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

A special millinery make for Easter & a workshop!

It's time I gave you something pretty to make - just in time for Easter. And no, I'm not talking about an Easter bonnet....they're sooooo two centuries ago! Instead I give you the Spring flower hairpin which you can create in abundance and scatter through your hair however you choose. These flowers are crafted using a vintage technique that I discovered when I purchased a 1930's satin nightdress-case a few years back. The flowers had been worked in pale pink ribbon, but I prefer something more vivid and real looking, so this is my modern take on the technique. I hope you like it. Please share your pics on my Chic on a Shoestring Book Facebook page. I'd love to see the flowers you come up with.

You'll need. Cotton organdie fabric (I get mine from The Cloth House on Berwick Street in London) - 25cm will make lots of flowers. Scissors, needle and thread, felt-tip pins, hairpins, a scrap of felt, and a gluegun. A small paintbrush and some water.

Cut your organdie into strips around 40cm long and 5cm wide. Then fold in half along the length. Use the felt-tip pens to add colour along once side and blend using some water and the paintbrush. Allow to dry.

Use a double thread with a knot on the end and stitch as shown along the raw edge for about 6/7cm then gather up the thread to make a petal. Repeat the process to make a second petal.

Continue all the way along the strip until you have made several petals just like the strip below. Don't worry about it curling up. It will naturally do that.

Arrange the petals in a circle as shown stitching through the centre to hold in place.

Make a little loop of thread and form into a figure of eight as shown.

Stitch into the centre of your flower and chop through the ends of the two loops. This creates stamens. You can scrunch the flower in your hand to give it more of a textured finish. The organdie will hold the shape well.

Use the glue gun to stick each flower to a hairpin and cover with a tiny circle of felt on the back.

Pop in your hair and celebrate the Spring! 

If you'd like to learn lots more about this method and create a unique floral millinery headpiece using other vintage techniques, then sign up for my workshop taking place on Saturday 2nd April at my friends' beautiful Scottish wildflower farm - Scotia Seeds in Farnell (near Montrose in Angus). It costs £55 for the day all in, and there will be homemade soup for lunch and endless tea and coffee! 

For further details please email me: maryjanemillinery@hotmail.co.uk - it would be lovely to see you there. 

XX

Dorothee L'a Fait

"Even tiny objects can be interesting, sensual and rich," says Dorothee

I first got to know Dorothee when I worked as a reporter for the BBC in Brussels over ten years ago. Dorothee had a part-time job at an enticing little shop full of tastefully curated vintage finds and curios near the square in Ixelles where I lived.  One day I went in wearing a '50's dress handed down to me by my Aunt. The dress is gorgeous. Black and white, it has a little Peter Pan collar and is covered in writing (although interestingly none of the words make sense). Dorothee remarked on my outfit and just like that, we became friends. She was my only non-BBC acquaintance in Brussels, and as a costume designer and artist, her world fascinated me. Moreover, she was an inspirational and lovely person.

Dorothee grew up in a bohemian household in Paris. It was perfectly normal for her parents to hold colour-themed soirees and even dinners were cooked according to shade and tone. It's hardly surprising then that colour is Dorothee's passion. One of her recent projects has been to create a series of silk flower corsages all hand dyed and sewn. The flowers are completely unique and many have been made with a specific person in mind using colours that complement them. Each flower is numbered and named after the person who owns it. You can see my beautiful specimen here below.

Here you can see some of the pretty headpieces from Dorothee's new collection. She has become fascinated by millinery and her hats are a wonderful showcase for the handmade flowers she loves to create. 

Dorothee's atelier is full of intriguing objects. Her training in costume design means she has a keen eye for unusual detail and I just love the way she groups things together. A visit to her flat is such a treat - a feast for all the senses!

Dorothee's latest collection features beautiful bridal pieces. Delicate and fragile in appearance each one is made carefully by hand and they seem somehow to spread a little magic.  I love the way that Dorothee sees her work. "Hats can transform a person and reveal hidden things about them," she says. I couldn't agree more!

Beautiful single flowers below made for a special day - each one formed by hand.

Find out more about Dorothee's work by looking at her website - just click on the link.

A visit to Legeron - Paris

Whilst studying millinery professionally some 12 years ago now, I visited Paris and the house of Legeron which is renowned for its handmade flowers. The atelier first opened in 1727 and was taken over by the current owner's Great Grandfather in 1880. The business has remained in the same family ever since. Bruce Legeron (pictured above) is now at the  artistic helm of the business.  Famous couture houses such as Dior, Givenchy, and Dries Van Noten adorn their collections with the gorgeous blooms created here.

I had such vivid memories of my first visit to Legeron that I was determined to go there again during my Mobile Makery tour and what's more, this time, I wanted to see behind-the-scenes. I had another special reason for learning more as my Belgian friend Dorothée had recently acquired an incredible flower-making press and all the accompanying tools from a milliner in Brussels who'd sadly decided to sell up. Dorothée wanted to find out as much as she could about the art and craft of couture flower-making, and so we decided to go to Legeron together.

The atelier itself occupies two floors of an incredibly romantic old building. Go up the wooden stairs which smell of melted wax and ring the bell. You're led into a room full of hand-made flowers tucked away inside dozens of small drawers lining the walls. The flowers are created from every conceivable material - cotton, silk, plastic, rubber, leather - and come in every shade of every colour. Dorothée and I had made an appointment so that we could meet the famous Monsieur Legeron ourselves but to our disappointment he wasn't there. Our 'behind-the-scenes' visit was looking unlikely until the company's website designer (the son of one of the women who make the flowers!) gallantly stepped into the breach and offered to show us around. 

First we saw fabric stretched out on wooden frames ready to be stiffened with (mostly) gelatine. Then we were shown how the petals are stamped out (there are hundreds of different shapes) ready to be individually dyed.

It's Mr Legeron himself who hand-dyes the petals. His tiny workshop is at the heart of the atelier and it has more than a touch of magic about it. Tints of different shades are created and then painted onto each petal. As you can see from the picture below, every flower has a unique top-secret 'recipe' to determine its finished appearance. Shhh.......don't tell a soul! The petals are left to dry slowly overnight.

Next, the petals go to the workroom where a small expert team assembles each flower using a variety of heated metal tools to coax the flat forms into life. It takes about 10 years to become fully apprenticed. The longest-serving member of staff has been at Legeron for 40 years. In a world where skill has been replaced by speed it's a reminder that true quality doesn't come cheap.

Leather 'fabric' adorned with 3D flowers.

My friend Dorothée proudly modelling a Legeron silk bloom.

Already entranced by our mini tour of Legeron, Dorothée and I were in for another treat. Our guide went and rummaged around in a back room and came back with a large ledger. Inside were original sketches for hats dating back to the 1950's detailing the trims with which they were to be adorned. Take a peek for yourselves here below!

It's enough to get a girl hatting again!