A Shop of My Own

Tony has built me the most beautiful hat shop/ studio. It's truly a dream come true. This space was once filled with mold and mushrooms and when it rained outside it rained inside. I could never have seen the transformation. One of Tony's many talents. Tony is almost finished building my beautiful cutting table, which will also be my store counter. It is going to divide the shop into store and work space. There will be lots of crossover, but that's the idea. I seem to have a bit of a fabric problem. Admitting it is the first step, right? When I fist saw the wall of shelving, I really thought it would have that nice sparse look. I am still cramming fabric into any available crevice. That's a whole lot of hand dyed silk velvet ribbon. Buying ribbon and fabric is the real reason I make hats. I even get to display some of my beautiful vintage hats on the very top. I have two more tubs in the attic. This chair has been waiting so patiently to live in my studio. I found it on the side of the road a few years back. It looked nothing like this. My friend Aimee at Artisan Upholstery gave it a complete makeover. Staring out the window while I drink coffee and hand sew is one of my favourite things on earth. Now I get to look out at the back harbour of Lunenburg. This summer I will be officially open, but if you are coming to town before then just give me a shout.

Almost Ready

It's really happening. Tony just hung up the first round of hat stands in my new studio. I think I may actually start moving in tomorrow. So, is it true what they say? "If you build it they will come." See you this summer in Lunenburg, right?

A little piece of Happiness

I just can't stop staring at this picture. It was taken by my neighbour, Marc and was then transformed with this .99 app called etchings. That's my house with all those children in front of it, playing in the ginormous snow bank. That's me shoveling and that's my dog, Lego. Every time I look at this photo I realize that I made a dream reality. I wanted to live in a beautiful town on the ocean, where my son could walk out the door and play without me hovering over him. I live on the best street in the world. (at least to me) We have wonderful neighbours and I truly feel like I am in a community. The bank, the post office, the shops, the restaurants and the ocean are a two minute walk away. Of course, I also love this photo because it doesn't show the paint falling off my house and the lack of a proper front door, but those things don't really matter.

A Hat Shop Fit For a Princess

I realize that as long as I have to unload a car full of hat display and set up at markets in the wee hours of the morning that I will never be an actual princess, but I'm pretty darn close these days. I now look at the almost finished hat shop built for me by my wonderful husband, Tony (with only a small amount of attitude) and I have to admit, there aren't as many women as lucky as me. This is the men's hat department. No, I am not making men's hats, but Tony insisted that the cut outs on the bannister be men's hats and so, here you have the men's hat department.

No longer will I have to find fabric in a dark closet. I've got shelving! I look at this beauty and wonder how I will fill it up, but I know I am kidding myself. I have been collecting anything that looks like it might be useful to me at some point in my career for 18 years now and I suspect I'll be whining about not having enough space in no time.

This beautiful corner cabinet/counter actually stores my ugly plastic tubs which I use to carry hats and hat display to shows and markets. No more tubs in the dining room.

As you can see in this photo, the beautiful men's hat department serves the function of protecting customers and myself from falling down the stairs to the basement. I have promised Tony that I will paint that hideous paneling and the stairs. One more reason I am not yet a full fledged princess.

Here is the imaginary shop counter. One of the few remaining projects to be completed before I move in. The counter will look much like the other counters you see, but it will also serve as my cutting table. It will divide the section of the shop that will be the store and the section of the shop that will be my work space. So, next time I blog about my shop you will hopefully see photos of my hats up on the wall, mirrors, painted doors, a counter, victorian light fixtures and a beautiful sign. Poor Tony, he had no idea he was marrying into an indentured life. I'd like to say that at least I'm a good cook (which is kind of true), but Tony actually does a lot of the cooking too. O.K, I'm just a lucky girl. Hope to see you in my new shop in the spring!

Felting a Beret

Happy new year and welcome to my A.D.D. post. This is the time of year where I just can't seem to focus on the work I am supposed to be doing. I think about cleaning my studio after the Christmas season madness, but then I sew a dress, or look at recipes or go for a walk. I'm hard pressed to stay on one activity for any significant length of time. I'm sure this is a reaction to the Uber attention it takes to get through wholesale orders and winter shows, so I'm just going with it for a while. Today's procrastination project was wet felting a beret. I don't know whether you agree, but I thought you might like to see the process a bit. If not to learn how it's done, then to get a glimpse into how insane you need to be to actually make hats this way. It's really fun and messy and takes forever.

I started out by making two felt batts from merino wool roving. You layer whispy pieces of wool over a template. I make four layers per batt. It shrinks a lot, so you need to make them much larger than the finished hat.

The first batt goes on the bottom with the template on top. It is wet down with a soap and water solution.

The second bat is wet down and then the whole thing is flipped.

The seams from the second bat are folded over and wet down and then the fun begins.

I had needle felted this flower to incorporate into the beret. It's not completely felted, so it will attach. I wanted it to be attached both on top and bottom.

Using more soap solution on my hands I rub the whole hat very gently using circular motions. You need to really make sure the seams are well felted. Remember, the bubble wrap template is in the hat, so the insides won't felt together.

Once the wool is not so delicate, I wrap the whole thing up in a large piece of bubble wrap and roll away. I keep unrolling, rearranging the hat and rerolling.

Now it's time to make the head opening and remove the template.

At this point the hat is sufficiently felted that the insides won't stick together. I keep rolling and reshaping for a while. The next step is to knead the hat like dough. For the grand finale you get to throw the hat like a mad woman against the counter about 150 times. Wonderful anger management technique. When all is done you rinse the hat in hot water and you can stretch the head size to however large you need it. I made it fit my head because I really want this hat and if it doesn't sell it's mine.

We've Got Shelves

My new hat shop is really coming along. Tony does nothing half way. When I told him I needed a lot of shelving he heard me.

This is one of many counter spaces he is building for me. Stay tuned for more progress photos.

Halifax Crafters Market

The Halifax Crafters Show was an amazing success. From the time the doors opened until they closed, the hall was jam packed with wonderful, supportive customer. It's truly one of the nicest shows I have seen.

And now I feel like I have been run over by a steam roller. Today I am useless. I can hardly lift my hands. Tomorrow is another day and I'll be back at it, filling wholesale orders and getting ready for more markets.