Miniature hats, mountain views, and a hint of steampunk

This week I got to spend a wonderful day with my friend Lucy, launching her millinery modelling career and having a long overdue catch-up.

A lot of my previous photoshoots have remained close to home, or my model's homes, to allow for costume changes to suit different hats. And by close, I mean in the front or back garden!

But I have been itching for better backgrounds. And there are so many wonderful locations nearby. We remained at the one lookout on this day, and still had a diverse set of backdrops to make use of.

I love how Lucy looks like a stylin' lady pirate-adventurer who has skipped off her boat and high-tailed it into the bush to escape the law, or something.

As well as the miniature tricorne, Lucy also modelled a miniature top hat. Both share a slightly steampunky look, in my mind, with a nod to the 18th century in the tricorne, and the 19th in the top hat.

Photos like this make me pause and think, "Do I really live here?" Gosh I'm a lucky girl!

As well as mini hats, this photoshoot came with a mini meltdown too. We organised it less than a week in advance, and I set myself the task of trying to finish a whole bunch of partially-complete hats.

Naturally that didn't happen, and despite the calming tones of my beloved husband saying that everything would be alright in the end, because it always is, I stressed out. In the end I finished a few, which I'll be sharing in subsequent posts. To make more of the day, I also borrowed some, like these two miniature hats, from the Blackheath Hub, where they a currently for sale.

So it did, after all, turn out alright in the end.

As well as acknowledging that my husband is a wise, wise man, I need to work on getting stress-out issue under control. Unfortunately, it adds up to more than just stress, because it is almost always followed by me coming down with a cold. And these days, I can't just lie in bed until it's over!

Adapting my life and business to parenthood is taking some time and experimentation. The process seems to just involve me scaling my work back more and more and still finding it to be too much.

The millinery and the blog are not going anywhere, because I value what it gives me far too much. But the shape of things, or at least the speed, will be changing all the time until I reach an arrangement that is sustainable for me and my family.

One thing is for sure, when I do get to do a lovely photoshoot like this, I'm going to milk it for all the blog time it is worth! So luckily for you, you get to keep seeing this lady's beautiful face for a while.

And now for my favourite photo of the entire day...

Thank you all for your comments, which make writing the blog an extra-rewarding experience! I do apologise for not commenting as much on your blogs as I used to, but I am still reading them and enjoying them.

Shop Update: Another 7 Hats

My hat-a-day rate has slowed, but I have added 7 more hats to my online shop, so I thought I'd show them off again.

First up, two more hats from my exploration of 1960s faux fur hats. I love the look of the fun cheetah spots, and this grey faux fur is so soft and such a rich colour.

My first exploration into sinamay is finally in the shop now too. This one makes me think of eucalyptus leaves, despite the flower, because of the rich dark green and a pale silvery green together.

Nothing subtle about this one mini top hat. I was obsessed with carousel animals at the time, and this is my "Carousel Rooster". I love it, but it is quite a bold statement!

After mini top hats, one of the other fabric-covered hat shapes I had fun exploring was miniature tricornes. I only finished these two off late last year. This one in red, black and silver, is called "Lady Maria."

And this one is "Countess Charlotte." Mostly black and cream, with highlights of gold and dark green. She has a gathered facing, which is one of my favourite finishes for underneath brims.

To finish, we have a simple and understated 1920s cloche. No trims, just hand-shaped folds in the felt. I do love this one!

Shop updates will be thin for a while as I work on a custom project and getting some hats ready to put into a local shop in just a couple of weeks. It's going to be a busy time!

Shop Update - 7 hats in 7 days (and counting)

With my productivity decreased lately, due to my being "in the family way", I seem to have compensated by having plenty of energy for planning and for buying. It is easier to consume than create.

In all my constant browsing of Lovely Things That I Might Like To Buy, I was very tempted by a large lot of vintage hats in need of repair.

While I didn't originally have any intention of selling actual vintage hats, as I immerse myself in research, I've come to admire and covet them more than ever, and my work on rescuing and restoring the sad unloved hats of the world has come to mean more to me. Expanding that mission appeals to me.

But I was strict with myself. It's one thing to say you are too tired to create, but it is another to excuse the fact that I have DOZENS of hats that are made but not listed in my shop. So I set myself a target. To list one hat in my online shop each day for the next week. And I am rather pleased with myself, because I have achieved it!

Let me introduce you to some of the new and not-so-new hats I've listed this week. (Because I was making as an aimless hobby for a while without having the shop, some of these are from last year or even earlier.)

Both of these featured on the blog last year. The purple twirls was one of two hats I made while re-exploring jinsin, and the straw hat I began making in England when I did a day of tutoring with Bobbi Heath.

These two I showed earlier this year, for my weekend of 1920s fun., but I only just got around to taking some more photos and putting them into the shop.

Photography by Carys Arnold

Miniature top hats were the very first type of hat I made properly. I was pretty happy with how they turned out, and all the fun different looks you could achieve with different fabrics and trims, so I made a lot of them! This one is called "Winterwood" (after a Don McLean song) and I couldn't resist editing one of the photos a lot to suit the theme of the hat.

Another of my mini top hats. This one went in a vampiresque direction, possibly on purpose, possibly just because I wanted to use red veiling.

And this one I only did a few months ago. It actually started with the intention of a sixties direction with that little "visor" at the front, but when worn, it was looking much closer to the 1920s, so I changed path and added the diamond shapes at the sides.

Having achieved my goal, I'm still cautious about whether to claim my "prize" of allowing myself to indulge in the vintage hat purchase. I realised, however, that I have at least 20 more hats made and waiting to be photographed and listed, so I'll keep working away at it, and see how I feel! I'm thinking of celebrating the completion of this task with a giveaway, which will be my first. I'm quite excited by the idea.

What do you think about adding restored vintage hats to my shop, alongside my own creations?