My Summer in Medellin 2019
This is my last week of Summer holiday, and there hasn’t been much hatting going on. In fact, I have sewn a little (made a baby quilt), attempted (three times) at knitting a silk sweater, and cooked A LOT of food. The ETSY shop is also closed until mid September. You might think I am doing all this in the sweltering Austin heat, but nope, I am in the very temperate Medellin, Colombia where the warmest day might hit 87 degrees. This is the city that inspired my hat “Flora de Medellin” that was on exhibition at London Hat Week.
This was the second hat I made after I finished my millinery training in England. I had not really learned how to build crowns this way, so there was definitely a learning curve. The crown was made from a hand weaved palm straw hat from the indigenous Wayu tribe in Colombian, I also repurposed the wool pom poms that came with the hat. Some of the leaves were also cut from the Wayu straw hat. The larger solid green leaves were cut from two layers of sinamay.
I also copied these heliconia flowers into silk, which are native to Colombia into my above crown. Lilies are also abundant in Colombia. Mine were made from silk, stiffened, and blinged out with gold glitter. This picture was taken at Botanical de Jardin in Medellin during this year’s flower show.
The Medellin flower festival, or Feria de las Flores takes place during the first week of August and runs for two weeks. There’s a big flower parade, and tons of festivities around town. My favorite event is the flower show at Botanica de Jardin. This is a fresh flower display as well as individual orchid contest. The over priced artisan craft booths are equally fun. This year’s haul were some hand woven straw mats and hats to include in my next Spring and Summer hat stash.
Some of the best woven straw I have pieces I have seen.
There are busy days ahead with hat contests for 2020, and new Fall hat designs. I ordered a new custom block, replicated from a vintage beret that I can’t wait to whip into something gorgeous. I have a couple of vintage blocks coming soon from Europe, and a growing wish list for more.
Some gorgeous new fabrics are also waiting for me at home, among them are Chinese silk brocades I am hoping to turn into delectable cocktail pieces for the holiday season. On the opposite end of the spectrum are little crazy hats with shiny textiles full of funk, and days of Studio 54. So stay tuned everyone…there is still so much more left to do and see in 2019!