Sunday 1 May 2016

Vintage millinery workshop in Montrose

I was thrilled to finally offer a hat-making workshop in my Mum's hometown Montrose on the North East coast of Scotland where regular readers may know I've been living for the last few months. Bambi (aka The Mobile Makery) is almost ready for summer - but not quite - so I was teaching with all mod cons available in an actual house! A group of six novice milliners set out to make one of the projects from my book The Modern Girl's Guide to Hatmaking - and they did fantastically well.


I was demonstrating three main skills on this workshop - two vintage techniques (one pleating ribbon and the other making flowers) plus a simple way of making a birdcage veil. Oh yes - this is where you come to learn the tricks of the trade!


First to be tackled - the pleating technique - which I teach using Petersham ribbon - or grosgrain. It's a great material to use as it takes the pleat well and can be dyed. On this workshop many people elected to use the tea dyed grosgrain which I'd prepared earlier.


Next - we made flowers using cotton organdie (you can see a tutorial for how to make these flowers in an earlier blog entry) which I show people how to colour using pound shop felt tip pens and a wash of water (yes, there's always a chic on a shoestring angle to my work!) Here's a really lovely example of some flowers made by Charlotte - my fabulous chocolate-making friend who also turns out to be a pretty nifty milliner-in-the-making!


Everyone worked really hard - fuelled by homemade soup and a continuous supply of tea and coffee - naturally! 




If you're interested in arranging your own vintage millinery workshop then please get in touch. You too could make something like these ladies. Perfect for those summer weddings and parties! 

Drop me a line: maryjanemillinery@hotmail.co.uk











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