I very rarely take classes myself, being too busy with my own schedule of working and teaching, and also of the philosophy that 'if I can teach myself I learn more in the long run'. Well today was an exception. I have wanted to take a hat making class for ages! In January I found a straw hat class taught by Wayne Wichern, through The Sewing Workshop in San Francisco. This is a 2 day class, today being the first, and next Saturday the second and last day. Wayne is a sweet and soft-spoken teacher, with a wonderful sense of style. You can see from the 1st photo that he has an incredible collection of vintage and new hat blocks. (photo only shows a fraction of his bounty!) The first block I fell in love with was a delightful 'circus-like' conical shape. Wayne's response was, "Well I have never done that in straw, but it might be fun..." (Normally this form is done in felt and the top is pushed in for an indented look) I found a lovely 'old lavender' straw and began the process of stretching and tying.
Second, I found another wild shape, one with 6 indentations (kind of like a flu pipe) - I should have known that Wayne would once again say, "Well I have never tried that in straw, but in might be interesting..." (I have a tendency to push the river when creating - and today was no exception...) This one I decided to first use a black straw, but it was too short to make it all the way down, so I added another straw, tobacco colored this time, to the bottom rungs. This is a photo of the mold, I forgot to photograph the tied piece and will post it next week...
For my third hat I decided I should do something more 'normal' and found a lovely little 'cloche' form. Not wanting it to be completly ordinary, I added a few nips and tucks on top. The straw for this one was hand-dipped so it has a lovely half tone to it.
Last photos are of Wayne showing us the details of Millinery, (I loved that he kept stressing that this art-form is very 'low tech'!) and how one really has to use your whole body to make a hat conform to the blocks...
I have a zillian ideas, including how to make my own blocks, (wooden ones are hard to find and generally expensive). On the way home I went to the local drug store and bought some plastic plant holders and tupper-ware I thought might make interesting shapes... My brain is zooming. But I won't be able to try any new inventions until next week... I am off tomorrow to teach my 'Figural Paper Theater' to 15 women in Petaluma! Have a great Sunday!!!
