Millinery and Fascinators Workshop

On Saturday, the Craft in America Center hosted a hat workshop with professional milliner Yvonne Lewis. It was a 3 hour workshop that included a brief introduction to fascinators and the materials often used in creating such headpieces. All the guests who showed up were more than impressed with the various materials they were offered to use on their own hats, material like: feathers, horsehair (crinoline), fabric, sinamay, jinsin, and veiling.

During the workshop the Center also showed the 144th Kentucky Derby live on television in honor of the event that holds high standards for its hats as much as its horses. It was very important to have the Derby play in the background because it allowed for the guests to socialize about how fascinators, like the ones they were making, are very special, use fine materials, and are usually only worn very rarely and/or on special occasions like Spring festivities i.e. Easter, Mother’s Day, Kentucky Derby, a Royal Wedding, or high tea.

Overall, the guests took exactly 3 hours to complete their beautiful and unique headpieces, allowing them to have had a personal workshop with the artist guiding them throughout the process.