REPORT
fabrics rather than buying new, and I find that people are generally really interested in upcycling. In the past I’ve run sessions on mending as well. I team volunteers up with people who need their clothing fixed or altered and it’s always proved a really popular get- together, socially as well as practically.” For her own designs, Mary Jane tries
Rosettes from vintage ribbon
to know your stuff. Where have your materials come from? Where are your feathers produced and how? When you’re upcycling, you’re automatically cutting down on waste by eliminating the need for manufacturing new raw materials. You’re helping to prevent landfill from increasing and you’re extending the wear of something. That can only be positive. Upcycling is a conscious choice and a statement about your commitment to the environment.” These days, Mary Jane sees herself
as more of a consultant than a milliner, enabling others to make things for themselves and explore their creativity. “I’m currently teaching beginners how to sew. I run small classes that are offered for free by the organisation I work for, a cooperative based in London. I encourage everyone to use recycled
to use upcycled and vintage materials as much as she can but, as she mentions, she is not unrealistic. “I do use some new materials and if I see something that catches my eye – a new trim perhaps – then I’ll consider buying it. I’m not perfect, but I’m trying to be more thoughtful, buying second-hand, trying to shop locally from small enterprises when I can. If I buy new, it tends to be technical materials – things like interfacing, Bondaweb, glues, stiffeners, printable fabrics, paints, etc. Perhaps we need to have a central exchange point for milliners where we can share and upcycle things that we don’t need any more. Often people buy a lot of a certain type of material for a project and then are left with excess when they’re done. I still have boxes of sequins that I used for a project two decades ago and we’re probably all in the same boat. A couple of years ago I was asked to redesign a shop on a very slender budget, upcycling where possible. I found a paint exchange in London where you could source and buy household paints that were left over from other
people’s decorating projects. Everything was donated and you paid a joining fee to the exchange so that you could access the service. It was a fantastic idea. Once we finished, we took any leftover paint back there so that nothing was wasted.” Avoiding the use of new materials as much as possible makes it a bit more challenging to find the materials you need. But, as Mary Jane points out, sourcing vintage materials has become much easier now that we have Etsy, eBay and other such sites. “Nevertheless,” she says, “scouring the internet can take up a lot of time and you need to know what you’re searching for, whereas I often work the other way round – what I find often inspires my work. As I tend to make one-off pieces, I can take a more relaxed approach. I’ll often pick something up from a charity shop, a market or a vintage sale that I think might come in useful at some point. Of course, this inevitably means I tend to have rather a lot of stuff to store as I’m always stumbling upon things that might come in useful for a project! I was once in Brussels when a friend told me of a millinery shop that was closing down. We headed over there and between us bought nearly the entire stock. It was a treasure trove of vintage goodies. There are a few shops I know about that specialise in vintage materials, and these can be useful if you’re looking for something particular. But a lot of it is down to luck.”
Louise Macdonald
www.millinery.com.au
Louise
wearing the end result
Reblocking old straws
Melbourne-based milliner Louise Macdonald has a long career in making hats. She is particularly well-known for her striking and award-winning designs for racegoers and is highly appreciated as a tutor of freehand-style designs, which she teaches in her own studio as well as online at Hat Academy (
hatacademy.com). During the past two years of on-and-off Covid
lockdowns, Louise took the opportunity to do some professional development. This included a course on sustainable fashion, which encouraged her to think about ways she could make her millinery
28 | the hat magazine #92 #92
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