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hatty award winner

2009 Hatty Award Winner

List of Skills
Jan sometimes combines
skills or renames classes.
This list gives a generic
title to skills taught
from time-to-time, in
venues internationally:

Blocking Straw and Felt
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Sewn Braid Hats —
Straw, Lace,
Laminates, Horsehair
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Sinamay and Silk Straw
— Blocking and
Free-form Styling
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Flat Felt Skirting (Yardage)
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Wire Construction
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Wet Shaping Buckram
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Covering Buckram
Pre-shaped Forms
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Big Buckram Brims
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French Silk Flowermaking
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Make Your Own Hatblock
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Unexpected Millinery
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Wonderflex and Fosshape
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Crowns and Brims
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Surface Designed
Fabrics for Hatmaking

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Featherwork: Wisps
and Mounts

PRIVATE LESSONS
We are pleased to offer private lessons in our atelier, here in Wilmington, North Carolina.  There is a one-day minimum, with most attendees wishing to stay two to five days.  You choose what skills you would like to study and how long you would like to stay.   With few exceptions fee includes millinery supplies needed in class.  We are happy to discuss what we think are time minimums based on what you would like to study.  Contact us for fees, available dates, and any questions about courses of individualized study.
EMAIL US

2013 Hatmaking Classes by Jan Wutkowski, Millinery Artist
Dates are added throughout the year — please check back regularly.

Please Note: Some venues may not list these classes until close to the dates they will be presented.  Continue to check the ”Registration Information” sites or contact the venue for registration.
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May 18-19, 2013
Spruill Center For the Arts, 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, GA 30338

Hat Shapes Using Wet Buckram: 

Unique cocktail and fascinator headpiece shapes are the goal for this fashion forward millinery class.  Learn to use buckram, a woven millinery foundation, to wet shape your hat frames. Many hat styles possible and all are student created. Wiring frames and covering with domette are also important parts of the class.  To complete your hats, learn pleating, smocking and ruching  to cover the hat frames in luscious fabrics and also how to make pretty linings. Two hats will be made in class. Individual coaching for all skill levels will be available.

REGISTER HERE (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for registration).

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June 8-9, 2013
Southwest School of Art, 300 Augusta, San Antonio, TX

Dyeing to Make Hats

Easy to use, non-toxic professional dyes will be used to dye a hood (sleeve/cone) and several lengths of millinery straw yardage: sinamay, jinsin, paris cloth, silk straw and/or raffia cloth.  Techniques include gradient dyeing, vat dyeing, painting/stamping, and free-form (tie-dye) dyeing.  Make your straws unique in color, shading, design!  Time permitting we will create one free-form styled hat from the straw.

REGISTER HERE (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for registration).

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June 22-23, 2013
Jacksonville Center for the Arts,
220 Parkway Lane South, Suite 1, Floyd, Virginia, 24091

Hatmaking: Blocking Straws and Felts

Interested in creating beautiful big brimmed straw hats for Summer and close fitting felt cloches for Winter? This fun-filled class allows you to use traditional millinery hatblocks, in varying shapes, to steam block straws and felts into fabulous hats.  Learn about different kinds of straw and felt, blocking techniques, adding petersham headsize ribbon, wiring brim edges, and some pretty embellishment techniques.  This class is all about old-world millinery techniques not embellishing pre-made hats.  Anyone from complete beginners to more experienced hatmakers can learn from this class. Very basic sewing skills recommended.

REGISTER HERE (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for registration).

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July 12-13, 2013
Judith M. Millinery Supplies, 104 S Detroit St, La Grange, IN 46761

French Flowermaking:

French flowermaking is an age-old process of creating beautiful flowers from specialized tools and rich fabrics. Each heated tool is used to shape fabric petals, leaves, and stems, as well as the textures associated with each flower part. Learn the secrets to prepping and stabilizing fabrics, cutting, shaping and assembly of each petal and part. In this class you will be making 2-3 flowers using the radius head, rattail, spoon, hammer, and knife. Patterns for 3 flowers, stamens and wire will be used along with natural fabric choices--silk, cotton, linen, rayon, bamboo, and lightweight woolen--to create your flowers.

REGISTER HERE (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for registration).

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Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, 2982 Adeline Street Berkeley, CA 94703

July 24-25, 2013
Shaded French Flowers:
Interested in creating more natural looking flowers for your hats or home decor?  Learn not only two methods of creating beautiful hand-made flowers using heated flowermaking tools, but learn tips and techniques for shading, granulation, and mark making.  You will learn how to use the various heated tools to create petals full of curls and veining, but also how to add further realism to the flowers by adding color and shading for beauty and depth of perception.  Two assembly techniques will offer you choices on entirely different types of flower backs, important in how they are used on hats, garments and home decor. Patterns for flowers included in class materials--rose and camilla.

REGISTER HERE for Shaded French Flowers (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for registration).

July 26-27 , 2013
Buckram Hats — Pre-Formed and Wet-Shaped:

Create two fabric covered hats using techniques for working with a millinery foundation material--buckram.  Learn not only the different types of buckram available, but about pre-formed shapes/frames as well.  One hat will be created from a selection of commercially available pre-formed shames; additionally you will design your own hat frame using the wet-shaping method.  Learn to cut designs, wire the shapes, cover with domette, and ultimately several fabric manipulation techniques to beautifully and uniquely cover your hat frames. Linings will also be demonstrated. Both hats will be small cocktail or fascinator type hats, but bigger shapes (and the differences in covering with fabrics) will be discussed in class.

REGISTER HERE for Buckram Hats (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for registration).

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July 28, 2013
Wayne Wichern Millinery
Studios 7/8, Peninsula Art Institute
1777 California Drive, Burlingame (San Francisco), CA 94010

Abstract Shaping — Wire, Straw & Felt

Using millinery capelines and hoods, create unique hats with just a few simple guidelines. Attendees will choose felt or straw as the base, then use millinery wire to experiment with line, shape, and contour in less-than-traditional ways. Completed pieces can then be used as cocktail or fascinator type headpieces or as embellishment to other hats. Discover this new-found technique of working with traditional millinery materials. One, possibly two hats can be created in this one-day class. This is not "traditional" free-form styling, but a new twist (pardon the pun) on that idea.

REGISTER HERE (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for registration).

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July 29, 2013
Wayne Wichern Millinery
Studios 7/8, Peninsula Art Institute
1777 California Drive, Burlingame (San Francisco), CA 94010

Feather Flowers

Create a lovely large feather flower for use on your hats or garments. Learn what feathers work best for various effects in creating a light-weight flower. Trimming and shaping techniques will offer further ways to make a unique and beautiful feather flower with lots of visual interest. Flowers will be approximately 6"-8" across. Demonstrations on curling and bending various feathers also included in this fabulous feather day!

REGISTER HERE (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for registration).

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September 14-15, 2013
The Art League School/Torpedo Factory
105 North Union Street Alexandria, Virginia 22314

Block Party — Open Studio Hat Blocking

Beginning through advanced milliners will enjoy this class of blocking straws and felts over traditional hat blocks. The Studio will make available over a dozen new and vintage hat blocks to use over the weekend. Beginners will learn the very basics of steam blocking and more advanced students have an opportunity to block as many hats as they like over the more complex hat blocks. Each will progress at their own comfort level. Learn about the blocking differences in felts, straws and other millinery mediums; puzzle blocks; shaping and couture finishing techniques for incredible hats. Many hat styles. Individual coaching for all skill levels will be available.

REGISTER HERE (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for registration).

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September 22-28, 2013
Arrowmont School for Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway Gatlinburg, TN 37738

Hats, Textiles, Straws to Dye For

Immerse yourself into a weeklong study of millinery techniques, surface design/fabric manipulation, and multiple methods of dying straw for hats.  Firstly, learn to dye natural straw millinery forms and yardage, add some fabric manipulation (slashing, overlaying, dissolving, etc.) to create rich textiles for embellishment, and finally learn some old-world steaming, blocking, and free-form millinery techniques to create a number of unique hats.  A rare combination of skills that beginner to advanced milliners and surface design students will appreciate.  Many styles of hats, many embellishment options, and m,any colors and hues will be combined for beautiful, even quirky resulting headpieces.  Fun and inventive!

REGISTER HERE (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for registration).

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October 19-20, 2013
Spruill Center For the Arts, 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, GA 30338

Gatsby Cloches & Flapper Feathers 

The cloche has been a popular hat style since its debut in the 1920's and has been revived by this year's movie adaptation of The Great Gatsby.  Learn about different cloche styles (yes, there are many) plus numerous techniques for embellishing your hats with fabulous feather pieces.  You'll cut, curl and combine different kinds of feathers for striking effect.  Straw or felt hats will be made to fit and flatter your head and face.  Basic handsewing skills recommended.

REGISTER HERE (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for more information).

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November 15-16, 2013
Cynthias Fine Fabrics, 8126 N. University Dr., Tamarac (Ft. Lauderdale), FL 33321

Fabric Covered Fascinators, Hats & Bridal

Unique cocktail and fascinator headpiece shapes are the goal for this fashion forward millinery class. Firstly, learn to use buckram, a woven millinery foundation, in pre-formed hat frames. Many hat styles possible included pillbox, Juliet, boater and other traditional styles. Secondly, create your own unique shape using wet buckram techniques. Wiring frames and covering with domette are also important parts of the class. To complete your hats, learn pleating, smocking and ruching to cover the hat frames in luscious fabrics and also how to make pretty linings. Two hats will be made in class. Techniques from this class can be transferred to big brimmed 'church' hats. Individual coaching for all skill levels will be available.

REGISTER HERE (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for more information).

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November 17, 2013
Cynthias Fine Fabrics, 8126 N. University Dr., Tamarac (Ft. Lauderdale), FL 33321

French Flowermaking

French flowermaking is an age-old process of creating beautiful flowers from specialized tools and rich fabrics. Each heated tool is used to shape fabric petals, leaves, and stems, as well as the textures associated with each flower part. Learn the secrets to prepping and stabilizing fabrics, cutting, shaping and assembly of each petal and part. In this class you will be making 2-3 flowers using the radius head, rattail, spoon, hammer, and knife. Patterns for 3 flowers, stamens and wire will be used along with natural fabric choices--silk, cotton, linen, rayon, bamboo, and lightweight woolen--to create your flowers.

REGISTER HERE (You will be taken to the venue’s webite for more information).

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Please contact us if you are interested in having Jan make a proposal to teach in your area — including internationally.  Contact us at jan@hatshatshats.com or 910-397-9099.