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Here's the (long-awaited, i know) third part of my four-part studio setup series!
Let me first man up and acknowledge that yes, i know i haven't gotten the backstage-sneak-peek of The Lion King up yet--i'm still embroiled in legalese because i don't want to get sued for violating any nondisclosure agreements or illegal photo usage. Disney is big on that. I promise, as soon as i get it straightened it out, it's coming! (I did eventually come through on Cirque de Soleil, did i not?)
For those who haven't been following this series, Part One is here, which addresses the equipment and inventory needs of a typical dyeshop or "wet room," and Part Two is here, which focuses on specific equipment and inventory utilized in leatherworking, distressing, and shoe-related areas.
As for why i first sat down to develop these lists, some background:
The MFA program where i teach allows the students to focus in a range of non-design areas of professional costuming: draping, tailoring, craftwork, or costume shop management. This semester's management seminar topic is "Sourcing and Supplies"--this is not just how and where to find everything from a spoon busk to an industrial shoe-patching machine, but also strategies for addressing shop supply inventories, storage, etc.
Earlier in the semester I gave a guest-lecture on the appurtenancing of a crafts space. The thrust of the matter was, what if a managerial candidate was hired and coming into a space where s/he had to either set up a crafts shop from scratch, or analyze the existing inventory of a crafts area and do supply ordering for the beginning of a season with no aid from a staff crafts artisan. I am posting a brief overview of what i touched on in a four-part series:
Setting up a Dye Shop/Wet Room
Cobbling, Leatherworking, and Distressing Equipment and Supplies
Millinery Equipment and Supplies
Specialized Crafts from Parasols and Purses to Plaster Molds
This post is the third in the series.
Bear in mind that not all craftspeople do millinery; as with the Dyer/Painter, sometimes the Milliner is a separate position within the shop. Many crafts artisans do find themselves responsible for millinery, though, and it is a good skill to hone regardless--often the principles of construction you learn in millinery can help in any number of other area of costuming, whether it be constructing underproppers for ruffs or wire-frames for headdresses or patterning of "propstumes" such as parasol covers and muffs and the like.
The first thing to address is equipment. If you intend to accomodate in-house millinery projects, you will likely need the following:
Head forms/"dolly heads"
Hat steamer
Hat stretcher (manual and/or electric)
Sleeve-arm domestic sewing machine with a zigzag stitch
Crown blocks
Brim blocks
Wire cutters
Needlenose pliers
Pinking shears
You can do without the brim blocks if you don't intend to make felt hats "from scratch"--you can always buy untrimmed plain felt hat shapes from dealers such as Manny's Millinery Supply in NYC. You will still probably want at least a couple of the plain domed wooden crown blocks for stretching buckram or shaping Fosshape on and the like.
You can also use a regular clothing steamer or fiddle around with a steam iron if need be, rather than invest in a hat steamer, but they do make hat steaming far more convenient and easy. Dolly heads are as necessary to hatmaking as dress forms are to draping, and skimping by substituting styrofoam headforms can be disastrous, as some of the chemicals and heat-processes used in millinery can melt styrofoam! I like to have a sleeve-arm domestic with zigzag accessible because it allows you to do some of your construction by machine (particularly edging brims with wire). Traditional milliners would probably have a heart attack over that, but in theatre sometimes you have to sacrifice handwork for speed.
In terms of inventory of "consumables," things that are depleted and replenished as hat projects come through the shop, here is a master list to get started with:
Buckram and double-buckram
Baby flannel/domette
Icewool
Low-loft quilt batt
Milliner's wire: white/black, light/medium/heavy weight
Tie-wire or joiners for milliner's wire
Bias tapes
Millinery & curved needles
Premade linings (dyeable!)
Milliner's grosgrain (100% cotton)
Various trims (flowers/ribbons/feathers)
Combs/horsehair/toupee clips
T-pins
Milliner’s glue (Solvent-based, "MagnaTac" is one brand)
Felt and straw
Sizing
Fosshape/thermoformable felt
Most of these items can be purchased from online suppliers. I feed my inventory orders for icewool and domette into my shop's yearly master order from Whalley's in the UK, but that's certainly not mandatory practice.
Note that this list is to be treated as suggestions, a jumping-off point. Also be aware that if the dimensions and ventilation of your craft space are limited, you may wish to avoid all products that would require the use of respirators. If you do use solvent-based sizing and adhesives that require respirators, be aware that OSHA requires you to have a training program in place for all employees that will need to use respirators. When ordering sizing and adhesives, make sure you always ask for the MSDS. You need to have them on file, and they have a lot of good information that will help make decisions like what types of protective gloves and respirator filters to purchase.
Keep your eyes open for the final installment in this series, coming soon! It'll cover a wide catch-all range of topics, everything from jewelry supplies to purse-frames!
Let me first man up and acknowledge that yes, i know i haven't gotten the backstage-sneak-peek of The Lion King up yet--i'm still embroiled in legalese because i don't want to get sued for violating any nondisclosure agreements or illegal photo usage. Disney is big on that. I promise, as soon as i get it straightened it out, it's coming! (I did eventually come through on Cirque de Soleil, did i not?)
For those who haven't been following this series, Part One is here, which addresses the equipment and inventory needs of a typical dyeshop or "wet room," and Part Two is here, which focuses on specific equipment and inventory utilized in leatherworking, distressing, and shoe-related areas.
As for why i first sat down to develop these lists, some background:
The MFA program where i teach allows the students to focus in a range of non-design areas of professional costuming: draping, tailoring, craftwork, or costume shop management. This semester's management seminar topic is "Sourcing and Supplies"--this is not just how and where to find everything from a spoon busk to an industrial shoe-patching machine, but also strategies for addressing shop supply inventories, storage, etc.
Earlier in the semester I gave a guest-lecture on the appurtenancing of a crafts space. The thrust of the matter was, what if a managerial candidate was hired and coming into a space where s/he had to either set up a crafts shop from scratch, or analyze the existing inventory of a crafts area and do supply ordering for the beginning of a season with no aid from a staff crafts artisan. I am posting a brief overview of what i touched on in a four-part series:
Setting up a Dye Shop/Wet Room
Cobbling, Leatherworking, and Distressing Equipment and Supplies
Millinery Equipment and Supplies
Specialized Crafts from Parasols and Purses to Plaster Molds
This post is the third in the series.
Bear in mind that not all craftspeople do millinery; as with the Dyer/Painter, sometimes the Milliner is a separate position within the shop. Many crafts artisans do find themselves responsible for millinery, though, and it is a good skill to hone regardless--often the principles of construction you learn in millinery can help in any number of other area of costuming, whether it be constructing underproppers for ruffs or wire-frames for headdresses or patterning of "propstumes" such as parasol covers and muffs and the like.
The first thing to address is equipment. If you intend to accomodate in-house millinery projects, you will likely need the following:
Head forms/"dolly heads"
Hat steamer
Hat stretcher (manual and/or electric)
Sleeve-arm domestic sewing machine with a zigzag stitch
Crown blocks
Brim blocks
Wire cutters
Needlenose pliers
Pinking shears
You can do without the brim blocks if you don't intend to make felt hats "from scratch"--you can always buy untrimmed plain felt hat shapes from dealers such as Manny's Millinery Supply in NYC. You will still probably want at least a couple of the plain domed wooden crown blocks for stretching buckram or shaping Fosshape on and the like.
You can also use a regular clothing steamer or fiddle around with a steam iron if need be, rather than invest in a hat steamer, but they do make hat steaming far more convenient and easy. Dolly heads are as necessary to hatmaking as dress forms are to draping, and skimping by substituting styrofoam headforms can be disastrous, as some of the chemicals and heat-processes used in millinery can melt styrofoam! I like to have a sleeve-arm domestic with zigzag accessible because it allows you to do some of your construction by machine (particularly edging brims with wire). Traditional milliners would probably have a heart attack over that, but in theatre sometimes you have to sacrifice handwork for speed.
In terms of inventory of "consumables," things that are depleted and replenished as hat projects come through the shop, here is a master list to get started with:
Buckram and double-buckram
Baby flannel/domette
Icewool
Low-loft quilt batt
Milliner's wire: white/black, light/medium/heavy weight
Tie-wire or joiners for milliner's wire
Bias tapes
Millinery & curved needles
Premade linings (dyeable!)
Milliner's grosgrain (100% cotton)
Various trims (flowers/ribbons/feathers)
Combs/horsehair/toupee clips
T-pins
Milliner’s glue (Solvent-based, "MagnaTac" is one brand)
Felt and straw
Sizing
Fosshape/thermoformable felt
Most of these items can be purchased from online suppliers. I feed my inventory orders for icewool and domette into my shop's yearly master order from Whalley's in the UK, but that's certainly not mandatory practice.
Note that this list is to be treated as suggestions, a jumping-off point. Also be aware that if the dimensions and ventilation of your craft space are limited, you may wish to avoid all products that would require the use of respirators. If you do use solvent-based sizing and adhesives that require respirators, be aware that OSHA requires you to have a training program in place for all employees that will need to use respirators. When ordering sizing and adhesives, make sure you always ask for the MSDS. You need to have them on file, and they have a lot of good information that will help make decisions like what types of protective gloves and respirator filters to purchase.
Keep your eyes open for the final installment in this series, coming soon! It'll cover a wide catch-all range of topics, everything from jewelry supplies to purse-frames!
