The sample Bucket Hat I made for the class utilizing up-cyled jeans.
I have always enjoyed teaching and sharing my millinery skills with others. I am forever grateful for the artisans who have given me their time, educating me and sharing the traditional techniques of hat making. Making hats is a craft best learned over time as an apprentice. Years of trial and error, converting the old world into the modern day with new materials and machinery, while staying true to the art of millinery.
I have been on a bit of a teaching hiatus as my current atelier is not conducive to working with groups and I really miss it! One of the great things about teaching is that I tend to learn as much from the millinery enthusiasts that take my class as they do from me, so when the design teachers at Samueli Academy asked if I would come and work with their students for a “Passion Ignition” day, I jumped at the chance.
Samueli Academy is a charter school in Santa Ana that offers both a project and work based learning ciriculum and serves the diverse student population in the area of Santa Ana, CA with a focus on foster youth. It’s a very impressive campus and throughout the year they host what they call, “Passion Ignition” days where the teachers create seminars (ignitions) for the students about things they, the teachers, are passionate about. The school invites experts from various fields to work with the students, exposing them to new things and igniting their passion to reach their greatest potential.
Samueli Academy students working on their bucket hats.
I met with the school’s design teachers, Reid and Patricia who toured me through the design department and we hatched the idea of having the kids make an up-cycled bucket hat using donated denim from their supply closet. We chose the bucket hat, currently having a fashion resurgence, to appeal to a wide range of students and denim with all of its various washes and elements, would allow students to really make a piece that spoke to them individually.
For me, the next step was simplifying the hat to the fewest possible seams while still creating a hat pattern with pieces small enough to fit easily onto the recycled jeans we would be working with. Knowing I was going to be guiding 60 plus teenagers through the process of making a complete hat in just 4.5 hours was a bit daunting and I knew I had to make things as simple as possible. With a little trial and error on my part the pattern came together. I graded it into multiple sizes and sent it off to the design team at Samueli Academy. The students prepped for the class by pre-cutting the pattern pieces and adding the necessary interfacing and we were ready to go.
Samueli Academy students working on their bucket hats.
Those 4.5 hours went by in a blink! It was incredibly fun and rewarding to work with the students. Some of the kids had never sewn before and others were active members of the school’s Fashion Club and were able to add embellishments like pockets, embroidery and crystals onto their hats. While rethreading and untangling sewing machines, ripping out seams and problem solving, I was able to answer endless questions on my fashion background and schooling, my design process and most importantly for them, what famous people I have made hats for. It was a really great day and I loved watching the kids push through the process and make the hats their own.
A huge thank you to the design teaching team at Samueli Academy, Reid, Patricia, Stephen, Anthony & Lucy for having me and for making it such a rewarding experience for the students and for me!