This week I’ve been experimenting with colour to bring some sunshine into my West Sussex millinery studio. It’s the first time I’ve hand dyed silk abaca and I must say I’m delighted with the results. Would you like to see?

This photo shows the ivory silk abaca as it is placed into its bath of Jacquard acid dye – to make this colour I mainly used ‘yellow sun’ with a little pinch of ‘cherry red’. I just love how the colour slowly creeps up the fabric as it is submerged.

Silk abaca dyeing with Jacquard acid dyes

Whilst the fabric was in it’s bath, I couldn’t help myself – I had to pop in a variety of feathers too!

Once the fabric had dried it turned into this beautiful daffodil yellow.

Perfect for making some gorgeous silk abaca flowers for one of my bespoke hats.

With a little bit of shaping and millinery magic it wasn’t long before the petals could be seen in all their glory – can you see that gorgeous yellow as the underside of these flowers?

Silk Abaca Flower for Bespoke Headpiece – Isabella Josie Millinery

And as for the finished handcrafted  headpiece, would you like a sneaky peak?  It will form part of my Spring  / Summer 2019 collection, such an elegant design for the racing season. It’s a hat that looks stunning from every angle, it’s  sure to be one of this years favourites.