I’ve been seeking (desperately), trying to find other bloggers out there that share my love for hats and although they don’t abound, there seem to be a few.
For starters I very much recommend The Sewist which I loved. It’s fun and it’s full of great pictures and stories.
Know of any others? Please post a comment!

millinery hats hat making

Here are some pictures from the millinery book I reviewed yesterday, so you get an idea of what I was talking about…

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Title: STYLISH CLOCHE (スタイリッシュクロッシュ―クロッシュから始める帽子作り)
Author: ISHIDA OHKO (石田 欧子)
ISBN: 4-579-11042-0
Availability: Yes, if you dare (I did!), through Amazon japan, check this help page also
Occasionally available through Ebay, check this link
Price (as of the post date): 1,785.00 YEN (not including shipping)
Language: Japanese
First edition: 2005
87 pages, paperback (contains full size paterns within 2 fold out pages)

Yes, this is a Japanese hat pattern book written in Japanese. But I’ve seen pattern books written in English that seemed more like “Japanese” to me than this one does. In that sense, this book is not in “Japanese” and it’s surprisingly easy to follow.
About the Author: Okho Ishida is the daughter and disciple of Akio Hirata. Some of her work (if I understand it correctly) can be seen on this website: page 1 and page 2. 

Quick synopsis of the book: It’s a pattern book with instructions to make some simple yet elegant sewn hats.

1. The looks:
This book is a joy to look at. The cover looks promising and the inside does not disappoint!
The pictures, taken by photographer Kayoko Asai are really beautiful and the designer clothes worn by the models (Anges B., Yoshie Inaba, Paul Smith, Minimum etc) help to put the hats in a glamourous context. The pictures display the hats from different angles, with the brims in different positions, which will help us once we decide to make one of the hats ourselves.

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Writing a review for a Japanese books is proving more difficult than I thought, but it’s almost finished and I will be able to post it out tomorrow.
Be on the look out!
Check the review here

Don’t feel abandoned! I am writing a review for a japanese hat book that you are going to love, and that will be (hopefully)posted during this weekend.
I haven’t had that much time this week and this weekend we are going to be away. Sadly, Peter’s grandfather passed away last weekend and we are going to Holland for the service. This is a sad occasion and although I only met him briefly on a few occasions I know he was a kind and intelligent man and he will be missed.

[millinery book]

I have bought a hair comb and the idea is to cut in half, run some elastic cord through it, and sew it to the sides of the hat, like on the one on the right.

Also still to be done is to sew the bow right in place and make it look more graceful.

I will take pictures of every step, but I wont be able to do it today, so stay tuned!

My (non-headsize) headsize band has been quite a pain to sew on.

But first things first. I started by cutting the approximate length of grosgrain needed (the only color I had, dark brown-grayish), and I’ve put it under running water a moment to get it wet.
I have a piece of ironing board cover that I use on top of my kitchen table when I need to iron something and I don’t want to take out the board. By putting the iron tip on one end of the ribbon and pulling at an angle you get the ribbon to take a semi-circle shape, which helps adapting the tape to the tapering shape of the inside of the hat.

Afterwards I have put the ribbon on the hat and pinned it to get an idea of where I want it to go. Because there are visible stitches on the inside where crown and brim have been sewn together, I don’t have much of an option about where to put it though.
I have slip stitched where the ribbon meets (one end of the ribbon stays flat while the other end folds over at the center back). Then the hard part, stitching the ribbon. I have sweated with (more…)

Title: FROM THE NECK UP : An Illustrated Guide to HATMAKING
Author: Denise Dreher
ISBN: 0941082008
Availability: Yes, directly from the publisher http://www.hatbook.com/ 
Language: English
First edition: 1981 (my edition seems to be from 1992)
200 pages, paperback
Price (as of the post date): USD 24.99 (not including shipping)

This is a book you must have if you are serious about making hats. A classic millinery book, offering information on design, materials, equipment, suppliers, stitches, pattern designing, foundation construction and covering, brim facing, edge binding, trimming, finishing, working with felt and straw, block making out of balsa wood, turban draping, renovation and alternations. It also have a very useful glossary at the end.

Although it’s a very technical book, the author does not expect you to have expensive materials or equipment, and often describes ways to do things without the professional equipment.

Denise Dreher was trained as a theater milliner, and next to the general millinery instructions she offers a lot of useful information about making theater and period hats. Personally I find that too much information never hurt anyone!

What I found more useful:

1. My copy of the book is spiral bound, making it very easy to keep open while working. It’s worth asking if the spiral bound is still available. (more…)

My friend Nina emailed me today to say that the party was not going to take place. She wanted something with a lot of people, the press, etc, but it was too late to organize all that.

I am really disappointed because it was this party that had brought me back to making hats 🙁

I guess we will still go out for drinks with our hats… but I’ve been doing some shopping to find an appropriate retro-looking suit to go with my (yet unfinished) hat, and I have found nothing, so between one thing and the other my spirits are very low.

But I will finish the hat, and I will go on with the blog, don’t worry!

I will be reviewing a hat related book every week, starting soon!!

I think many people will enjoy it and it will be fun!