Chateau du Chapeaux.....

"No, Tessie. In the first place, it's a cottage, not a castle. And besides, if you name it that, people will think that the whole thing is made out of hats....It's not going to work.". That was me trying to talk Tessie out of the fancy name that she thought up for the new millinery shop.

We were in a discussion whilst sorting through hat stands and hats for the shop.

I was waiting for the finish to dry on the second set of shelves so I dragged out the hat box. That is, the box with hats and hatstands inside.

I found that I had quite a few partially finished hatstands all ready to go.

As you can see, the stands can be make out of something as simple as a bead, a piece of a dowel and a flat wheel shaped bead for the base. Sometimes I get a bit fancier and use a wood turning for the stem. The beads that I am using for a base are some that I bought a long, long time ago from a mini shop that is no longer in business here in Tucson. I believe that they are rosewood. I am not sure what they were originally for, but the shopkeeper sold them to me for next to nothing because she couldn't see any mini application for them.

Tomorrow I will get to work and show you how I decorate them. Yes. They get decorated as well as the hats.

Now about some of the hats. Tessie told me to show you these. She likes straw hats best. You can make straw like hats from anything straw like. The one that she has in her hand is a piece of hardanger cloth, #22. The beige one with the crimson trim and the cream colored one with the peach trim are both straw hat making braid. The ones with blue trim and yellow/green trim are also #22 hardanger, just a different color. The one at the bottom center is stiffened linen. I saved the best for last...It is a piece of a Japanese, fine woven place mat. I told you it could be anything straw like....

This last photo is a little of everything else. The ones that look like velvet are made of velvet florist's ribbon. The peach and turquoise ones are made of silk over card. The red one to the far right is plain old cotton quilter's fabric.

Tessie also found a stash of purses, shoes and other ladies' things....When she dug out the corset, she immediately started making fun of anybody that would wear such a thing. She took one look and announced, "Keep that thing away from me. I will not wear a self inflicted torture device!" I guess that I will sell them in the shop, under duress, but I will not model them. The same goes for the silly high buttoned shoes! A person could kill themselves, trying to walk in something like that!"

I told her that I felt the same way and I wouldn't fight her on this one. I think that she was a bit disappointed. No fight. No fun at all.

She did find one of the mini sacks that I used when I did my last show table. The side of the sack says "Petite Bijoux". It translates "Small Jewels" on Babel Fish. I later found out that this is the French Canadian way of spelling it. They informed me that it should have been "Petit Bijoux". I have also heard that it translates "Small Treasures". I guess that the phrase and the translation are both up for debate. Oh well.....

Anyway, Tessie confiscated all of the left over bags and declared that the cottage would henceforth be known as "Petite Bijoux". Then she finished with, "Now I won't have to make or buy new bags for the shop.".....Good thinking, Tessie.

See you tomorrow.