Book Review - Millinery, The Art of Hat-Making by Sarah Lomax and Rachel Skinner

Now more than ever we all want to learn new crafts and skills and the New Year is as good a time as any to start mastering one. Sadly, hat wearing has been relegated to special occasion wear, the book Millinery, The Art of Hat-Making by Sarah Lomax and Rachel Skinner has a varied collection and wearing one to top off a carefully curated outfit is made a real possibility. With its beautiful timeless illustrations, variety of hat designs and detailed techniques it gives plenty of information to help you get started creating your own unique hats. After a detailed browsing of this book, as an eclectic designer, maker, I felt fired up with ideas for the many possible occasions for sporting a distinctive and elegant hat.

Have you ever wondered how a hat shape is made from a flat piece of fine woven straw or how to create a distinctive trim that is guaranteed to lift a bought hat from ordinary to extraordinary? With a wide choice of hat shapes and embellishment to create, Millinery is the book for you. A beautifully designed volume it is divided into two sections. The first covers the nitty gritty with equipment, materials and techniques each supported by text and images. The second section has twelve very different hat projects with easy to follow step by step instructions. Choose from soft sewn hats to a gorgeous feather creation to a full on felt trilby. I am drawn in by the detail, and long for a neat feathered tear drop, complete with the swish and flourish of a long plume. 

Emphatically, yes, I would recommend Millinery, as it gives a glimpse into the art form and plenty of information for you to successfully make your own high-end millinery. With its wealth of inspiration and variety of techniques it won't be long before you have created a unique hat collection.

Millinery, The Art of Hat-Making by Sarah Lomax and Rachel Skinner

Published by GMC £16.99

Available from www.thegmcgroup.com

If you like this book review why not read my review of The Gentleman’s Wardrobe: Vintage Style Projects for the Modern Man by Vanessa Mooncie

How to make Mattisse inspired wall art

Create a bold Matisse inspired fabric wall art. Use simple motifs to make an impactful piece of wall art.

You Will Need

• Canvas, £8, Hobbycraft

• Tracing paper

• Bondaweb £3.90 Akaban

• Fabric scraps

• Stapler

• Pencil, paper and tracing paper

• Command Strips from £2.70 B&Q

Step-by-step

1. Place the canvas on a large piece of paper and draw around the edge of the canvas, add 10cm to each side.

2. Draw your design on the paper and mark each colour. Using the tracing paper trace the shape for each colour.

3. Iron paper backed Bondaweb to the reverse of fabric scraps. Cut out the shapes, then remove backing paper and iron to bond in position. Use a sewing machine to sew around the edge of the fabric shapes.

4. Place the fabric image on the canvas and stretch the fabric over the edge, use the stapler to secure the fabric at the back.

5. Hang on the wall using Command Strips

Tips

• When stapling the fabric on start from the middle and work towards the outer edge so there are no creases in the fabric

If you liked this post why not read my post on making your own  Bang on Trend Super Easy Picture Shelf

Stamp your own floral lampshade

I love simple bold classic 60s florals and designed a print in a bright vibrant green for a large lampshade. This is a very simple way to create your own bespoke piece of designer homeware.

You will already have many of the things you need for this low-tech hand printing project and there are only a couple of specialize products you will need.

You will need:

• Plain drum lampshade

• Dylon fabric paints in Green and Yellow from

• Acrylic block

• Tracing paper

• Pencil

• Rubber

• Masking tape

• Glue stick

• Hobby foam sheet

• Car wash sponge

• Scissors

• OHP pen (overhead projector pen)

• Masking tape

Step by Step

1. Measure the lampshade and draw a design to fit, then trace onto tracing paper. Use a permanent OHP pen to mark the center back of the acrylic block. Place the design under the acrylic block and trace onto the reverse side of the block with the OHP pen.

2. To transfer the image onto the foam sheet, place the tracing paper design face down on foam, and then scribble over the back with a soft pencil.

3. Cut out your design from the foam sheet using scissors and a craft knife. Stick the cut out pieces in position on the acrylic block using a glue stick.

4. Place a line of masking tape around the top and bottom edges of the lampshade.

5. Mix up your fabric-printing colour, I made a lime green by mixing the yellow with the green about half a pot for this design. For the fabric paint applicator cut a piece 3cm cubed from the car wash sponge. Dab one side of the foam in the fabric paint until it is evenly coated. Then dab the fabric paint onto the design block and print on paper to check colour.

6. Start printing onto the lampshade, beginning at the seam, reloading the block with paint after each impression.

Tip

• Transparent acrylic blocks take the headache out of positioning the block especially when printing repeat designs.

If you like this blog post why not read my post on Creating a Retro Tiled Coffee Table