Millinery ABHats 2014 hats and trims

It has taken me about 2 years to learn how to do machine embroidery. I wanted to learn it so I could utilize it in making trims for my millinery business. Here are some examples now that I finally have a machine that works well and I know how to do it.

The purple ribbon was made with a rolled edge setting on my Baby lock Serger.

These flowers were stitched out onto shimmery organza with an outline stitch. I added the purl centers. the hat is a blush color which the flash washed out a bit in the picture.

This hat has millinery grade flower which I did not make but will soon be making some and posting those pictures as well. Enjoy. I'm headed over to Not Dead Yet Style Blog to see what everyone else has been up to.

The Southwestern skirt in the Northeastern weather.

southwest/northwest jewelery

Frye boots bought them in 1979

Sometime when I vend I don't know what to wear. I know I need to wear a hat but what to wear it with? This recent show was cold and windy so I wanted to wear my long skirt. It has southwestern colors and I thought it would be a good foil for my southwestern jewelery collection. I also wanted to wear my vintage Frye boots.

What to wear to a funeral; they requested something red!

I am going to a funeral next week. Something sad that I must do. The family requested that those who attend wear the person's favorite color which was red. It is not mandatory but 'why not?' I asked myself.  I don't own a red dress, I do own a red skirt and blouse but together they looked too matronly. So I found this one at Kholes 
At a funeral I am to look conservative and not like a fashion statement, however I don't think I need to aim for dowdy either. Some bling I think will be okay. Some of the family at this funeral will be wearing hats so I can do that too. Here are some of the looks I came up with:

Black jacket with red accessories

black/white jacket with black accessories

dress and coat don't match

Black sweater with leopard accessories

black sweater with black accessories and hat

 The outfit I like the best is the last one with the hat. I will wear a smile and that will last until the church choir starts to sing. If it rains I will pop a neutral trench coat over the dress and sweater and the hat will stay home. I will wear neutral hose as I think it is not warm enough yet to go bare-legged.  What do you think is is respectful enough?

Lateral thinking versus linear thinking and the creative process

Lateral thinking versus linear thinking.
If Linear Thinking is nose-down, get it done, then Lateral Thinking is taking a step back to look at the Big Picture.  To paraphrase a famous Chinese poem, Linear Thinking sees trees and Lateral Thinking sees the forest.Ever wonder what inspires people.  I like to create, the process, the planning the execution and trying to make the elements of the project do what I want them to. Solving problems in the creation process is fun too. 
If I end up with what I tried to create, well that is icing on the cake.
I tend to have multiple projects going on at once. They often can influence each other. For instance I have some beautiful small pieces of wood that have been finished into geometric shapes. Originally I just strung them on a chain to have a necklace. Now I'm thinking of linking them with leather to make a hat band.


Hats hats hats currently I'm working on some Fedora style hats in panama straw. I was hung up on how I wanted to finish the brims, what size brims to make etc. Well I decided to keep the brims larger and to simply bind the edges with Petersham and make the head bands classic Petersham bow or tie. Sometimes doing less on a hat is more. The texture of the straw and the colors are enough I don't need any fancy hat band or trim.
So you can see that my thinking style isnt necessarily linear or lateral but perhaps horizontal. I jump back an forth from projects. When I get stuck on one project I change direction and work on another only to come back to the original project usually with a new solution. How do you create what is your thinking process?  And while I ponder all of this you can see me on Not Dead Yet Style 





 

Grapeful at the Wine Festival

I wore this white gauzy skirt with a denim shirt over a turquoise  camisole. I added some necklaces and in honor of the grapes a purple hat. This is a reinterpretation of a Chico's look I posted before. I didn't wear a hip  belt because I didn't think the shirt was long enough and I was already wearing two necklaces.I was cool yet covered so I didn't get sunburned. I would like to find this shirt without the breast pockets, I think that would look better on me.

Chico's original look