Raffia Hat Making Workshops

Raffia Hat Workshops

Make hats with Juliee Hurst!

 This workshop comes in two parts, as it takes a long time to create a raffia hat. You must book one of each workshops, ensuring your ‘Part One’ workshop occurs BEFORE your ‘Part Two’ workshop. The cost for both workshops is £70 (£35 per day). Good luck, and most importantly – have fun!

CLASS ONE

Thursday May 3rd 2012 | 10:30 – 15:30 | All Materials Included

Thursday June 7th 2012 | 10:30 – 15:30 | All Materials Included

Thursday July 12th 2012 | 10:30 – 15:30 | All Materials Included

 

CLASS TWO

Thursday May 10th 2012 | 10:30 – 15:30 | All Materials Included

Thursday June 14th 2012 | 10:30 – 15:30 | All Materials Included

Thursday July 19th 2012 | 10:30 – 15:30 | All Materials Included

 

Q – “What is Raffia Hat Making? What will these Workshops involve?”

A – see below—->

Class One

The first class involves learning about raffia:
What it is and where it comes from.
Each student learns how to identify good raffia from rubbish.
We start to ‘knot’ the raffia in preparation for plaiting.
‘Knotting’ involves picking out 5 strands of raffia and tying together.
We need 90 knots/hat.

We then move on to start working with raffia and learn how to plait using a four
braided plait.

The students learn how to introduce new raffia to make the plait longer.

After lunch:

We learn about raffia hats and having a try on of the different styles.
The students also learn how to dye raffia.
We also discuss other materials to introduce into a plait to vary the texture and colour.

We then continue plaiting. Each student needs a 10 metre length of plait ready for the
next class. The plait can be finished at home as homework.

Class Two

In the second class the students start to sew the plait using a strand of raffia.
We learn how to use a polystyrene hat block.

The hats are completed by steam ironing to create a lovely smooth finish.
The students can then trim their hats with a raffia decoration.