you come up with. Happy Fishing.

Coolie, Conical or Non-la?

Is Coolie a derogative term? According to Wikipedia and the Urban dictionary, it is. Why then, is it still used so freely to describe the common conical shaped hat most commonly associated with Asian slaves or Asian manual laborers? I blame Hollywood. The actual hat is a Vietnamese hat called a Non-la.

I go through hat phases, and I am currently looking at the conical hat. The dilemma arises with the fact that what I am calling a conical hat, is more commonly known as a Coolie. So, do I use a term that is considered derogative by some (Coolie), or do I use a term that is less known & understood (Conical), there by causing confusion (I am not referring to a Hennin which is also a conical hat) and reducing the effectiveness of my communication? Finally, do I use Non-la which is the accurate term but is rarely understood?

Language is a living entity. Words are invented, their meanings evolve as was evident in my post about the word Vulgar. Words come into fashion and then out. To have a large vocabulary is an asset allowing you to choose a word that communicates more precisely. In this case a hat shape, commonly referred to as a Coolie clearly brings an image of the Non-la to mind, is offensive to some people? Conical is too vague, a cone does not really capture the essence of the hat shape.

This may seem unconnected, but it is related. I was recently reading some older books. I love the little hard bound short story books. I love the texture of the cover, I enjoy the turning of paper pages, and the smell of an old book. I also enjoy hearing how they communicate with each other, especially between the generations and in courtship. Recently I was reading The Twins, a children’s book by L.E. Tiddeman. There isn’t a publish date, but L.E. Tiddeman died in 1937 and wrote between 1880-1931. In just one short paragraph on page 32, she used the terms, gay, cripple, and nigger. Although I found this shocking, there was no malice, it was purely descriptive.

The terms cripple and nigger are no longer appropriate for common communication. New terms are used that are more sensitive and/or accurate. We have obviously made progress is this area. So, what do I call my Non-la hat? I would prefer to avoid the term Coolie, however I am not sure that very many people know the name Non-la. What would you call it? Would you stay with the commonly recognized term, like Coolie? A vague but inoffensive term like conical? Or, the actual name that is least known – the Non-la?

I recently made a new hat, which I am calling my ‘Non-la inspired conical hat’. Soon I will be adding a new post about making this hat.

I had a brilliant charity shop find of this conical asian hat, but I don’t think it is actually a Non-la. So what do I call it? Here is a link to my A Good Hat Day blog.

Cloche – HA 1

My first attempt at a podcast and its about my first felt hat shape which is a cloche.

The Cloche was my first felt hat. I learned so much from this one little hat. It has been altered at least three times. My husband had to scouch down and look up under the hat to see me. I had to reduce the crown height as it was so tall than it could come down around my eyes. I also reduced the brim length especially at the back. It is perfect now, a bit worse for wear as I’ve knocked it around a bit but still comfortable and looks great with my burgundy boots and black wool coat.