MILLINERY

Millinery is the optional module I chose. Over the tester sessions I have learnt how to make a headband, a rose, a beret and how to use sinamay.

During the first session I learnt how to make a headband. It was made out of millinery wire and was secured with UHU glue and blanket stitch. This is a great base for wire work and can produce some unique headpieces. The most difficult part of this process was making the headband curve smoothly. One of my curves definitely ended up smoother than the other, so I would like to practice this further so the curves are both identical. I found the process enjoyable and I think I could end up using it quite a lot as it is a good base for many designs.

In the second session we learnt how to make a cabochon rose. I used buckram wire to shape the base and found it a lot easier to use and shape than the millinery wire we used for the headbands. I found this process quite quick and I like how it looks as a headpiece. I would like to experiment with making multiple and combining them together. My fabric choice was not ideal because it doesn't iron very well, so ironing down the edges to quite a lot of time.

In the third session I learnt how to make berets. The pattern cutting for this style is quite simple and I found it quite easy to do. However, when sewing it together, my top part was to big for the rim so I had to add a dart. I'm not sure why this happened and I will need to try again to see if this mistake is recurring. The beret ended up being very big and reminded me more of a chef's hat, but I still enjoyed the process and am happy with the outcome. I would like to try make a smaller beret in a different fabric to see what different looks the same style of hat can give.

During our final millinery session I learnt how to use sinamay to create a base for a hat that you would see at the races. I found this material easy to use, all it needs to keep it's shape is some steam, although, I did secure it with some wire. The wire gives a nice edge because it allows you to bend the seam allowance around it. However, I forgot to add seam allowance when cutting out the sinamay so, to fix the mistake, I decided to bind it with some ribbon. Due to the size of the base, I prefer it without ribbon so, next time I need to remember to add seam allowance to give the clean, folded edge. I would like to add some decoration to see how it would look like as a final headpiece.