London Hat Week
6-12 October 2016

London Hat Week Logo
Registration for London Hat Week Opens on 20 May 2016! Milliners, Hatters and Headwear enthusiasts 6 thru 12th of October 2016 is a great time to be in London. There will be many workshops and events for you to learn new skills, meet master milliners, and talk with like minded people.

If you want to see the master schedule of all the things going on for LHW2016, go to London Hat Week..

If you want to see more about the workshops I am hosting and sign up for them, go to Workshop & Events Page.

Peaks workshop image
Petersham workshop image
Pricing & Spreadsheet tools image 3
Milliner's Roundtable Items

I have enjoyed participating in this event for the last couple of years and each one gets better. Last year I hosted the Milliner’s Question Time and a Milliner’s Roundtable Discussion. Both event were very well received and fun to host. At the end of the week I was knackered while being creatively and emotionally energized!

This year I am again hosting the Milliner’s Roundtable Discussion as well as expanding my offering to include some practical hands on millinery skills in A Study of Peaks and The Milliner’s Ribbon – Petersham. In an effort to keep some balance and since many of us creative/maker types find pricing our products difficult, I thought a course on a Pricing Spreadsheet and Other Useful Tools would be helpful. I love spreadsheets and worked for many years in technical support, training and marketing for spreadsheets.

You may have noticed that there currently isn’t a Milliner’s Question Time (MQT) listed. This may change, however in the meantime, I will work on posting last year’s MQT 2015 podcast with Edwina Ibbotson, Rachel Trevor Morgan and Noel Stewart.

I love the attitude of mutual learning and sharing of ideas that is found during London Hat Week and would love to meet and share ideas about millinery, technology and business with you.

and remember… interesting people wear hats.

Petershams
at Elephant and Castle

Hurray a new millinery supply place in town that is close to me. This could be dangerous.

Back in October, I rode my bike over on a Tuesday and was greeted by the owner Michelle.  Petershams.com has been around awhile online, but has just opened a physical shop at  The Art Works Elephant which is around the corner from the Elephant and Castle tube station in London at Elephant Road & Walworth Road. Look for the orange door inside the courtyard.

Petershams at Art Works Elephant
Petershams look for the orange door

Petershams has a lovely selection of sinamay and feathers.

Sinamay feathers petershams
Sinamy and feathers

Shelves of basic hat bodies, combs, headbands, veiling, etc.

Supplies Petershams
Miscellaneous Millinery Supplies

And a few skeins of strip straw. This red was so amazingly vibrant. I was very tempted, but I already had a table full of feathers, sinamay, and tubular crin.

strip straw Petershams
A few skeins of strip straw

Let us not forget the petersham ribbon.

Petershams
A variety of petersham ribbon

The shop is small and does not have every size of every colour, of every item, but it probably does have something that will work. And if you are in need of ideas, she has a box of vintage hats under the cutting table that are good fun to look at and try on. I thought these two were fun. The red straw with strawberries and the little beehive of tiny blue tubular crin.

red vintage hat petershams
tiny tublecrin vintage hat petershams vintage hats under the cutting table

Michelle is also from California. How many people do you think are from California, living in London and making hats? More than two?

Michelle Petershams
Here is Michelle Osborne the owner of Petershams.com

And if all of this is not enough, Michelle has a new puppy, that can be found in the back workroom. I am sorry that I didn’t get a photo of puppy cuteness.