5 Day Residential Millinery Retreat with Tracy Chaplin

The five day residential workshop takes place in an 18th Century house which is the home of Tracy and her husband Chris. The house is set in the hill top village of Alan in a beautiful part of southern France near Toulouse. Tracy’s atelier is in the renovated old barn a lovely setting with views of the garden.

The course covers traditional and modern millinery techniques as well as Tracy Chaplin’s signature freeform techniques in Sinamay straw, Parisisal straw and Velour felt.

During the workshop you can choose to create a Freeform sinamay hat and learn how to shape and sculpt Sinamay on the bias.
Make a Freeform Parisisal straw hat using this luxury straw.
Learn how to block and work with velour felt.

There will be a wide selection of materials available for you to work with including Sinamay straw, Buntal mats, Parisisal straw, velour felt, feathers and leather. If you have a personal project in mind or would like to work with a particular material this can be discussed with Tracy prior to the workshop via email.

We also have a wide selection of hat blocks available for the students to use during the workshops. If you want to spend your week blocking a selection of millinery materials that’s also possible.

There is a maximum group of five students to ensure time for personal tuition with each student.

By the end of the workshop you will have created two or tree hats to take home with you.

The workshops are suitable for the complete beginner to millinery as well as the more advanced student.

Immerse yourself in the world of millinery and join like minded people that share your passion.