If I Had My Own Blue Box:

This Summer’s Millinery: Shades of Blue

I found it a little funny that when it finally got truly hot here and my head was screaming at me for it, that I was working on a bonnet whose trims reminded me of blue ice. I don’t know if anyone else sees the icy in the shades of blue or not.

The bonnet has a ribbon with satin, moire and grosgrain weaves – A nice find of the client. It made for a very, very cool bavolet with the diagonal stripes. It was so very full of body, I was tempted not to line it. But, couldn’t let myself do that. Take a look at those awesome deep blue velvet flowers. These are really stunning in person. I love the wild roses.

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on July 11, 2015 at 11:26 pm Comments (2)

Perfectly Pink Straw Hat with Calla Lilies

I’ve had a pink and green hat stuck in my head for weeks. I kept putting it off because I thought I was nuts to want to line the underside of the brim with a multi-color silk. Well, I couldn’t shake it. So, here it is.

It is a little sweet, a little spring and a whole lot of pretty.

The pink and green silk taffeta wraps around the brim edge and lines the underside. To be happy, I had to get the stripes as lined up as possible.

There are two pink silk ribbons. The soft, true pink the crown with a triple bow in back. A second petal pink ribbon is underneith to help tie the hat behind your hair.

A trio of white velvet calla lilies are the it piece. The velvet has just a touch of pink and the centers are beaded. I set the in a row to emphasize the curve of the hat.

This hat is currently available on Etsy.

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on July 11, 2015 at 4:15 pm Comments (3)

Canandaigua Lady Excursion

Friday provided the perfect weather for our Canandaigua Lady Excursion. It was in the low 80s, the sky was a beautiful blue decorated with little fluffy clouds and there was just the right amount of breeze. (See a just right breeze ) Given how wet it has been so far this summer, we were quite lucky.

We started our afternoon off with a little picnic in the park near the landing. I packed a small repast of Spanish cheeses (very tasty, no clue what their name are at the moment), bread, strawberries, tarts and lemon water. I was quite convinced that Jody, Trish and Max’s picnic basket was bottomless. These ladies put together an amazing repast. There were potatoes, cheeses, sausage, chicken, eggs, berries and tarts. Max made this period cheese recipe with mace and port in it. It was incredibly tasty. (I’m hoping she will share where that recipe is.) Jody did a tasty twist on lemonade with mint and lavender. The lavender really set it off. I will be stealing that idea.

Here we all are as we head over to the landing to board. (Devon is behind the camera.

More photos:

Waiting to board.

Leaving dock. (Also another nice picnic spot.)

Devon

Trish

Jody

The paddles

Marsha. (I didn’t get one of just Nick)

Looking towards Bristol.

Max

Ann and Devon

Devon

I hope everyone had a lovely time. I look forward to having more get-togethers like this in the future.

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on July 11, 2015 at 10:52 am Comments (1)

State of the Summer Update:

~ I am roughly 3/7ths of the way to my summer financial goal. I have a colorful teapot helping me with keeping track of this. Thank you all for your support and requests.
~ I have a trio of pieces waiting for their trims to arrive.
~ I have a handful of requests on the board which I think will take me through July. Two are new to me.
~ I will start to taking August requests. I will also start taking winter millinery requests soon. (I know it is hard to think of the cold. But, with some big Christmas & winter events coming, requesting early is a good idea.)
~ I have greatly lapsed in writing. Blog posts have been mostly photos with little text. My goal of posting a crunchy article each week has flopped. I apologize for that.
~ Likewise, I have not written a single bit for the new patterns. I do hope to get you at least one of those this fall.
~ I do still plan to hold the FanU related event this summer. More on that soon.

~~~ Thank you all for you support and encouragement. I do enjoy making each of your bonnets and hats. It is just a little scary relying on handwork for income even for a few months. I do love hearing your stories when your millinery arrives and wen you get to wear it.

(Here is to hoping there aren’t too many phone typos.)

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on July 9, 2015 at 9:57 am Comments (1)

This Summer’s Millinery: A Fluffy Confection

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever put this many flowers on a single bonnet. But, it worked. This bonnet is light and airy both in the way it looks and the way it wears. It is a Marie Stewart shape with the flowers decorating the inside and out. The client and I had lots of fun picking out the flowers.

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on July 8, 2015 at 10:11 am Leave a Comment

This Summer’s Millinery – Early 50s in Pansies

This bonnet was a delight to decorate. As soon a she asked for it to be decorated, an idea popped into my head for the pansies I just couldn’t shake. It turns out they were the perfect choice. I’ll let her share the reason if she wishes. I am just so delighted I was able to do something with extra special meaning.

This is an early 50s straw with a berry double face satin ribbon by Hyman Hendler and velvet pansies. The facing is a neutral silk taffeta to set off the color of the pansies. The bavolet is a pale gold silk lined with net.