Millinery Beauty Shots

I've been waiting for photos from our amazing trip to New York-but I may just be waiting a while longer- Until then I'm going to post some shots from Dayna's storefront and workspace in Morgan's Alley -because it's a wonderland. People come in to the shop, to look at all the finished beautiful hats and eventually find their way to the back room workspace, curious to see where all the magic happens.

The first time I met Dayna was in her shop when I was applying to be an apprentice/intern. I was so excited, I had spent the night before printing out photos of my hats to show her what kinds of things I did. I had a quick interview and I watched while one of her interns blocked a hat. I loved all of the tools, and Dayna loved talking about what use she had found for some strange vegetable brush or tweezers.

Not to mention the flat weights you use to rub over air pockets, or the tapered wooden tool you use to reinforce the rope that holds the hat to the wooden block. And the miniature ancient hammers and pins make me feel like I'm building something more than just an accessory. It's the tools that I love.

And the fiber... I mean that's what all the work is for-
To show off the felt or straw in an unusual-unexpected way .
Right now the straws that have been woven into patterns are
my favorites. I'm really looking forward to see what Dayna does
with these as far as trim goes.

Texture on top of texture-that's what makes me go nuts. more to come......