Living Windows 2009

Last week shoppers in Carlisle may have thought they were going mad as they were treated to unusual happenings!

With hat trick demonstrations, live mannequins, living statues, and dancing madonnas!!


It was all in aid of 'Living Windows' celebraiting 25 years of The Lanes Shopping Centre in Carlisle City Centre.

Dance Ahead and Sara Gadd Millinery joined forces once again to organise dancers, dances and accessories with a living twist!....



The performers, students from the University of Cumbria, looked stunning and worked hard to achieve the look...thanks so much for your time and energy guys!


...Watch out for more events like this later in the year!


If you would like to be involved with any of our projects visit www.danceahead.co.uk for further details.

'Old Hat' Recycled Hat Exhibition

It's been another busy week....

Saturday 18th Sara took to the stage in The Lanes Shopping Centre in Carlisle and presented 'Hat Tricks' providing some great ideas for ladies night at Carlisle Races. Sara showed ideas for re trimming old hats and creating a fascinator with the trimmings!

'Old Hat' in Newspaper, Flyers & Wire.

On Thursday 16th July 'Old Hat' went on display at High Head Sculpture Valley.

This latest collection of headwear has been inspired by a recent period of work undertaken with Grampus Training and Heritage Limited, a local company who work with students from all over Europe.
Sara has been increasingly interested in the potential of using recycled materials to create exciting new pieces. Sara adopted a simplistic approach to create the designs, drawing upon personal skills and problem solving to transform recycled objects into ‘something else’. Each creation has been inspired by the recycled object in its original state with minimal use of additional materials. The potential for recycled fashion is endless!

Any body wishing to try their hand at creating something from nothing can enrol on a new ‘Fashion Junkie Workshop’. Participants will have the opportunity to make their own exciting creations from recyclables! Or if you’d like a more traditional approach you can try Retrimming an old hat at an ‘Old Hat Tricks’ workshop; the next one is Saturday 22nd August 10am – 4pm at The Studio in Corby Hill near Carlisle.

For further details, contact Sara saragadd@tiscali.co.uk for directions to go and see the collection in the flesh visit http://highheadsculpturevalley.co.uk/contact.htm

Hope you enjoy!

Summer Hats & Fascinators From Sara Gadd Millinery

Hats, fascinators and summer headwear .....

It's a busy summer Sara Gadd Millinery

and it's so lovely to see ladies choosing colourful head wear for special occasions such as weddings, Royal Ascot and other race meetings, despite of the 'credit crunch!'

Here are some of the latest creations that have been adorning the heads of stylish ladies across the country and even the world!

If you would like to commission Sara Gadd Millinery to design and create an exclusive hat for you visit http://www.saragadd.co.uk/ for further details.

Grampus Workshop - Norse Inspired Hats & Headwear

During this recent workshop I worked with students from all over Europe at Grampus Heritage and Training Ltd. We produced hats made from a mixture of natural materials such as linen, raw silk, fur, hand made melt, woor, bone and metal.

Viking Inspired Hats - Grampus Workshop

Sara Gadd Millinery has been out and about again .....!

... I spent the start of this lovely sunny week working at Grampus in Threapland, Wigton, Cumbria, with a lovely group of hard working Romanian students.

This time we have been inspired by Vikings!

Expect to see Viking inspiration in my forthcoming autumn/winter collection, here's a hint of what to expect! (Here's my creation above!)

Working with hand made felt, natural fabric, yarns and fur we created a simplistic collection of contemporary Viking headwear!

We also had the luxury of working with David Watson of Moor Forge, who created fabulous Viking inspired brooches.

The hats will be worn with Viking inspired outfits. The students are in England working towards this project for four weeks and so far they seem to be having fun!

A great start to the week and a welcome break from the norm!

Hat Making From Found Things & What We Had At Hand In Cyprus

Reflecting upon my week in Cyprus I thought I'd share the stylish hats we created in just three days!
The following hats have been made by European students and myself in Cyprus, on behalf of Grampus Heritage & Training.

Inspired by traditional basket weaving, greece, yellow and tartan, the hats have been made with just about

anything we had at hand!

Some of the peices are

made from basket componants, others from drift wood or plants; they make for interesting

creations!

Akrotiri Basket Weaving

The women of Akrotiri have been basket makers through the years.

We visited a traditional basket maker in the Cypriot village of Akrotiri.

This traditional way of life is now endangered due to dwindling trade, and the traditional craft is at risk of disappearing.

The baskets were once used in cheese making and for olive pressing along with other traditional uses,however plastic equivalents are now replacing these beautiful items.

Projects like this are trying to ensure traditional ways

do not vanish all together and it is up to us all to help and support in any way we can.

Perhaps finding new uses and purposes for the baskets in today's modern society, be it functional or decorative, is a way forward. After all the baskets would look perfectly at home in any traditional or contemporary interior and mass produced copies simply do not compair.

Thank you for taking a few moments to see how we learnt about this traditional way of life and think how you might possibly help support their work.