Christmas Hat Making Class

On a chilly Saturday in central London, fifteen ladies came to Liberty’s Heritage Suite to get crafty!

Part of the hugely popular ‘Liberty Stitch’ season of craft, knitting and sewing workshops, we went along to a Christmas Millinery class to learn how to create a handcrafted headband or fabulous fascinator – guaranteed to win us a kiss under the Mistletoe!

Led by milliner extraordinaire, vintage lover and acclaimed craft writer Mary Jane Baxter, the class was a mix of experienced ‘Stitch’-ers and first timers – some who had come from as far afield as Moscow!

After warming up with a cup of coffee and delicious pastries from Café Liberty, Mary Jane kicked off proceedings by teaching us exactly how to wear a vintage headpiece. More tricky than it sounds, we found out simply pulling the strap under your chin was a definite no-no – you must fasten it at the back for a one-way ticket to forties chic.

Once we’d got that covered, she showed us how to fashion beautiful flowers from a pair of old tights, some wire and superglue, and how to arrange them on a headband or fascinator. Then, it was up to us to create our own knockout headpiece.

The class descended on the huge piles of glittering trims, printed fabrics and ribbons laid out for us to use, and got cracking. Two sisters – crafting pros who had been to every session – even brought in a lamp so they could work in detail! As craft novices, we were worried our flowers would wilt rather than bloom, but even we managed to make a pretty bouquet.

With the class in full swing, Mary walked around as everyone worked and chatted, offering guidance and encouragement. A former BBC journalist, one day the hat bug got the better of her, and she decided to study millinery professionally, sharpening her skills with hat-maker to the stars Stephen Jones. With a passion for all things vintage, she had some great tips for creating glamorous headgear. The key was ‘to keep things simple’ and ‘make it up as you go along – don’t worry if it doesn’t end up as you originally imagined it!’

With this in mind, everyone improvised – sprinkling glitter onto flowers for a bit of sparkle, curling mesh around hat wire to make something outlandish. To keep our energy levels up, a welcome tower of freshly baked scones, clotted cream and jam were brought in mid-afternoon – the perfect partner to an afternoon of crafting.

So did anyone make a masterpiece? At the end of the class, everyone got together to try on and show off their designs. From flowery headbands perfect for the office party to glittering fascinators made for cocktail hour – the results were all so different, but amazing! Well done to everyone in the class – and thanks to Mary for her stellar teaching!

Liberty Stitch will continue in 2011 from February- June – see the timetable of classes.

Find out more about Mary Jane Millinery on her blog.