Millinery Essentials Course

Bring your ideas to life with comprehensive millinery techniques to extend your repertoire and develop a range of creative styles. Refresh your skills or learn something new as you join Master Milliner Elaine Mergard with over 50 years of hat making experience. With such a diversity of headwear on offer you are established to market your headwear collection.

BLOCKING BASICS
Basic Brims
Learn to prepare a block, how to steam, shape and weld sinamay straw and then wire brim to stabilise before you bind the edge.
Crowns Simply
Experience how to steam and shape flat straw to mould around a crown block then finish off the crown edge to retain the sizing.
Binding With Variety
Here you will learn how to give the perfect finish to the edge of your hat brim or fascinator.
Binding Wide
Give your hat a professional finish and vintage feel by covering the edge with fabric, braid or straw.
Connecting & Banding
Connect the brim to crown and add a decorative band on the outside plus an internal head band.

CREATIVE TRIMS
Bows As Trim
Transform a basic bow with this collection of 10 creative techniques.
Feather Shaping
Discover how to manipulate feathers to add height and movement to your hat trim giving it style.
Working With Loops
In this flamboyant approach to trimming headpieces you will see how to assemble wide or narrow loops, in either fabric or straw.
Redesign Feathers
Using feathers as a design feature for your headwear as well as transforming popular feather types

EXPLORING BRIMS
Insert, Shot Brims
Gain expertise to redesign a regular brim in three different ways.
Pleat, Inlay Brims
Discover ways to add embellishment to sinamay with fine braid, extra layer of straw and pleating the edge.
Embroidery Brims
Learn how to accomplish cornelli embroidery on sinamay using your regular sewing machine.
Patchwork Brims
Give your sinamay headwear new life when you learn colourful patchwork geometric design.
Cut & Curl Brims
Cutting and curling your sinamay adds movement and life to designs when you dare to cut into the basic brim shape and reinvent it with a dramatic appeal.
Adding Extensions
Revitalise your straw brim or disc hat by learning how to add Swirls and Curls as extra add ons to your basic shape.
Double Brim Techniques
Reinvent a brim by adding an extra sinamay brim with a different shape.
Crinoline Brims
Often used as a trim but in this tutorial learn to transform it into a beautiful ethereal translucent brim by joining, wiring and binding.

CROWN CONCEPTS
Buckram Crowns
The traditional methods of blocking with buckram are detailed in this lesson.
Crown Methods
This tutorial outlines a system to create a double crown and includes how to cut away a portion of the crown to expose the trim concept.
Swathed Crown & Brim
Using fine fabrics such as chiffon, organza or georgette you will learn how to swathe and drape fabric or sinamay softly over a hat foundation.
Fabric Covered Dome Crown
Discover how to achieve a well fitted covering over a dome crown using silk fabric.
Fabric Covered Flat Crowns
Using fabric to cover your clients hat crown enables you to co-ordinate the hat with the outfit.

FELT FUNDAMENTALS
Felt Hats Basics
Learn how to shape fabulous felt. It is the most creative medium in millinery as no risk of fraying.
Basic Felt Trim Ideas
Add elegance to your felt hat creations with these trim concepts for flowers, leaves and loops.

FASCINATORS & HEADPIECES
All the techniques are explained in detail plus tips to trim & line your headpiece will give a quality finish.

PILLBOX HATS
Revisit this classic headwear style and add some elegance to your millinery calibre with this traditional technique.

COCKTAIL HATS
Cocktail hats became popular in 30s & 40s when times were difficult but have had a recent vintage revival.

HATINATORS
A combination of a hat & fascinator. Learn to block basic Hatinator shape then discover how to remould, twist, pleat, splice or braid.

PARISISAL HATS
The bias weave of a Parisisal Straw allows it to mould onto a block readily. As it is a fine straw learn how to ensure a smooth finish that has strength and stability.

LEAF TRIMS
In this lesson you learn how to make leaves in several different ways. Leaves can be added to a trim with flowers or without.

LININGS FOR ALL OCCASIONS
Give all your hats and headpieces a professional finish with a choice of lining methods to suit the style chosen. 

CUSTOMISE BASIC BLOCKS
In this lesson you will learn to maximise the use of your first blocks to create different styles including double blocking methods. 

FABRIC COVERED BRIMS
Co-ordinate your latest hat by covering the brim with your chosen fabric. Your clients will appreciate the total look that results. 

It is wonderful that you are wanting to learn hat making skills and you will love millinery as it offers such never ending creativity. Once you grasp the fundamental techniques in the Millinery Essential Course you will then be able to venture into your own creativity. To answer your questions peruse below:-

• With unlimited viewing apply techniques learnt on your own creations then review videos to check your progress.

• Video lessons are accessed via video streaming, available on all browsers with any modern device.

• Read course descriptions and watch the preview to get an outline on what is taught.

• We support most countries in Check Out. If your payment can not be processed contact us for alternative payment options.

• After course purchase your order will be processed within 24 hours and lesson access details will be sent to you.

• The first lessons cover basic hats with wide or narrow brims to your choice. The crown can be a round dome crown or flat tip crown if turned over. The blocks you need are the dome crown and cartwheel brim 18 inch with collar. Hat Blocks Australia have a discounted bundle for Hat Academy students. You will also need a Button Block HA04 to start off with. 

• Measure your head over the brow and largest bump at back of head for head size (Average size is 57cm)

• House of Adorn has a Product Kit that contains all the specialised materials with with free shipping. 

• We are offering a Certificate of Completion as you fulfil a set criteria by grasping the basics in the Millinery Essentials Course. This will help you to complete other courses with confidence.

• Find more on learning with Hat Academy here. 

• Chat to me here if you have any questions.

Warm Regards, Elaine Mergard.