There may also have been the promise of cake. Yes, we are that easily swayed!
We wanted to show that whilst you can invest a lot of money in specialist equipment, it is possible to create some very effective designs with nothing more than an iron, some pins, a pair of scissors and rolling pin.
We guided our audience through working with the key materials of felt, straw, and sinamay with a brief introduction to buckram. We showed not only with how we use a wooden block to form a basic hat shape, but also the techniques used to trim them.
For this we each brought a few signature design pieces to bring these to life. We wanted to show how the basic techniques we were demonstrating would be used by each of us, but to create very different effects.
We were delighted to be invited to sample some cake during the refreshment break after our session. No one does a Lemon Drizzle or Victoria Sponge as tasty as those from WI bakers!
A huge thank you to WI on Ecclesall Road for being delightful hosts and a very attentive audience. We're just sorry Sophie missed some of you off when she took our icebreaker audience shot...Apologies!