One of Several Fair Projects Submitted, No. 6--The Fedora

Finally, I get to  my last 2011 Los Angeles County Fair millinery submissions.  Before I start, I want to remind you that I'm conducting a "Make Your Own Art" millinery supplies contest and giveaway.  The deadline to enter is August 4.  So if you are considering entering the contest, you only have one more day to do so!

Fur Felt, Trimmed in Soft Leather:  Would you be surprised if I told you that my favorite hat is the fedora?  I thought you would be.  Many Southern women of color talk about their mothers wearing hats when they were growing up, but that wasn't the case deep in the rural area I grew up in.   Although women put on their Sunday best, it was always about the hair.  My grandmother and I would take the Greyhound Bus some 38 miles to the city each month where we would have our hair done  for the first Sunday.  We attended church every Sunday and Wednesday--Sundays for Sunday school and Wednesdays for prayer meetings--but it was the first Sunday that was special.  This was the Sunday that our pastor would preach at our church.  Back in those days, in some rural areas, preachers usually serviced several churches a month.  Although this was an era when men's and women's hats were popular, the wearing of women's hats in my area was almost nonexistent.  My interest in women's hats would develop many years later.

My love for the fedora came from my grandfather.  He had his everyday fedoras, and he had his Sunday fedoras.  He dressed in a suit and tie on Sundays, and if it was cold, he would ware a long trench coat over his suit.  His Stacy Adams (shoes) were polished, and they always looked new.  The heels of the shoes were lowered, yes lowered,  so that their toes tilted slightly upwards.  Yes, my grandfather was a spiffy dresser!.  He would take me to the Juneteenth (June 19) baseball (softball?) games each year.  I wore my frilly cute dress and he wore his fedora, suit and tie, and Stacy Adams.  Now that I think about it, it was summertime. You will have no trouble figuring out my age.

Well, I could go on and on about the good old days when Sears and Roebuck would send our baby chickens through the U.S. mail.  I could talk about phone party lines and when good customer service existed.  If you're a young person, you wouldn't have a clue as to what I'm talking about.  So I'll stop now.

Oh, about the fedora, I was extremely disappointed with it.  I couldn't find the blade to my brim cutter; I didn't have time to add all of the details I had planned, such as a lining, etc.  Next year I'll do better.  Oops!  I said that last year.

Thanks; we made it through this!

One of Several Fair Projects Submitted, No. 5--Headdress

Again, before I get to another one of my Los Angeles County Fair millinery 2011 submissions, just a reminder that I'm conducting a "Make Your Own Art" millinery supplies contest giveaway.  The deadline to enter is August 4, 2011.


Well, I've almost completed my parade of county fair submissions; I have one left after this one.  I was debating whether I should show my worst hat in this post, but I decided to save  it for last.  By that time, all of us will have reached our tolerance for these submissions.   


This entry fell under the "Class 5, Headdresses/"Super-sized" Hats" category.  It was made of sinamay and trimmed with a feather and horsehair.  After over 24 hours without sleep and having only three hats completed for the milliner contest, I was desperate to complete at least one more hat.  Category 2, "Purchased/Embellished Hats," was definitely out.  Not only did I not like trimming these, I was lousy at it.  So, I was sitting dazed, unable to concentrated, trying to figure out what I was going to do next.  As I set looking around my room, I saw felt and straws blocked on hat blocks, I saw my purchased hat to trim; even tackling one of these would take too long.  I needed sleep, the faster the better.  


Over on the wall in a tall box stood rolled buckram and sinamay, yes sinamay!  I had enough energy to cut a wide bias strip from this flexible and forgiving material.  I didn't know what I would do after I cut the strip, but I would do something!  I folded the fabric twice, may even three times, and started pulling on its edges like a crazed woman, no idea of the finished product in site.  The headdress had to be 16 inches tall.  Yes, yes, I would use trim to accomplish this!  I looked up at my feathers all stuck in a large chunk of foam.  I ran over and pulled out the longest feather in the bunch.  How was I going to get this feather to stand up?   I thought, "just stick it between the folds of the sinamay,  DON'T THINK JUST DO!   Have you ever tried to think when you've been without sleep for over 24 hours?  O.K.,  trim is not my friend; I prefer little of it, at least on the hats I make, but I'm not making this hat for me.  


Well, back to supporting the feather, just keep pulling the sinamay, I thought, the feather will find a place on its own.  As I pulled and pulled on the bias edges of the fabric, more on the top, the fabric started to point to the ceiling.  I'm on to something here!   The feather is pointing to the ceiling!  Oh, I know, I'll wrap the fabric around the feather and tack it, yes, yes...I'll put in a half headband, attach the horsehair, and then I can go to sleep....  I'll skip the puff of steam; I need sleep!  


I actually liked the results of my mindless, crazed efforts.  I needed my daughter's opinion.  She likes every thing I make, but by this time I actually can tell the difference between "I like it mom" and "WOW."  She gave me the WOW, I mean really!  Now I could go to sleep, at least for two hours. 


 If you're interested in viewing my other entries, check out my jewelry piece, felted hat, envelope hat, and my hat pin cushion hat.

One of Several Fair Projects Submitted, No. 4--Pin Cushion Top Hat

Before I get to another one of my Los Angeles County Fair millinery submissions, just a reminder that I'm conducting a "Make Your Own Art" millinery supplies contest giveaway.  The deadline to enter is August 4, 2011.

Now on to my 2011 fair submission.  First, I absolutely love to play around with my image manipulation software.  It's so easy to make my millinery images into beautiful paintings. The software also comes in handy when I take a crappy picture.

This entry fell under the "Class 4, Covered Buckram Frames/Other Foundation Frames" category.  I made all of the hat pins for this hat, added one of my faux pearl necklaces, and a brooch. It is soooo cute, even if I have to say it myself.  There is nothing new here, but it's the hand work I like most.  The hat is covered with suede.  If you're interested in viewing my other entries, check out my jewelry piece, felted hat, and envelope hat.

One of Several Fair Projects Submitted, No. 3--Soft Hat/Fabric Hat

Now we're getting to the hats I entered into the Los Angeles County Fair millinery contest for 2011 (I finally realized that I couldn't distinguish one contest year from the other.) .  This hat was under Class 1: Soft Hats/Fabric Hats--a flat pattern hat.  These African fabrics, as far as fabric type, design, and texture; span the spectrum.  Raised in the South, years ago there was one thing you wouldn't do fashion wise, and that  was to wear clothing of dramatically contrasting fabric designs to school or anywhere, unless it was to work in the fields, etc!  That was a NoNo!  Some examples would be plaids and polka dots; prints, such as the one here, and stripes, etc., not unless you wanted to be laughed at.  But this was long before many of us were exposed to how beautiful these contrasting fabrics were, worn by exotically dressed cultures.  When I saw these fabrics, I knew I just had to make a single object from them.

I hand beaded the print fabric with seed beads, cowrie shells, and just about anything else I could find in my bead box that I felt complemented the fabrics.  This hat actually took me longer than the other three hats I submitted, but I was determined to submit a flat pattern hat this year.  I wanted to make something simple--no cap, no beret.  I wanted to make something that could be utilized for more than one purpose.  What about a hat that could double as a purse as the envelope hats of the 1940s, but taller and more flexible in style.  OK, that would work!  ...and it did.  I made the crown tall so that it could be formed into many shapes.  Who knows, I may even cover a pair of shoes with the remaining fabric and carry the hat as a clutch purse.  I have to admit, I was please with the results of my toil.

One of Several County Fair Projects Submitted, No. 2--Jewelry: Cold Connection Bracelet

I promised you that I would share my fair projects with you.  Well, here is the jewelry piece I submitted.  It is a cold connection (no soldering) bracelet made of copper, brass, metal beads, faux pearls, and Swarovski  crystals.                                                                                                 

One of Several Fair Projects Submitted: Hand Felted Hat

Hello All!  My family reunion was wonderful.  My classmate and friend delivered my hats and a piece of jewelry to the fair for judging.  I'm so happy that the hat delivery date has come and gone.  When I delivered my entries to my friend, I had had only two hours of sleep because I worked on the hats up until the last minute.  On the same day, I had to drive two hours to my family reunion because my daughter decided she didn't want to go.  BUT, since she loves her mother so much, she wouldn't let me drive.  SOOOO she drove me to the reunion for fear that I would get into a car accident because of my lack of sleep.  Thank you MY DARLING.

I thought I would share one of my fair entries.  I will not get into the details of its construction yet, but here are a few details.  This was not entered into the millinery contest but into another division of the fair as a hand felted project under "hats."  I needle felted a hood, wet felted it, and finally blocked it over a  1930s/40s cap hat block.  Sorry for the crappy picture, I only took one picture because I was in a hurry to tag my entry items and get them out the door.  I'll be sharing more items with you shortly.

Los Angeles County Fair "Design Your Dream Hat" Millinery Contest Announcement!

 It's that time of the year again!  Yes, every year I look forward to the Los Angeles County Fair millinery contest.  Every year for the past several years I have daydreamed about the types of hats I would make, only to start working on them a few days before deadline.  Then, after the fact, it comes to me that I could have submitted one of the hats I have displayed in my living room.  Well I was such a flop last year until I'll limit my daydreaming (mental sketching) this year.  So ladies and gentlemen, it's important to keep our millinery contests going, because to my knowledge, there aren't any contests of this type here in sunny Southern California.  Your support/submissions are extremely important.  Also, just because you live in another state or country, don't let this discourage you from entering your best hat.  Hats don't have to be delivered in person; the mail works just fine.

Correction!  Delivery date and delivery time on the flyer below is incorrect.  See image above for the correct date and time.
Now for the details, for general contest information, visit the Tapestry Web site.  Take note that entry and delivery deadlines vary across contests.  If you are only interested in the millinery contest, make sure that you carefully read the details in the Design Your Dream Hat flyer.  

Oh!  Don't forget to take my survey, see sidebar, to let me know the millinery tutorials you are interested in seeing on this site.

Los Angeles/Pomona County Fair Millinery Competition Images

First, congratulations to all of the Los Angeles/Pomona County Fair millinery competition winners.  The Best of Show Award went to Dave Temple of Fullerton.  I think that the red felt hat in the group image above was awarded the Craftsmanship Award.  I couldn't read the name on this image.  So, if anyone goes to the fair after reading this post, please leave the name in the Comments box below.

Front display.  Click on any image to view a larger image.
Green -  Color or Innovation
Blue - First Place
Red - Second Place
White - Third Place
Pink - Merit

I didn't do well this year; I'll blame it on the one and a half days I spent making my hats.  I threw this one together in less than 20 minutes.  I never thought it would win anything.  No headband; but it's small, and that's the trend these days.

This one didn't place (category, purchased embellished hat).

This one you've seen before; I received the Judge's Award for Merit for this one. The only thing new here is the detachable veil that I added chenille to.  The veil should have gown under the hat and the feather to the front side (the grosgrain ends in the back).

Finally, I also received the Judge's Award for Merit for this one.   I think these awards are like "thank you for entering but do better next time." 

 

This is my daughter's little hat; you would have to see it on the head to really appreciate it.  She burned the feathers herself and they swirl across the face.  She received the Judge's Award for Merit.





 Before typing this post I vowed to keep my opinions to myself, but I just had to mention two hats that did not even receive a Judge's Award for Merit but were absolutely wonderful (to me).  Sandra Square of San Bernardino, I thought your hat was one of the best made hats of all the entries.  The workmanship was impeccable.  I really have to stop looking at things like workmanship and focus more on trends.

Louise McGee of Inglewood, nice, very nice.  I'm a sucker for a beautiful well made transparent hat.  I think these entrants had hats in various categories also.






I'm sure there were others, but my family wanted to go play games.  I didn't have as much time as I wanted with the hats. Next year I think I'll go to the fair at least once alone.

The Balsa Wood Utility Hat Block: My Favorite Working Block

Recently I needed a hat for a special occasion, and I was just not going to pull out the steamer, a set of hat blocks (crown and brim), millinery wire, sizing, etc.  After all, I only had an hour or so to make this hat...and it was not like I was making it for anyone but myself. In other words, I was not going to be the perfect couture milliner today.

So what was a girl to do?  Well I reached up and pull down a balsa wood hat block in my head size.  It wasn't glamorous like the ones I set out for display--the blocks I call my sculptures, the blocks I would not dare to nail  into.  Hold your head up Ms. Balsa.  All of those other hat blocks may be eye candy, but if I needed to make 100s of hats and was given the choice to choose one out of  those other blocks, it would be you, girl!

Why? Look around when you enter a store.  How many 1920s - 1940s (my blocks of choice) hat shapes would you find there.  Usually the crowns are round and the brims are plain.  Given a utility block, I can style a fedora, a pixie, a 1920s cloche, all the cocktail/fascinator hats I would ever possibly need and in any shape--well almost.  Using the excess fabric (felt or straw)  draping from the crown, I could create a sailor brim, a deep cuff brim, a symmetrical brim, an asymmetrical brim, etc., and that's without a brim block.  I could add all types of shapes to the balsa block because it's soft and easy to pin into, thus creating hundreds of hat shapes.  Just think about it!  From couture to not so couture, this block is the one.

The block shown here is my latest balsa acquisition.  It is a size 28; huge!  I'll use it as a veiling block (block used for blocking veils).  I found this one on EBay for around $39 plus shipping.  These blocks retail upwards of nearly $200.  So, before you purchase one, do some research.

So, for all of you out there that are new to millinery, on a limited budget, and feel that you have to amass a million hat blocks to start a small businesses or to make your own hats--and I've talked to some of you--start with a simple balsa block and a head size collar ($10).  The average woman's head size is 22 1/2.  If you need a larger block, say a 23 to 24, just block felt (must have wool content) over the block to increase its size....

Technique for making the finished hat?  I selected the balsa block in the size I needed, including a headsise collar (see drawing below); in this case, a straw capeline (over-sized, brimmed straw); a fine spray water mister (bottle); a pressing cloth, a blocking cord (see video below on tying your own); and an iron and ironing board.  I covered my block with plastic so that it would not be damaged by steam and/or water, misted the inside of the straw, and placed the straw on the block.  After determining my desired crown depth, I tied the crown portion of the straw to that depth using a blocking cord.  After which  a damp pressing cloth was placed over the crown and only the crown pressed.  Set the straw aside to dry.  After drying, mark the center front of your crown, remove the straw from the block, place a headsize collar inside the crown and press around the collar to set the 90 degree crown/brim angle; press the brim.  Don't forget the pressing cloth; you don't want to scorch your straw.  This straw came heavily starched; so it was perfect for a floppy brim without a wire.  I ironed the brim edges back, put the hat back onto the block to finger-set the pleats.  Finally I sewed the trim on.  Yes, that's leather on a summer hat; it was my daughter's suggestion, and I liked it.  I made the leather rose when I was teaching myself how to do bead embroidery.  Sorry, but I'll have to put the headsize ribbon in latter.


Have you ever wondered how to make a blocking card?  Well, the slip knot is my favorite method.  I tie a knot on each end of the rope so that it does not slip back through the main knot.  I use polyester clothe line rope for  my blocking cords.  View the YouTube video below.  Enjoy

Notes:  

1. Check out the Free Online Books from my previous posts for additional help.
2. Don't forget the Los Angeles County Fair Millinery Contest; you must adhere to posted dates.  More detail is in one of my previous posts.
3. If you believe in prayer, please take a moment to send out a prayer for me on Monday, the 24th, as I will be involved with serious medical issues on that day.  If prayer is not your thing, please send out wonderful positive thoughts.  At this point, I don't know how long before I will be able to post again; hopefully within the next three weeks.

Thanks, Lee




How to Tie Your Own Blocking Card:  The Slip Knot Method

L. A. County Fair Millinery Competition

It's that time of the year again--time for all of you fabulous milliners to inter your best-made hats into the Los Angeles Fair's millinery competition!  Visit Tapestry for its general entry details.  Go to the bottom of the Tapestry page and click on Project Hatway Contest to download a file containing the flyer, entry forms, including any additional details for the millinery contest. If you have questions regarding the contest, please email Amy Pond-Cirelli or call her at (909) 865-4043.  It's extremely important that the deadline dates be adhered to.

Hello!

Couture millinery is my favorite hobby and I've been creating hats for about 25 years. I've taken millinery classes for most of those years because I believe that learning never ceases. For the past three years I've participated in the Los Angeles County Fair's millinery contests.  In 2007 I entered two hats, for which I received two First Awards and the Craftsmanship Award; in 2008 I won Best in Show, Most Innovative, and two First Awards.  I tried a little harder in 2009 entering four hats, and again winning the Craftsmanship Award, Best in Show, three First Awards, and a Second Award.

Finally after years of putting off creating a blog site I've convinced myself to "Just Do It."   I'm giving up years, days, and hours of trying to talk myself out of doing something I've very much wanted to do for what feels like an eternity.  I've always had a desire to sincerely promote couture millinery, and this will be my goal through this blog.

I need your help in order to keep this site fresh and fun.  You will help me by leaving lots of comments and even suggestions.  I need to know how you feel about what I have published, plus I need to know what your interests are. In turn I will try to be as responsive as possible.