HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN HAT
I regard hats as part of getting dressed, not luxuries for occasions. So an invitation to milliner Katherine Elizabeth’s Hatter’s Tea Party, where you create your own headpiece while indulging in a champagne tea, sounded like heaven.
With a feast of felt, beads, buttons, ribbon, lace and an aviary of feathers, I could have been overwhelmed, but a triangle of red felt caught my eye. It was summer and most guests were making fascinators, but I believe you should only acquire pieces you fall in love with, regardless of the season.
The material was partly curved into a dome, but I moulded, folded and stitched, guided by instinct and inspired by the 1930s – tweed suits nipped in at the waist, and fi lmnoir heroines in jaunty hats. Experts were on hand with tips, such as how to curl a feather. I chose black trimmings: a rose I fashioned out of lace, a question mark of a feather, a whisper of net, suggestive of a veil.
I knew it would be fun, but I didn’t expect to produce a beautiful item that I’d treasure. I have worn it to dinners, a ball, a wedding, and it turns heads. I have also worn my hat to work: as I stood on a platform channelling Brief Encounter, commuters smiled at me. A few complimented me, gushing on being told that I had made it. A dash of style with your signature brightens up a mundane journey and makes people connect: what more can you ask of a homemade hat?
Katherine Elizabeth Millinery, Studio 53, Craft Central, 33-35 St Johns Square, London EC1: 07866-552818, www.katherine elizabethhats.com
For details of The Lady Events Hatter’s Tea Party click here
With a feast of felt, beads, buttons, ribbon, lace and an aviary of feathers, I could have been overwhelmed, but a triangle of red felt caught my eye. It was summer and most guests were making fascinators, but I believe you should only acquire pieces you fall in love with, regardless of the season.
The material was partly curved into a dome, but I moulded, folded and stitched, guided by instinct and inspired by the 1930s – tweed suits nipped in at the waist, and fi lmnoir heroines in jaunty hats. Experts were on hand with tips, such as how to curl a feather. I chose black trimmings: a rose I fashioned out of lace, a question mark of a feather, a whisper of net, suggestive of a veil.
I knew it would be fun, but I didn’t expect to produce a beautiful item that I’d treasure. I have worn it to dinners, a ball, a wedding, and it turns heads. I have also worn my hat to work: as I stood on a platform channelling Brief Encounter, commuters smiled at me. A few complimented me, gushing on being told that I had made it. A dash of style with your signature brightens up a mundane journey and makes people connect: what more can you ask of a homemade hat?
Katherine Elizabeth Millinery, Studio 53, Craft Central, 33-35 St Johns Square, London EC1: 07866-552818, www.katherine elizabethhats.com
For details of The Lady Events Hatter’s Tea Party click here