Witch Krafting with Kat

Being a Milliner myself, well an inactive one, I never say retired or ex Milliner as I never know when the urge to hat again might strike lol. Well if you are like me and hats are in the blood Warner Bros Studio Tour the making of Harry Potter is a great place to spot a variety of wonderful Hats! Just before the entrance of Diagon Alley there is this amazing display of Witches and Wizard Hats, including materials and hat blocks that was used in production . It is a little dark area of the tour so please excuse my photos, but it gives you an idea. Here are the wonderful hats worn by Fleur Delacour and the young ladies of the French magical school Beauxbatons Academy. Notice the hat blocks used by Philip Traecy. Many Wizard and Witches Hats worn throughout the series of Harry Potter films. All beautiful handcrafted from various fabrics and decorated with a variety of trims including buckles, feathers and ribbons. Notice the rolls of fabric and sketches of Fleur Delaco...

“It is the very error of the moon. She comes more near the earth than she was wont. And makes men mad.” —William Shakespeare,  Othello Please visit BBC news for information on tonight's blood mood. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/science-environment-44945452

He who must not be named! This beautiful costume was made from hand dyed French silk. A beautiful garment, lots of fabric but very light. Because the fabric is so light it has a habit of moving in a slight breeze so looks almost alive. An interesting fact that as the characters become weaker this is reflected in the colours of their clothing. Notice that Dumbledore goes from quite coloured attire to pale greys as Lord Voldemort become more powerful and more of a threat to Dumbledore's life! The opposite also happens when Dolores Umbridge gets more powerful her clothes becomes stronger colours of pink!  Up close and personal.  Harry Potter's Gryffindor school Robe. Interesting fact, Tom Felton who played the part of the lovely Draco Malfoy had to have his inside wand pocket sewn up as he kept bring onto set lots of sticky sweets! Evidently though very generous to cast and crew with his sweets he kept leaving them in his Robe pocket causing the costume d...

I recently attended a fabulous workshop at the Warner Brothers Studio tour at Leavesdon Studio in Watford(or London as they like to advertise) called 'The making of Harry Potter behind the seams'. The ticket I purchased allowed me both entrance to the Studio tour and the workshop. An hour and a half into the Studio Tour I had to meet up by the doors next to Malfoy's Manor. I was then whisked away with other muggles and magical folk to a secret(ish) location. The workshop which ran for nearly two hours was a wonderful experience. We saw videos explaining the design, research that goes into each costumes and construction. We also got to look extremely close up to a selection of original hero costumes(ones worn by the actors rather than stuntmen) including Professor Sprout, Luna Lovegood's beautiful Christmas dress, He who must not be named, Mad Eye Moody as well as Harry Potter's! The WB team who presented the workshop where extremely knowledgeable and welcomi...

Now you have created your spirit doll how about making them a magical staff. This is so simple but very fun to make. All your need is a stick, glue and some decorations. The staff above was made by gluing and wrapping wool around the stick. I then wrapped the top with some florestry wire and then glued a button and feather on top. You could wrap your staff with string, lace or raffia. Try adding a bead or crystal at the top.  If you prefer a wand make the stick smaller and glue on sequins. Top the plain stick, middle wrapped in wool and florist wire. Bottom using raffia, wire and bead. Her wand is made from a smaller stick wrapped in wool and decorated with a bead and sequins. Places to buy and source materials. Firstly just look around you, buttons, shells, broken brooches, odd earrings, sequins, watch parts,string, wool, scrap fabrics are perfect for spirit doll making.  I have found really cool items in pound shops, as well as Hobbycraft, The Range ...

Here are some of my spirit dolls to give you some ideas for your own creations. The one above is a stone spirit doll made from hag stones I found on a recent trip out. He is the spirit of stones and as he is a hag stone a connection from this world to the world of the fairy realm. This is a spirit witch which reflects myself. She is wearing a witches hat which reflects my interest in all things Witchy and also a hint of my previous life as 'Kat the Hat lady'. Those who know me probably remember I specialised in making miniature witches Hats for a living. The eye is to ward off evil, the acorn is my love of Autumn and the toadstools she carries ( made by Jenny Kelm of Kastle Kelm miniatures) is my love of toadstools and Fungi. The colours used are my favourite. This spirit doll is the the spirit of Autumn fairies ball. She is dressed in Autumn colours, wears a feathered 1920's style headdress and has a wand. She is all about having fun! Coming soon pa...