Judges Announced for the Hatstruck Elegant, Fun Couture Hats Competition!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, usually I make a hat before I post but laziness has taken over, and once again, I'm posting one of my old hats.  I think I made this hat maybe five or six years ago, more or less.  It's a leather purse top hat trimmed with a leather flower.  The removable top has a mirror inside for checking makeup.  That year I also won Best in Show for a black cloche.  I reblocked the cloche into another shape a couple of months ago, and it's still on the block.  For this hat I won Most Innovative, also.  Anyway let's get to the important stuff.

This is a little emotional for me because months ago when I was thinking about putting a competition together I had at least two people I wanted to be judges.  One I knew "had my back" as always, and the other, although I wanted her to be one of my judges, I felt as if I was imposing on her; she too has been so supportive over the past several years.  I didn't want to ask her and put her in a position of declining my judge request.   Even after I asked and she accepted I still felt the need to protect her, asking her if she really wanted to do this.   I would have more than understand if she had declined.  Plus I didn't know if she, a world famous milliner, would really want to be associated with being a judge for a contest given by an unknown lady that practices millinery as a hobby. 

Harper's Bazaar Arabia/Ruven Afanador

So in alphabetical order, my first judge (she) is Anya Caliendo.  By-the-way, the link is to her blog, the best millinery blog on the Web.  If you are into couture millinery and fashion, chances are that you know Anya's work.  If you've been on another planet and you haven't seen her work, view a partial collection I've pulled up in a Pinterest search!  Anya's hats have graced the covers of many magazines, one of the latest being Harper's Bazaar July 2014 issue where Rihanna is shown on  its cover wearing one of her hats.  Anya interned under the great milliner Stephen Jones.

Twice Anya has brought tears to my eyes: when  she accepted my judge request, and when  she sent me an invitation to Fashion Week in New York.  I'm so sorry I couldn't  make it.  I think I'm so touched because, not only is she a wonderful person, but she is a confident, caring, and sharing person.  This is hard to find amongst many milliners, sorry to say.

My next judge is Mrs. Essie Edward.  Those of you that follow my blog know Mrs. Edwards as one of my millinery instructors.  Mrs. Edwards has well over 60 years of millinery experience.  She worked for the school district her in Southern California for over 40 years.  She is an excellent seamstress and milliner and just an all-around beautiful person.


As far as being a good judge, well let's just say that she is more flexible than I am and much more fashionable also.  She taught me how to be more flexible in my dealings with millinery, while maintaining the highest of quality in my work.

My final judge is Shurie Southcott.  When I sent out a hint Shurie immediately volunteered, and I thought wow!  My response came because Shurie is into couture steam punk millinery.  I had seen some extremely beautiful steam punk hats made in another contest by other milliners that were above exceptional--the hats were extremely well made, the trim was exquisite, and the designs were awesome--not too far out, right in my "sweets spot."  None of those hats even placed.  So Shurie will complement this team.  I really wanted a team made up of milliners that would represent as many tastes as possible. 

Shurie teaches millinery and she also works at Clockworks Couture here in Southern California.  Actually, it was a book I ran across in the bookstore written by Clockworks (the owner) that led to my understanding of Steam Punk millinery and clothing.  Naturally, I purchased the book.  Shurie is also published in another book.  One last thing, Shurie and I had the same millinery instructor, at least I took a block carving class from her mentor and instructor, the late Jill Pfeiffer, perhaps a decade or so earlier.

Thank you so much ladies, and let it be known that I deeply appreciate and admire all of you.

Another Prize for the Hatstruck Millinery Competition!

Remember the millinery competition I'm hosting on this site?  Well here is another prize (junk) that I've pulled out, and I'm more than happy to get rid of it.  No, it's not my doll hat block.  No it's not the doll in the background.  One of my friends gave this medical doll to my granddaughter along with a medical bag that came with it.  The doll's head lights up to a bright red when she "has a fever."  We'll my granddaughter saw that and must have figured that it was a devil doll!  She ran away screaming, so I hid it behind the head.  Yes, the prize is the mannequin head display.

I purchased the head from an antique shop because the shop had nothing related to millinery in it that I could purchase at the time.  It's just not a good idea to go into a store hungry (to purchase something); I don't care what type of store it is!  Anyway, I've seen these heads popup on Ebay from time to time, and although some sellers make up some type of story for the purpose of  generating a good sale, no one actually knows where they originated from.  They are vintage; they are hand painted; and they are made of some type of light-weight composition material.  Some believe that the mannequin heads were once department store displays.  This one happens to be more detailed and in better shape than most I've seen, having only a small blemish over the mouth, and having a more detailed painted face.

I have never used this head because I felt that it just did not fit with the type of hats I make.  If you win, it's possible that it could be yours for the taking.  Just don't tell me later  that a famous person made it, and that you're selling it for a million dollars; I just don't want to know. OK, so you don't want it either?  Well sell the thing on Ebay.  I want the space for another display I'm eying!

It just ran across my mind that I'm not giving you much of an incentive to enter my competition--a five section hat block, a vintage hat display..."she has to come up with better junk than that for me to enter."  Well, I'll dig deeper, but I doubt it; stay tuned.

Remember:

• You can only enter one (1) hat.
• You must be a follower of this blog.  Click on the follow button in the right-hand column and follow the instructions.  See image to your right.
• You must inter under your full name--not a screen name.
• No Anonymous entries will be excepted.
• This is an international competition.  I will pay for and ship to the address given, but you are responsible for any problems that you may encounter on your side.
• Please read additional instructions here:  http://hatstruck.blogspot.com/2014/06/millinery-competition-elegant-fun.html in one of my earlier blog posts.

Interested in entering another competition?

Please check out the Mad Hatters Society Group on Facebook.  You may enter up to three (3) hats there.  Plus it's a fantastict group!  They are located at:  https://www.facebook.com/groups ./madhatterssociety/



#HatstruckCoutureMillinery, #Hatstruck, #LeeDuncanMilliner, #MillineryCompetition, #MillineryContest, #HatContest, #HatCompetition

Prizes for the Hatstruck Millinery Competition

I'm so excited about this Hatstruck millinery competition and the task of brainstorming the prizes I'll be awarding its winners; one of the prizes being a five section hat block.  I have an idea which hat block, or should I say I probably know which one I will be rewarding.  Can you guess which one?  It's the one I absolutely don't like.  Well it's winner can always sell it on Ebay.

As always when I get rid of one of my millinery items, I regret it somewhere down the road.  Now let me find more junk around here I can get rid of.  More to come;  you will be surprised.

For contest details, please visit my last blog post.

Millinery Competition--Elegant, Fun Couture Hats, 2014 Guidelines and Rules

High all!  Below are the refined rules and guidelines for one of the best millinery contests ever--at least in my head.  We will have crazy fun and wonderful prizes will be awarded to the winners.  Please read these rules and guidelines carefully.  If you have questions, please post them in the "Comments" section of this post. 

Totally unrelated....!  I couldn't resist Photoshopping another one of my hats onto First Lady Michelle Obama's head (see image below).  Since I doubt that she will ever be seen in a hat, other than when she is gardening, why not just have fun playing paper doll with a lovely First Lady.  I've done this before, and I really had fun doing it.  In order to give full credit to the image and the article that I copied it from, the story and original image can be found here.  If she sees this image and likes it, I would suggest that she give Anya Caliendo (my choice), Philip Treacy, or Stephen Jones a call.  Oh well, I can dream can't I.  OK, back to the business at hand, the millinery competition.


The Theme:  Elegant, Fun Couture Hats

 Who Qualifies to Enter the Contest: You must be a member of this site.  No Anonymous entries will be accepted.  Your screen name must be accompanied by your full name, if different, when your hat is submitted.  In other words, if you do not want anyone to know who you are, please do not enter.  After the contest, you may unfollow this blog site...but stick around if you like it.  I would be more than happy to have you.  Finally, THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEST.

Mandel Ngan/Getty

Competition Dates:  Submissions accepted June 5 to August 15, 2014.  Deadline for submittals,  August 15, 11:59, Pacific time (West Coast, USA).

Number of Hats Accepted for Submission:  One (1).

Guidelines for Finished Hat:  The Hat must be made by the contestant, using any materials and techniques of her/his choice.

Images:  There must be at least four to five images submitted--front, back, side(s), and inside; unless the hat can be seen in its entirety with fewer images.

The hat must be made between June 5 and August 15.

Judges:  So far there are four (4) judges (maybe more to come).  These will be announced shortly.

The Prizes:  Millinery supplies (felts, straws, a hat block, hat stretchers, books, millinery trim, a cash prize, etc.).

Distribution of Prizes:  Best in Competition will pick his/her prize first; Second in Competition gets second pick.  Remaining prizes will be distributed as described in my previous post.
  
Winning Categories:  Best in Competition (highest score), Second in Competition (second highest scorer), Best Overall Design, Workmanship, Originality, Color, Presentation, Best Interpretation of Theme, Most Wearable, Honorable Mention, Judge's Choice (each judge will have her/his choice).

 Scoring--range 1 to 10 in each category (multiplied by point value):  Workmanship, 2 points; Design 1.5 points; all other categories 1 point.  The winners will be those having the highest scores.  If there is a tie between highest scorers (score after adding up all categories), those will be sent back to the judges for selection of the best from the highest scores.  Again, winners will only be chosen based on their scores, ALL SCORING BEING INDEPENDENT--JUDGE BY JUDGE.  The highest score after judges' scores have been added up and combined, will yield the winners; the TOP winners must score high in workmanship.
 
Hat Details:  If you are uncomfortable submitting construction details for your hat, that's quite acceptable.   However, outer details--basic materials used--should be submitted with your hat for description purposes.
. 
Where to Store Images?  I have created a group, Hatstruck Couture Millinery, on Facebook where  the images will be stored.  If you are not a Facebook member, please email the images to me at lduncan@hatstruck.com and I will post the images for you; however I would prefer that you post them to the group.

Note the image to your right, there are two references to photos.  Please note the correct location CIRCLED IN RED where you should store your images.

The "Photos" heading circled in the image, at the top of the Facebook Hatstruck Couture Millinery group page is the correct location to post your images. 

Click on "Photos" and create an album for your images.  Label your album as follows:

Hatstruck Couture Millinery 2014
Elegant, Fun Couture Millinery Competition

Your Name,

The Name of Your Hat (if any)

Hat Description

Have Fun!

Hatstruck Couture Millinery, Millinery Competition--Elegant, Fun Couture Hats, 2014

OK, I'm back.  In my last post I mentioned that I was going to conduct a millinery competition.  I must admit that all of the details have not been finalized, but the important thing is that there will be a competition and that there will be winners and fantastic prizes, most of the junk, sorry I mean prizes will be things that many milliners would love to have.  I'm just over flowing and I've decided to do a self intervention; I'm sure this will end when something else strikes my fancy.  Since I'm trying to generate some excitement around here, at least for a second, this will not be your conventional contest.  I hope you've noticed that I'm not a very conventional person.  This is my fantasy competition, except that you can't erase individual likes and dislikes, something that, no matter what, is still a part of decision making.

I couldn't post without a hat, and I didn't want to go into my hat archive, so I've started making the hat at your right.  It has not been completed yet, but I'll write more about it in another post.  Now to the competition stuff.

The Theme:  Elegant, Fun Couture Hats
Please, this is serious.  Only submit serious hats.  I have a board on Pinterest labeled "Millinery:  Fun Couture Hats.  There I pin hats that I feel are fun and unique and/or hats that I study and learn from, as I do on all of my boards.  Your idea of a fun couture hat may be different.  Please take a look.

Competition Dates:  June 5 to August 15, 2014
The deadline to submit your hats is 12:00 a.m., Pacific Standard Time--the States' West Coast--August 15, 2014.

Number of Hats to Submit
You are only allowed to submit one hat.  I feel that the load of more than one hat is just too much for the judges to deal with, at least for me that is.  Sorry, but at least you can make that one hat your best hat ever.

•  The hat must be made between June 5 and August 15 (like I can monitor that :) )

The Prizes
The prizes will consist of a variety of millinery supplies (straws, felts, hat stretchers, trim, etc.), an ugly, sorry, I mean a lovely five piece sectional hat block, books, etc., and a little cash if I have any, seriously, if I have any.

Distribution of Prizes
The Best in Competition will choose the prize of her/his choice first.  The Second in Competition will choose her/his choice second.  Prizes for the remaining winners will be written on paper and pulled from a bucket.  I said I was unconventional, didn't I?  One time I won the highest place in a competition, but I would have loved to have received the second place prize.  Also, I once won at a lower level but I felt that the prize I received was better; so, why not let the highest winners pick the prizes of their choice.

The Judges and Judging--To Be Announced at Later Date
There will be from three to five judges; I will be one of them.  Why three to five?  Because I'm biased as to what I like, and I really would like to have judges of varying tastes.  A score card will be distributed to the judges, and each category can be given a one to 10 rating, with workmanship weighted to two.  So it would be possible to get a score of 10 in each category, except in workmanship with a possible rating of up to 20.

• Categories:  Workmanship, Originality, Balance (overall appearance), Color (remember that color means more than bright vibrant colors), Presentation, Theme Appropriateness; and standing on it's own, Judge's Choice.

The winners will be those having the highest scores.  If there is a tie between highest scorers, those will be sent back to the judges for further consideration.  Hopefully, with a range of one to ten and two to 20, this will not occur.  Winners will only be chosen based on their scores, ALL SCORING BEING INDEPENDENT.  So, the total highest score after all categories have been added up, will yield the winners.


Winning Categories (Tentative--I may have to work on this.)
 Best in Competition, Second in Competition, Most Innovative, Most Representative of Theme, Workmanship (weighted--this must be high in order to win Best in Competition), Best Overall Design, Individual Judge's Choice (three to five--OH YES!).  I was in a competition once, having three judges, where two judges chose my hat and one felt that another should win Best in Show.  One of the judges kept moving the award from my hat until the other two judges gave in.  Another time one of three judges said that he preferred my hat.  This happens all the times with others.  So this is a chance for each judge to pick her/his choice.


You must be a follower of this site and you must live on this planet; so yes all are welcome to submit a hat no matter where you live in the world.  If you decide to unfollow this site, that is totally up to you.  However, I would love for you to stick around.

You must submit at least four views of your hat and the images must be clear--front, back, side, and underside--unless the design of the hat does not call for four.

Hat Details

If you are uncomfortable submitting construction details for your hat, that's quite acceptable.   However, outer details--fabric used--should be submitted with your hat for description purposes (for example, my hat above:  Feather cocktail hat, supported with vintage crinoline (crin) tubing and headband, trimmed with a red feather--or something like that.

Where to Store Images?
I have created a group, Hatstruck Couture Millinery, on Facebook where most of the images will be stored.  If you are not a FB member, please email the images to me at
lduncan@hatstruck.com; however I would prefer that you post them to the group.

Note on the image to your right that there are two references to photos.  The "Photos" circled in the image is the correct location to post your images.  Click on "Photos" and create an album for your images.  Label your album as follows:

Hatstruck Couture Millinery 2014
Elegant, Fun Couture Millinery Competition," YourNameHere
HatMaterialsHere (outer covering--see above under Hat Details for an explanation).  If these instructions are not clear please leave me a comment on this post.

A Suggestion for Newbies
I figure that all of us are at different levels in our millinery journey.  Some may not possess the workmanship skills, but may have great design skills, or they may be very innovative.  I would love for all to be comfortable submitting a hat.  I must admit that I have a thing for workmanship.  However, in the real world innovation and design may many times win out; actually they are extremely important because workmanship can be mechanical.  But in order to win the Best in Competition, workmanship must be in place.  So if you are new to millinery I would suggest that you don't tackle something that is beyond your skill level.  It would still be possible to make an absolutely beautiful hat, well designed and neat, and still win the big prize, provided that you stick to this suggestion.   Also, I have a another Pinterest board, Millinery: How Other Milliners and Hatters Do It, where I pin many millinery techniques that I find on the Web, some are merely references for my followers, as I don't always agree with some of the techniques and/or workmanship, but you will also find some good things there.  Do some research and practice. 

Good Luck!  I'm sure I will have to revise some of this stuff.

Hatstruck Couture Millinery Brainstorming a Possible Millinery Contest

I've had two site contest giveaways and one sort of silent giveaway.  However, I've never had a millinery contest.  The "sort of" was to be a "silent" giveaway where I was going to do a giveaway to the next person that made a comment on my blog, but the person never picked up the gift (contacted me).  I didn't want to go through having to check all of the memberships; so, without announcement, I tried to go the silent route, unannounced.  I don't even remember the winner's name.  I'll try that again in the future because it did cut down on the work, and eventually there will be a winner that picks up her/his gift.  The first and second images here show the gifts I gave away for my two announced giveaways.

Anyway I need to generate some excitement around here.  In order to keep doing this thing I have to keep myself entertained.  So I thought, "What about a millinery contest?"  I have no idea of its structure yet, but I'm thinking the following:

• Participants have to be a blog member; 
•  Three judges having varying tastes--HINT, HINT, are you interested?;
•  Winning categories, maybe:  (1) Most Innovative; (2) Most Representative of Theme; (3) Workmanship, (4) Best in Contest;
• Prizes:  a box of goodies from me.  I give pretty good gifts, even if I have to say so myself.  My gift box would include, but would not be limited to; straws, leather and suede pieces, jinsin, fur felt, horsehair, hat stretcher, etc.  I would also welcome sponsors--HINT, HINT--in order to give away even more goodies; and
• Other prizes would probably include a little cash or less millinery supplies.

I just figured out that I would drop the second and third places and award gifts only to the winning categories.  Oh, I changed again:  Best in Contest, being also first place and there would be a second place--who knows at this point.  The Best in Contest would be the highest winner, picking up the majority of the category places, one having to be workmanship. 

I figure that all of us are at different levels in our millinery journey.  Some may not possess the workmanship skills, but may have great design (maybe another category) skills, or they may be very innovative.  I would love for all to be comfortable submitting a hat.  I must admit that I have a thing for workmanship.  However, in the real world innovation and design many times win out.  But I have to restate that in order to win the Best in Contest, workmanship has to be in place; this I will definitely not change!.


What do you think?

#Hatstruck #millinery

My Hat Submissions to the Mad Hatters Society Millinery Competition on Facebook

I thought I'd share the hats that I submitted in The Mad Hatters Society's 2014 MHS Annual Competition on Facebook.  I'm sure that everyone that follows me on Facebook has seen these hats too many times already, but I wanted to share them here with my blog followers that don't follow me there, or with those just passing by.  By the way, if you are not a follower of this blog, please consider following it and signing up for email alerts.  Your support would be greatly appreciated.  The same invitation goes out to those that follow my Pinterest boards.

Interring millinery competitions gives me an opportunity to make hats more often, and also to sort of "push the envelop" (be a little more creative than I would usually be).  I also have a tendency to reevaluate and to make a conscious effort to improve my millinery skills while working on a hat for a competition.

 I've finally gotten to the point where winning or loosing a competition means very little to me, except for the mere excitement of actually seeing the finished entries.  After all, winners are almost always chosen subjectively, and too many are left feeling inadequate even if they have wonderful design and/or workmanship skills.

There is no denying that I love the prizes, if there are any to be had.  The last time I won a Mad Hatters' competition, second place prize, I received a $125 gift certificate from Judith M Millinery Supply House.  Let's just say that I have enough wire, wire joiners, and horsehair to last me for quite some time.  My winning entry  was "Outside of My Window," a plexiglass hat (left) fabricated in almost the same manner as "The Copper Lady" above, except that I used metal cutting scissors to cut out the copper hat and a  jeweler's saw to cut out the plexiglass hat.  Note that I could have also used the jewel's saw on the copper; it was just a matter of how I felt at the time.

I created the "The Copper Lady" from copper sheet metal that I hammered into a dome.  If you follow me you may remember how I write about how small my place is.  Well, for my last millinery class I decided to make a brim ironing board for use at home, easy transport, and because let's face it, I just have to know that I can perform a task on my own in case I have to.  One day I'll seek some therapy for this condition.

 Using a folding wooden food tray, I cut out a half circle with my jeweler's saw and some carving tools.  Crazy, yes!  Well, conditions may not always be perfect, so I believe in using what I have on hand to accomplish what I need to at the moment.  Anyway, I will not be doing that again with those particular tools, but at least I know if I had to do it I could.  Since I needed a concave wooden area to dome my sheet for my hat, I carved one into the brim ironing board, to its side.  Now I don't have to pull out my steel doming block to make a pair of earrings because I can use the same concave area for them.  Plus, I can iron my hat brims, I can attach my jeweler's saw block, I can make large earrings, and I can dome little cute hats all in one tiny area without unfolding my work table, if I had to.  Finally, I finished "The Copper Lady" off with  a removable vintage Trifari brooch for interchangeability.  I was extremely pleased with this hat, so simple, but so bold and elegant.

The next submission, "Flight of the Midnight Butterfly," (left) also earned my stamp of approval.  It was built on a wire frame that was blocked over a very large wooden fruit bowl.  The wire was then covered with ribbon, net, lace, and vintage file tubing to cover the wire spokes.

I made flower from silk satin, making one bud myself and adding another vintage bud  to balance it off.

The flower on Flight of the Midnight Butterfly was made from silk satin.  The fabric was sized with a fabric stiffener, stretched over my flower drying rack, then left to dry before moistening again, then tooling  (shaping) the flower.
 I've often seen demonstrations where this fabric is hung up vertically to dry.  Well, what happens if you hang fabric to dry vertically?  It drys from the top first down to the bottom last.  If the fabric has starch in it, then it will be stiffer at the bottom than at the top.  So therefore, it is best to lay the fabric horizontally rather than vertically.  If you don't have flower irons and would like to try your hand at at simple flower making, I have two Youtube videos on flower making: one for a simple leather flower and the other for a simple fabric flower, neither requiring flower irons. 

"Elenore" (left) was another one of my four entries.  Surprisingly, she was my hardest hat to make.  I wanted to take a shortcut, but that was just not going to happen.  I had blocked several hats weeks earlier.  They just sit on the hat blocks waiting for me to do something.  At the last moment, needing a fourth hat for the contest, a vintage 1930s/1940s sophisticated shape was chosen, and thus Elenore was
born.

This fur felt, beaver finish hat looked simple enough to complete, but it was not.  Like most of my hat blocks, it was the first time I had blocked on it.  So I had no idea that I would be unable to take a much needed shortcut; much needed because I was exhausted having worked on a project with my daughter while working on my own project.  Manny times, in vintage hats, a sprung wire was required.  Springing the wire is a simple technique that has a simple meaning--straightening standard millinery wire, NOT STEEL WIRE--in order to add tension in the correct place(s) on a hat.

Sprung wire sits inside of a hat, and usually it does not have to be sewn into the hat  when needed.  Well, Elenore required the oposite, and the manipulation and placement of that wire affected the shape and integrity of the hat.  The hat would not stand at attention without the wire.  I've taken up many shortcuts since I've started making hats, but this is one technique I've not dropped, especially when dropping it affects the integrity of the hat.  Hat blocks are funny objects, their finished products require different applications, some of these applications are realized only after the material has been taking off the block and after one has started working on it
 

Finally there is "Belle" to your left. Belle's buckram crown was blocked over a wooden candy dish.  It was covered with sequin braid, velvet tip; trimmed with horsehair, and graced with a vintage Trifari brooch (yes, I like vintage brooches).  "Belle's" lining was blocked over the same candy bowl as her crown was.  This hat was just not worth the time  it would take to make a tailored lining.


 I was not pleased with, "Belle."  There was just something lacking in workmanship with her.  Perhaps it was the lack of control I had over the cut, fringed horsehair trim; perhaps I should have double layered it.  That's what I'll do next time.  "Belle's" lining was blocked over a candy bowl.  This hat was just not worth the time to make a talored lining. 

 I have quite a few hat blocks, but surprisingly I use wooden bowls to create most of my hats.  I even pin into these bowls, something I would usually never do with my hat blocks.  I guess I use wooden bowls because using them keeps me grounded, knowing that this craft can be as simple or as complicated, and as economical or as expensive as I make it.

Words of Inspiration

More than sharing these hats with you, I hope you go away with the understanding that millinery, contrary to what some may say, is not always an expensive craft.  Especially couture "French Room" millinery, also referred to as piece-good hats a few hundred years back.  Yes, straw and felt are expensive today.  When I was buying more of it, before millinery became popular again, the prices were much lower.  It's a matter of supply and demand today.  Again, you can make this craft as economical or as expensive as you would like.  There are beautiful linens and silks and leathers, etc., out there.  There are discount fabric shops; bowls to block on, etc.  If you can't afford all of the bells and whistles starting out, start out little and accumulate over time; that what I did.  I have many bells and whistles and I continue to accumulate them, but I very seldom use them.  I think I'm more of a collector of millinery tools and equipment than a milliner sometimes.  Lastly, considering French room millinery (covered hats, hand made hats), would allows you to create more unique hats, in my opinion.

A little while ago I created a YouTube video, "Couture Millinery: How Many Hats and Accessories Can You Make From One Yard of Fabric?"  Check it out and also consider some nontraditional materials to make wonderful, beautiful hats.  Remember that it only takes a fraction of a yard of fabric to make it.  This makes silks, etc., affordable.

Lastly, or did I say that already, learning is your responsibility.  Don't let anything or anyone be a barrier to it.  I spent all day Wednesday learning a new millinery techniques.  If you don't have access to millinery instruction, remember that through observation, you can learn a lot.  Take a sewing class, observe, observe.  For free online millinery books, check out my Pinterest board, Books:  Free Online Millinery and Related Books.  Also my board, "How Other Milliners and Hatters Do It," is a compilation of how other milliners and hatters make there hats, etc.  Although, I may not like some of the techniques, they are there to jump start your and my imagination and thinking.  Again, if you have access to a good instructor, take a few classes.

Mrs. Essie Edwards, You Look Beautiful in That Hat! Contest Winner, Please Step Forward?

For those of you that attended the Rose Garden millinery classes with Mrs. Essie Edwards, well there is great news!  Mrs. Edwards is back teaching there--millinery and sewing.  This is your opportunity to take classes from a master in both crafts again.  Our retired and loved teacher is lending her time to all of us that have been morning her retirement.  So please come out in numbers to support her.  Mrs. Edwards has been a milliner for over 60 years; no fluff here.  This is the real deal.

In case you recognized the hat Mrs. Edwards is waring, it is the hat from my last post, Blocking on My First European-Style Hat Block.  This time Mrs. Edwards won over my granddaughter, because I knew she would cherish and really rock that hat; so, enjoy your gift Mrs. Edwards.

Contest Winner, Please Step Forward!
 
I am so guilty of not visiting my favorite blog sites, and when I visit I usually don't leave comments.  For the second time (or more), I will improve.   So I understand why some may do the same when visiting this site--Oh no! I have to log in?  Let me stop this moment and at least thank you for the number of daily page views I receive; I really appreciate them.  The response to this site has been fantastic.  I have truly realized my goal of giving back through millinery.

 I was thinking, What if I made leaving comments a little more fun?   So, at the end of the last post I asked several questions, for which no one responded to any of them.  The purpose of those questions was to select a winner of my little secrete contest.  Well, what I did was to choose a site visitor that had commented on this site very recently, satisfying at least one of the qualifying answers.  I don't think she is a member of the site (a first and may be the last), and I think she lives outside of the States.  Her name is Georgia Lordorche(?), and she is a student or was a student [from your profile]....  Georgia, since you are a student (you gave me some information about yourself in an earlier post before your last post--new to millinery), I will be sending you some millinery supplies (fur felt and straw, a hat stretcher, some millinery needles, and whatever else I can think of.  Or you may want to make  suggestions as to what you would like to have in your box of goodies--within reason :)   No, all questions contained in future posts will not be contest related....





Log-In for Site Members

Although I set up pages and a test log-in (extreme bottom of page) for site members months and months ago, I thought, This is not why I created this site--exclusivity to some.  A lot also had to do with the people that may be excluded and those that would actually take advantage of this site.  So, the log-in is at the bottom of the page, there for when I need it.  I will use it one day for something; maybe I will create a class for a site contest winner(s) or something.  Also when I presented the private log-in idea, I did not associate it with any contest, etc.; that's because I wanted to be able to change my mind if I became uncomfortable with the idea.  Another thing is that the volume of respondents is usually a little more than I want to manually handle (check membership, assign numbers, etc.).  Also the reason for the secrete contest was to capture the comments of those that took the extra effort to leave them without the coaxing from a contest.

Next Post?

I don't know what my next post will be, but I'm leaning toward an American-style hat block, blocking video.  What I need to do is get back to couture millinery (foundation covered hats), my first love technique.  So stay tuned.  What do you think?  No, this is not a contest question.  Anyway, I'll try to keep the site as exciting for the both of us as I can.  If you have any ideas, just let me know.

May 11, 20012: Last Day to Vote for Hatstruck Couture Millinery Diamond Jubilee Hat Submission

If you haven't voted for my diamond jubilee hat submission, please follow this Talenthouse link or click on the red hat in the right-hand column.  Today, May 11, is the last day to vote.  So, send me a little love by voting for my hat, "Elegant in Red."

Thanks a million,

Lee

Hatstruck Couture Millinery Diamond Jubilee Hat Submission

It is almost 5:00 a.m. and I'm exhausted.  I'm babysitting Ms. E'.  She's a one-year-old teenager, stays up all night and sleeps until midday.  I've danced to  the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song for maybe six times or more, and I've gone  through the basic colors, numbers, and shapes with her.  No she can't talk (except for momma, daddy, no, and a few other words), but she can point.  Anyway, I started this post earlier yesterday, but lost it somehow, and I dreaded doing it over again.  So here I go.

Below are a few details concerning an international millinery contest I entered.  So, if you would please, vote for me by following this Talenthouse link or by clicking on the red hat in the right-hand column.  Your vote will be greatly appreciated.  

The Details

I entered into the the international Dillon Wallwork and HATalk e-magazine millinery competition in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee--her 60 years on the throne.  The contest directive was to create a hat inspired by this wondrous event.  After a few weeks of daydreaming and purchasing materials I would never use for this contest, I finally created "Elegant in Red."

While in London in 1999 I remembered seeing Windsor Castle guards from a distance.  One of the most noticeable things, not including the enormity of the castle, was their red coats and straight backs.  From television and books I saw beautiful jewels, opulence, and elegance, all bundled up into what seemed a fairytale.  So, the hat I wanted to create had to be elegant, rich, and for me, something outside of myself--a fairytale.  I also had to represent 60 years of the Queen's reign on the throne.  I had purchased some rather nice red and blue velvet for this project, but I did not use it because I had thrown out  my original design(s).  I sketched another design and insisted to myself that this final design had to go forward because NOW!

The Final Design

As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to represent 60 years of the Queen's reign.  I didn't want to put a big 60 atop my hat because I wanted it to be a bit refined (not that she would even be caught in a dark room with it on).  I remembered from numerology that six and 60 still equaled 6.  So I sketched a stylized six and attached it to my display head.  Yes, yes that's it!  I thought.  From this point I carved a Styrofoam hat block to block my materials on.  The velvet I had purchased would not work for this project, at least not with the ease I would want it to for this shape.  With this design I needed something that was also malleable to accommodate my design.  Well, in walked Ms. Suede.  Actually she had been living with me for months and years.

I collect suede and leather scraps that are large enough to make hats.  Suede and leather are two of my  favorite materials to work with.  They can be easily shaped and manipulated, something that is not easy to do with almost non-stretch velvet.  Just a little note, I learned that leather and suede actually have a grain.  Yes, it stretches in one direction more than the another; try it.  I learned this while researching and making gloves.

I also purchased glass pearls.  Well, in one of my previous designs (I will not say how many I had) my plan was to construct an elaborate crown.  O.K., given the time I had left to make the contest entry deadline, this was just not going to happen.  Given the results of my final project, I'm  happy I didn't have the time.  So I decided to create a wire frame in the form of something.  The reason I say something is because I didn't know what I was going to construct.  All I know is that when my fingers stopped moving, I had an appropriate crown for what was to become a side-mounted cocktail hat, and atop that crown was a big diamond crystal.  Yes, I also purchased a diamond shaped crystal, but it was to be placed in that crevice you see in the bottom center of my Styrofoam block.  In that position the crystal looked horrible, but it looked fantastic atop my wire frame crown.

The Trim and Wire Fram

Although I purchased two strands of pearls in different sizes, if you will notice, I only used one pearl.  With me, less is more; less turns my head.  Actually, I've been known to put one crystal on a hat at a strategic location.  With the richness of the red suede, I had to use Swarovski crystals, but not so many as to overpower the red suede.  I wanted them to stand together equally.  I really need to take a photography class to better capture the details in my images.

For the underside of my hat I used black suede and trimmed it with crystal yardage, the same yardage I used to trim my large diamond crystal.  The crystal was supported by the wire frame crown I created, as mentioned above.  The frame was then wrapped in vintage chenille.  The wide horsehair braid complements the underside view and the outside view of the hat, yielding two themes, sort of like darkness to light.  As a child I feasted on King Arthur and Sir Lancelot novels--medieval times; that was a long time ago.  Thanks to my grandparents and aunt for letting me daydream all day, etc.  I really enjoyed this journey!

 Below is a video I've prepared showing multiple views of my hat. 





Good luck to all contest participants!

Vintage Film--Three-Way Hat, Diamond Jubilee Millinery Contest, My TUMBLR Site, Etc.

My New Blog on TUMBLR
I came across this film some time ago and thought I would share it with you. I posted the video on http://hatstruck.tumblr.com/, an interesting Web site I recently discovered. Please follow me there, as well as on my main site here.  TUMBLR is a place where I can post things fast without spending hours processing images, etc.  The content will consists of a little of my stuff and a lot of  others' creative stuff.

Millinery Contest
Wednesday/Thursday (usually if I give a day it's always the next day, since I'm a night person) I started working on a hat for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebration Millinery Contest (visit Talenthouse for more details). The submission day is May 3, I believe.  OK, OK, I work better under pressure.  There is a chance I may not make the deadline, but in case I do I'm asking for your support.  I think how it works is that supporters on my Talenthouse site are notified when it's time to vote, etc.  If it does not work this way, then I'll remind you to vote for me, pleaseeee.  If you are not a Talenthouse subscriber, you can subscribe to the site or you can use your Facebook account to log into the site.  To  support me in advance, visit me at http://www.talenthouse.com/hatstruck and push the support button, or something.  As you can see, I'm not a Talenthouse expert.  If I don't meet the deadline, then you will be my supporter the next time something comes around--no need to sign up again.  Thanks a million!

I'm So Sorry :(
Something else; I've promised to show you how I made the flower petals seen in my One-Yard-of-Fabric project.  I'm not stringing you along.  I've made a crude video, and director I am not.  Anyway, it's still in the can awaiting editing.  I'm still learning with this blog thing.  I thought that if I would state what post content was coming up next, I would create faster and post more often.  Well, there are 24 hours in the day, and ...well I will not continue this short-lived advance notice.  Ms. E', my granddaughter, demands her time..

Hatstruck "Make Your Own Art" Millinery Supplies Contest Images

As you all know, LilDevilGrl was the winner of the " Make Your Own Art" millinery supplies contest.  I finally got around to sending the package off last Saturday, and she should have received her cute little box on Monday. Click on images below to enlarge.

LilDevilGrl requested trim, more specifically lace, for her special request.  I have to admit that I don't collect lace, but I hope she will be happy with what I sent her.  The extras I sent along were ribbon, vintage veiling, a beautiful black fur felt hood, extra wire joiners, hat elastics, veiling pins, rhinestones, extra blocking cords, and some extra feathers.  See Make Your Own Art for other gifts she received which included jinsin, straw hat body, wire joiners, cobweb, blocking cords, millinery wire, grosgrain ribbon, feathers, and vintage chenille.  

Enjoy!!!!

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.

Hatstruck Couture Millinery's First Blog Contest: "Make Your Own Art," Millinery Supplies Giveaway!

It's time to take a break from showing my county fair contest submissions.  It's also time to take the leap into the contest arena.  So, I've done some brainstorming, and I asked myself, "what would I want to receive from a millinery contest?"  OK, my answers were a bit too broad, so this time I chose to deal with addressing the needs of those that are interested in making hats and those that currently make hats.  I came up with several answers:  hat blocks, millinery tools, millinery supplies.  Well, I'm not giving away hat blocks or tools, at least for this contest, but I am giving away a few millinery supplies.

Here are a few supplies I'll be giving away:  Jinsin, fur felt hood, straw cartwheel, grosgrain ribbon, millinery wire, wire joiners, feathers, blocking cords, vintage veiling, and cobweb.

Winner's choice.  The winner will be allowed to choose an additional millinery supply item I have in my possession (straw, felt, trim, etc., just ask) to be added to their winnings.

Surprise Items!!  The best items are not shown in the images.  I'll throw in some additional items, but these will come from my stash of loved items.  I may even cry as I'm putting them into the box to ship.

Contest Rules:  The contest deadline is August 4.  You must be a member of this site and you must leave a comment in order to win.  There will be ONLY ONE WINNER.  Please, leave only one comment.  So, here is what you should do:

Notes:  


I will ship Worldwide!  


If you are not interested in the supplies, don't leave a comment; your membership is still greatly appreciated.


Remember, if you are an anonymous visitor, I have no way of contacting you.  I've had several of those.


A big THANK YOU to everyone!


Required:


YOU MUST BE A MEMBER AND YOU MUST LEAVE A COMMENT TO QUALIFY FOR THIS CONTEST!  CURRENT MEMBERS NEED ONLY LEAVE A COMMENT TO QUALIFY FOR THIS CONTEST.

1. If you have not joined the Hatstruck site, join it by clicking on the "Join this site" button in the sidebar, and following through to completion of registration.
2. Leave a comment on this post:  say something like, enter me into the contest; I like this site; Hi; just about anything will do as long as the comment is clean.
3. Current members must also leave a comment.

Optional:  
Click on the "Like" button in the side bar and like me.
Subscribe Via Email (see sidebar) so you may get updates via email.

Although the Optional portion of the rules are optional, I really would appreciate it if you would do them.