Please contact us for courses scheduled for 2010.
Millinery Courses
News:
"Our new work room"
We have now updated our work room in order to offer courses all year around. Up to eight people at a time can come to our shop up in Edinburgh. You will have the possibility to create amazing hats and headpieces and Yvette and her assistants are guiding you through this adventure.
The Yvette Jelfs millinery courses are held at many locations around the country; we can even come to your home or venue of choice. For residential courses we have several recommended hotels and guest houses which offer accommodation suitable for all requirements.
Courses available are as follows:
2 hr
This course is perfect for those who want to experience the finishing aspects of millinery, or simply as a 'taster'. You will be given an informative talk on the history of hats, including occasions where hats are worn and the etiquette around wearing hats, which hats suit which faces, body frames and outfits. You will be allocated a hat or headpiece to finish, which will be matched to you individually by Yvette. You will be given a brim, crown and decoration and be tutored in finishing your hat. This hat or headpiece will be yours to keep and take home. A really fun way to experience finishing a masterpiece of your own!
2 day
The 2 day course offers an all round taster of starting and finishing a hat, including choosing the fabric, dying, blocking and finishing. At the end of the 2 day course you will be presented with a certificate of completion and be able to take home your finished hat. All equipment will be provided. 10am - 4pm.
5 day
The 5 day course is for aspiring milliners and offers a detailed, step-by-step, personally instructed course by Yvette, for those who wish to start a business as a milliner. All equipment will be provided and at the end of the course, you will be presented with a certificate of completion and be able to take your completed items away with you. All equipment will be provided. Millinery Business Start-up Packs are available for purchase upon request at the end of this course. 10am - 5pm.
The 5 day course in detail
The course will begin on Monday morning at 10am with tea and coffee to introduce and get to know Yvette, and the people who will be studying with you.
Throughout the week, the students can use a wide range of materials and tools to make their hats or headpieces. Such materials include:
- Feathers - Prime Ostrich, spadones, Goose quill, Pheasant feathers, Hackle and Biot, Lady Amherst, Peacock and other exotic feathers which will be available as you go through the course.
- Blocking and Trimming - Felt, sinamay, parisisal, balibuntal, polypropylene, visca, linen, cotton and various other fabrics, which are used to block or trim with.
- Flowers - handmade using the original tools of the past flower makers, using silk organza, linen cotton and poly organza's.
Other millinery techniques that will be taught include:
- Making a sparterie headband - this is an easy-to-make, adjustable headband to measure and fit any hat.
- Making a small sinamay hat - this will give you a chance to create your own style of brim shape and size to suit your personal style. This will be created with or without blocking, depending on each individual design.
- Blocking - in either felt or straw fabric, cones or cappellini's either in one block shape or two piece (as in crown and brim separately).
- Trimming/hand made trimmings - to adorn hats or hairdressings including silk flowers, feathers, cotton, linen, felt, etc.
- Working with veiling - as in blocking French, merry-widow or plain veiling and how to use veiling as a trimming.
- Pattern made hats - to learn to make your own patterns as well as the hat itself with various fabrics from silk to tweeds.
Most areas will be taught by hand sewing but there are industrial sewing machines of which you will be taught to use if necessary (mainly for pattern hats).
The courses will be tailor-made to suit your needs, so we will need to know your level of understanding of millinery or if there are any materials you would especially like to use, so as to make your time with us as productive as possible. A truly bespoke service awaits you as you learn the art of hat making and millinery.
To find out more about our millinery courses please click here to fill out our enquiry form
Hatty Hens
In the quest to find that something different for a Hen Do, then why not consider 'HATTY HENS'? This is an evening of creative hilarity resulting (hopefully!) in some individual, wearable designs of your own. We can come to your home or venue of choice and bring a wide selection of materials and pieces for creating your own hat or headpiece for the forthcoming wedding. Ideal for those of you who don't yet have your hat or headpiece for the wedding. Even the bride can make her own bridal headpiece. Please contact us for further information.
Hat Parties
Not only do we do Millinery workshops, but we also do Hat Parties. Suitable for children right the way up to adults, this is 3 hours of creativity, fun and fashion. We can come to your home or venue of choice, equipped with beautiful headpiece or hat kits and will show you examples of what you can make, before everyone chooses a kit and works on their own creation. Please contact us for further information.
"Feathers and sequins everywhere, but I've never seen a bunch of 10 year olds so quiet! And thank you for doing the hoovering afterwards - Angel!" (Mrs Lakin, Bristol)
"Well apart from sewing my hat to my jumper, I was amazed at what I managed to produce! Great fun and I even managed to wear my hat for my sister's wedding" (Sarah Fuller, Newcastle-upon-Tyne)
"Thank you so much for a great evening of hat making. We all danced round in them all evening and wore them to the races the next day - we told everybody we had made them ourselves! Will definitely book you again for my hen party" (Caroline Thomas, Musselburgh)
"Thank you very much for our Hat Party - any excuse to drink champagne and eat chocolate cake all afternoon and all the ladies had such fun. You be pleased to hear that even our husbands were impressed with our creations and some even wish they had foregone the men's golf day for making hats instead! It is my silver wedding anniversary in July and I will be wearing my lovely hat!" (Mrs Anna Taylor, Ladies Who Learn & Lunch, Bath)
Guardian Hay Festival 2010
We will be attending the Hay Festival in beautiful Hay - on - Wye again this year, with our stand selling our hats and millinery workshops will be conducted throughout our duration.
Our stand has hundreds of hats and headpieces to try on, marvel over and rummage amongst. Sun hats, waterproof hats, Royal Ascot hats, wedding hats, Men's Fair Trade Panama's and Felt Trilbies, a colourful array of headpieces, hats to lie in the sun, hats to hide under, hats to flirt from, hats to make a statement in.
Our millinery statements attract all sorts of ages and it isnt just ladies that come along. Last year, Giles Coren of teh Guardian joined us with Sky TV filming every stitch and Journalist Rosie Boycott joined the group to create her own hats. Please contact us directly if you wish to do hat courses at Hay Festival. 0131 556 8388 or email yvette@yvettejelfs.com
The CLA Game Fair 2010 at Ragley Hall
Yvette is delighted to be invited by Brewin and Dolphin on their stand again on their game fair. We will be showing how hats are blocked, trimmed and looked after. You can make your own head piece or hat to take away with you as well as having our phantastic Woodland Collection to purchase.
The event will be held at Ragley Hall from Friday 23 until Sunday 25 July in association with major interregional newspapers. More than 800 exhibtors show their range of country sports. Each of the various product areas feature the most important firms in that sector of the industry. www.gamefair.co.uk provides you with detailed information as well as the possibility to purchase the tickets prior the event.
Please contact us if you wish to be send an invite to remember it for your diary.