Jane Smith Millinery Workshop

In terms 1 and 2 we were lucky enough to have millinery workshops with the legendary Jane Smith who's career spans over 40 years in theatre and film (see here). She brought in several hat patterns from theatre and film productions she'd worked on for us to copy such as Sweeney Todd, Bright Star, Jane Eyre and many more! In the workshops I learnt how to make Victorian Bonnets and work with straw.

Making a straw hat

The shape of the hat is controlled
by pulling and pushing the straw as
it is sewn under the machine.

Use a blunt pair of scissors to push the straw under the
sewing machine.

I intend to make a straw boater hat at some point in the near future whilst I can remember how to do it!

Jaz in her Victorian Bonnet!

My first Victorian Bonnet was made to match my Bodice
that I made in Term 1 at LCF. It is a Jane Smith pattern
from the film 'Jane Eyre'

 Because the first bonnet I made was very dark and simple I decided to make another Jane Smith bonnet using lighter colours and design one I could be a little more decorative with.

I used dupion shot silk for the main fabric, gathered polyester chiffon for the lining and with satin ribbon trimmings and an antique lace edge - given to me by my Mum which was given to her my her Mum!

Fashion Museum - Bath

Last weekend I went to the Fashion Museum in Bath, formerly known as the Museum of Costume, which had a large collection of historic and contemporary fashion dating back to the 1500's!

In my opinion, the gallery is a nice size in the sense that there's enough there to feel you're not getting robbed for your money but there isn't too much there that you don't know where to look and end up feeling exhausted by the end of it.

It is divided in to a few parts which are separated by a section where all ages can try on Victorian costume including corsets, crinolines, dresses, bonnets and top hats and coats for men. I always find an interactive section really helps bring a gallery to life and keep the viewers interested, whatever age you are!

The gallery ends in a section of the Top Trends of up to date fashion of Spring/Summer 2013 - very impressive!


My only criticism would be that there isn't much on male fashion which suggests that the gallery in quite stereotypical in the sense that 'Fashion is for girls'. Boys wear clothes too!

I bought the book 'Fashion Museum - Treasures' which has detailed photographs of garments in the exhibition - a good alternative if you can't get to Bath. A used copy can be bought for as little as 46p (plus postage) on Amazon at the moment!