17th May 2017: Bronwen Simpson: Milliner

Bronwen makes hats in Stockport's Market Place Studios in addition to her "day job" working as a curator for Stockport Museums at the Hatworks museum.  Originally from Ireland Bronwen graduated in 2004 with a 1st class honours degree in Contemporary Craft from Manchester Metropolitan University specialising in textiles and concrete. Having worked with milliners on projects like" Making Headway" Bronwen wanted to fully understand the objects she displayed, this lead her to learn traditional millinery skills.  Bronwen describe the joy of making hats as the wealth of materials available such as silk and wool felt and the process of transforming the materials by tension and steam press into a finished object.  Following the talk Bronwen demonstrated the process of blocking hats and allowed members to try on a selection of hand made hats.