The Finished Hat

Finished the black hat with contrast stitching , have added faux patent headband and finished the brim with some velvet. This is the first time I have used the new stretch velvet to edge a brim and I think that although it is way easier to get a good edge the colour is not quite black enough to my liking although no one else would notice but to my eye it is just not black/black. Added a lining that matched the stitching which is a nice touch and unexpected. Note the double brim so that I only have the detail stitching on the top, just another detail which is probably lost on many (but not me) !

Little Silk Cap Alteration : Marianne Faithfull in Melbourne

Just some pictures of me altering a hat for a customer. Huge alteration as the customers head size is a minute 20 inches and the original hat was 23 inches but I managed to get the size down and here are some pictures of the process. Hat is made from flat silk and has satin lining and fabulous buckle on the side - perfect for a sports car! Love the colour and this is why this one is being altered to fit as I have run out of this particular shade of silk.
Marianne Faithfull is touring Australia.
The Ballad of Lucy Jordon :
The morning sun touched lightly on the eyes of Lucy Jordan
In a white suburban bedroom in a white suburban town
As she lay there 'neath the covers dreaming of a thousand lovers
Till the world turned to orange and the room went spinning round.

At the age of thirty-seven she realised she'd never
Ride through Paris in a sports car with the warm wind in her hair.
So she let the phone keep ringing and she sat there softly singing
Little nursery rhymes she'd memorised in her daddy's easy chair.

Her husband, he's off to work and the kids are off to school,
And there are, oh, so many ways for her to spend the day.
She could clean the house for hours or rearrange the flowers
Or run naked through the shady street screaming all the way.

At the age of thirty-seven she realised she'd never
Ride through Paris in a sports car with the warm wind in her hair
So she let the phone keep ringing as she sat there softly singing
Pretty nursery rhymes she'd memorised in her daddy's easy chair.

The evening sun touched gently on the eyes of Lucy Jordan
On the roof top where she climbed when all the laughter grew too loud
And she bowed and curtsied to the man who reached and offered her his hand,
And he led her down to the long white car that waited past the crowd.

At the age of thirty-seven she knew she'd found forever
As she rode along through Paris with the warm wind in her hair ...

Stephen Jones video

In March 2010, 'Hats, an Anthology by Stephen Jones' will start touring the world for the next six years. Its first port of call will be Australia.
A video from the recent Stephen Jones Exhibition at the V&A that I was lucky enough to see in London in May this year, see a Stephen Jones hat made from beginning to end, check this out !

On 25th February 2009, Stephen staged a major exhibition at the V&A, London attracting 100,000 visitors, introducing both fashionistas and novices to the wonderful world of millinery. Working with radical hat designer, Stephen Jones, the V&A presented an 'Anthology of Hats'. Drawn from V&A and international collections and ranging in style and period from a 17th-century Puritan's hat to a 1950s Balenciaga couture piece to hats by Jones and his contemporaries including to the latest creations by young milliners such as Noel Stewart, the exhibition investigated the cultural and historic importance of millinery. The exhibition is arranged in four main themes - Inspiration looks at the myriad of sources including historicism, exoticism and the natural world; Creation explores the techniques, materials and processes; The Salon focuses on the buying and selling of hats and the millinery shop; and The Clients which examines the wearing and etiquette of hats and features headgear worn by well known clients of some of the world's top milliners including Gala Dali, Isabella Blow, Anna Piaggi, Dita von Teese.

How to Line a Hat

This is a vintage style faux fur beret that I made recently - I have photographed the stages in making a lining for a soft shape hat. Here I have used a bright pink silk satin as a lining which makes for a pretty dramatic finished effect. Best to hand sew a lining in I find as the end result is always nicer. Petersham headband has a canvas layer to help keep it stiff and stay put. To make the lining just cut (using the same pattern as the hat) from thin fabric as if the fabric lining is too heavy it will alter the size of the hat. I usually use a thin silk as I have here. Keep all the seams together, pin into place and hand sew as illustrated.