Perfect Summer Hats and the Very Best of People

Last weekend was the final workshop in my Helen St studio.  From now on, all my own scheduled classes will be held upstairs at GJ's in East Brunswick, and I'll be teaching about the traps in places like Addicted to Fabric in Canberra, Bargain Box in Mornington and Kimono House in the city.

 

 

I love hat workshops - so much less complicated than a bag, so satisfying to see all the finished hats being worn and enjoyed at the end of the day. 

 

Hats are something I know an awful lot about (I have non-crafty friends who still think that I make hats for a living, because that's what I did for a very long time... and for some reason, they never quite cottoned on to the sewing pattern idea).  I know lots of tips to make handmade hats look super sharp and snappy, and lots of time-saving tricks.  My hat patterns are the result of a much-tweaked and much-used pattern, that I have personally used to make thousands of hats. 

 

It's great to see beautiful fabrics coming into the classroom...

 

 

...and leaving at the end of the day as beautiful hat (photographed here in Holly-Hobby obscured profile style to ensure anonymity). 

 

 

What made this one extra-special is that the maker outed herself at the beginning of the class, as a not-very-confident newbie sewing gal.  I think this newbie sewing gal did an amazing job.... as did everyone else in the group.

I have a weekday "Perfect Summer Hats" class scheduled at GJ's and I'll be teaching a hat class in Canberra on Sunday (and you still may be able to get a place on that one - contact Addicted to Fabric if you're interested).

 

 

Yesterday was just a fun, fun day.  What started as Gillian and Jodie's idea to gather a few friends, resulted in 49 crafty blogging chicks descending on a small hall in Ballarat for a day of Crafty Hijinks. 

 

There were door prizes and mini-workshops and food and talk and lots of making.  A few of us set up little shops.

 

I was thrilled to see so many bags made up, using my patterns (2 Belles and a City Bag on my table).

 

And as always, it was a pleasure to see my quilting hero, the amazing and gorgeous Annie.

 

There was so much colour, so much joy in a shared love of making....

 

And we all have these two gorgeous, generous gals to thank for bringing it all together.

 

I love that this looks like the school teacher and the rebellious schoolgirl in confrontation... it was nothing of the sort.  These girls smiled and laughed all day!