Learn millinery
Current workshops
Block Fest 2025: new dates available
(view details and join today)
Learn how to make your own hat!
Ignite your creativity and feel confident being guided by Louise Macdonald, who has more than 30 years of millinery teaching experience.
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View details about Louise Macdonald Milliner's:
- Face-to-face courses (Melbourne, Sydney and Queensland)
- Online courses (on demand, 24/7)
- Live streaming courses (via Zoom)
Face-to-face courses
- Maximum of 12 students per group
- If any student feels slightly unwell, they must not come to the course
- Location: Room 7, 8th floor, 37 Swanston Street (corner with Flinders Lane), Melbourne (view location on Google Maps)
- Materials: Participants are sent a list of materials list required upon registration
Easter Millinery Intensive (April 2025)
Tuesday 8 April to Saturday 12 April 2025, from 10am to 4pm each day
Fill our expression of interest form and we'll get back to you as soon as details become available
Beginners Millinery Intensive (April 2025)
Monday 21 April to Friday 25 April 2025, from 10am to 4pm each day
Fill our expression of interest form and we'll get back to you as soon as details become available
Join us for a creative and hands-on millinery workshop during the first 4 Thursdays in May, where you'll learn the timeless art of millinery. Whether you're a beginner or looking to refine your skills, this class will guide you through the process of designing and crafting your own custom headwear. From selecting materials to shaping, embellishing, and finishing, you'll gain practical knowledge and expert techniques to create unique, wearable works of art. With a little bit of homework, you could expect to complete two hats in this workshop.
Ideal for anyone interested in fashion, design, or simply wanting to express their creativity through millinery.
Dates: Thursday 1, 8, 15 and 22 May 2025, 9.30am to 4.30pm
Cost: $770 AUD
Online courses
- Pre-recorded online courses can be watched 24/7 on Hat Academy's website
- Millinery students can learn how to create their hats in their own time and pace
- Registration and payment are made directly on Hat Academy's website
Watch a preview of the courses and enrol today
Live streaming courses
- Delivery: Millinery classes are presented online using the Zoom platform. Workshops can be watched on a portable device or desktop computer – go to Zoom's Download Center to install its software or mobile app (a meeting invitation is sent to students following registration and payment)
- Class size: Maximum of 15 students per session to help you feel connected with others in this online learning experience
- Materials: Participants are sent a list of materials on registration and need to source them from local suppliers (recommendations can be given if needed)
- Handouts: Notes are provided to assist you with the learning experience
Buntal Boater – Express your interest
Live streaming course
Create a Buntal Boater without the use of blocks. When you first venture into the world of millinery, compiling a collection of good blocks happens over time. In the absence of an extensive block collection, the ability to make and create a diverse range of hat shapes is a bonus.
In this 3-part workshop you will make a boater style hat and a bandeau support for the perfect tilt and fit. You will learn two very useful techniques: creating a structured hat without the use of blocks and the supporting bandeau underneath, which can be adapted to any hat you want to give a lift, tilt and fit on the head. At the end, participants will aim to have made an untrimmed buntal boater with bandeau support for desired positioning.
- Materials: A detailed list is sent on registration.
- Skills: This workshop is suitable for intermediate and advanced millinery students. Assumed knowledge for students participating will be basic millinery stitches, alternatives for finishing a brim edge and trimming the hat once course is complete.
- Sessions: 3 sessions of 2.5 hours each, over 3 weeks
- Dates – Inform location and preferences in the expression of interest form, so we can find a suitable option for you!
- Cost: $275 AUD
- Testimonials:
"I enjoyed getting to know a new type of straw and its properties and how to manage them."
"The bandeau portion could be its own class! Very useful!"
"I was interested to see that you don't always need a hat block to make a hat that looks like it's been blocked."
"The delivery was excellent – live examples, videos, photographs and the photographic course notes. I love your teaching style – very clear, relaxed and open to questions. Loved the whole course."
"Louise is clear and concise, able to modify her description to meet the level of the students."
Read more testimonials
Cockade Choreography – Express your interest
Live streaming course
Building on her millinery courses Contemporary Cockades (available from Hat Academy), Ribbon Beret and Ribbon Halo, delivered via Zoom, Louise Macdonald will extend your repertoire by demonstrating more ribbon folding techniques and applying them to other materials to create beautiful trims and contemporary headpieces.
- Sessions: 1 session of 2.5 hours
- Dates – Inform location and preferences in the expression of interest form, so we can find a suitable option for you!
- Cost: $93.50 AUD
Freeform Parisisal Sculpting – Express your interest
Live streaming course
Learn how to prepare and manipulate parisisal straw to produce contemporary organic headpieces without the use of a block. This great technique produces unique flowing pieces that free you from the confines of a hat block. At the end of the session, you will have received instructions on how to prepare, sculpt, reinforce, stiffen and finish your unique headpiece.
- Equipment / materials: A polystyrene foam head, a steamer (but a kettle will suffice), an iron and a sewing machine, along with the materials (the full list is provided on registration, but the essential item is a parisisal cone, also known as sleeve or hood).
- Skills: This millinery workshop is suitable for beginner to advanced students. You need to know how to thread and use the sewing machine, needle and thread for some hand sewing.
- Sessions: The course has 2 sessions. The first session (1.5 hours) is an in-depth demonstration of the technique. You will be able to work alongside the demonstration to a certain point, then will be required to do some homework before the second session. The second session (1 hour) is designed as a review of your results and for you to ask questions.
- Dates – Inform location and preferences in the expression of interest form, so we can find a suitable option for you!
- Cost: $93.50 AUD
Freeform with Buntal Mats – Express your interest
Live streaming course
Buntal mats are one of Louise Macdonald's favourite millinery materials. She offers 3 online courses on HatAcademy showing you how to create structured hat shapes without blocks. In this live streaming course, you will learn how to prepare, assemble and sculpt to create more organic hats and headpieces from the buntal mat. Being formed by hand, your piece will be unique to the creator. Channel the sculptor in you and enjoy wonders of buntal mats.
- Materials: A detailed list is sent on registration.
- Sessions: The course has 2 sessions. The first session (1.5 hours) is an in-depth demonstration of the technique. You will be able to work alongside the demonstration to a certain point, then will be required to do some homework before the second session. The second session (1 hour) is designed as a review of your results and for you to ask questions.
- Dates – Inform location and preferences in the expression of interest form, so we can find a suitable option for you!
- Cost: $93.50 AUD
Ribbon Beret – Express your interest
Live streaming course
Drawing on her knowledge of 1920s ribbon cockades, Louise Macdonald reveals clever ribbon twisting and folding techniques to cover a pre-blocked button beret. The result is a gorgeous contemporary trans-seasonal headpiece. You'll learn how to prepare, measure, fold, set and transfer the manipulated ribbon to the 3-dimensional beret form, before stitching into position – effective in plain or striped ribbon.
- Materials: A detailed list is sent on registration, but essentially you will use 50mm (2 inch) wide millinery petersham (buy ribbons online) and a pre-blocked button beret
- Skills: Suitable for beginner to advanced students. You need to be proficient in using a needle and thread for hand sewing
- Duration: 1 session of 2.5 hours
- Dates – Inform your location and preferences in the expression of interest form, so we can find a suitable option for you!
- Cost: $93.50 AUD
- Testimonials:
"Louise is an excellent tutor! Very kind and generous with her teaching methods and all instructions and steps are explained/shown very clearly."
"Really loved the notes that were given in advance, so you can be prepared for the Zoom [millinery course]."
"Even though not face-to-face, Louise is there to answer any questions, and the live demonstrations were fantastic – just as good as being in the studio."
"I have been a reluctant online course participant, but was very impressed with this class, and would definitely do it again."
Read more testimonials
Ribbon Halo – Express your interest
Live streaming course
Create an intricate trans-seasonal halo headpiece in this 2.5-hour live streaming course. Louise Macdonald draws on her 30 years of millinery experience (read more) to teach you how to achieve this traditional ribbon folding technique and apply it to a contemporary "on trend" design. No specialised equipment is required, making it suitable for beginners to advanced students.
- Materials: A detailed list is sent on registration, but essentially you will use 50mm (2 inch) wide millinery petersham (buy ribbons online) and a covered, padded headband.
- Skills: Suitable for beginner to advanced students. You need to be proficient in using a needle and thread for hand sewing.
- Duration: 1 session of 2.5 hours.
- Dates – Inform location and preferences in the expression of interest form, so we can find a suitable option for you!
- Cost: $93.50 AUD
- Testimonials:
"I really enjoyed it. As I'm away from home and all my millinery supplies, this one was great as I only needed a few items."
"Easy-to-follow instructions with assistance from the well-placed overhead camera view of worktable. Fantastic as always. Great instruction of the steps. Great handouts/resources. Comfortable and welcoming environment over Zoom. Good encouragement of all students."
Read more testimonials
Ribbon Origami – Express your interest
Live streaming course
Louise Macdonald started her millinery career making hats for the BBC series The House of Elliot (read more). This gave her a taste for beautiful ribbon cockades of the 1920s. In this live streaming workshop she will share her love of the ribbon trims with you. Learn twisting and folding techniques to create a selection of trims that can be applied to hats, headbands and fascinators for a vintage or more contemporary look.
- Materials: A detailed list is sent on registration, but essentially you will use 25mm (1 inch) wide millinery petersham and 1 metre / 2 metres of 5cm (2 inch) wide millinery petersham (buy ribbons online)
- Skills: Suitable for beginner to advanced students. You need to be proficient in using a needle and thread for hand sewing
- Duration: 1 session of 2.5 hours
- Dates – Inform location and preferences in the expression of interest form, so we can find a suitable option for you!
- Cost: $93.50 AUD
- Testimonials:
"I appreciated Louise's patience. She is good at breaking things down and explaining them."
"In a couple of hours we picked up skills to use in so many different and unique ways."
"Louise was incredible. The instructions were clear and easy to understand."
Read more testimonials
Previous millinery courses
These face-to-face courses have already taken place and may run again soon.
Millinery Upcycling
This millinery course was part of the Melbourne Fashion Week 2021 official calendar
Is your hat looking tired? Squashed? Lacklustre? Have you bought a beautiful piece that needs rejuvenating after so many years wear? Do you have a sad vintage hat that needs new life?
We need to think about how we can mend, repurpose and recycle to make fashion more sustainable. Louise Macdonald will show you how to bring your hat back to life.
Bring along a felt or straw hat to this evening demonstration in Louise Macdonald's central Melbourne studio where she will talk about some essential first aid you can apply to your hat to give it new life.
Learn how you can clean, repair, restore or reinvent shape in your old hat to get it back on your head! Get some retrimming ideas. You will be amazed at what's possible! It's an opportunity to be creative, share ideas, learn some millinery tips and tricks, and have some fun.
Silk Abaca Turbans
Learn traditional millinery techniques while making a turban. You will block and reinforce a hat base, then shape and drape to make a delicate flowing turban from lustrous silk abaca.
Berets and Caps from Buntal Mats
Learn to make caps and berets from a buntal mat, using a flat pattern technique and sewing machine. These style hats are easy to wear and can be dressed up or down for everyday wear. On this 2-day course you will get the chance to create 2 hats.
Saucer Hats
The saucer hat suits any face shape and can be trimmed in a host of ways to reflect the wearers personal style. Learn how to manipulate the base buntal material to create this versatile shape. The only block required for this piece is a simple dome block. This workshop gives you a great set of skills and shape to add to your millinery repertoire.
Suitable for beginner to advanced millinery students.
Dior Brims from Buntal Mats
Create a structured "Dior" style brimmed hat from a buntal mat without the use of blocks. When you first venture into the world of millinery, compiling a collection of good blocks happens over time. In the absence of an extensive block collection, the ability to make and create a diverse range of hat shapes is a bonus.
In this 1-day workshop you will learn techniques that enable you to create a hat with structured large down turned brim without blocks, giving you skills to create your own shapes.
Twist and Shape Sinamay Manipulation
Understanding the bias weave and how it can be manipulated to create 3D shapes is one of the keys to using traditional millinery materials. In this weekend workshop you will come with a pre blocked base and make several trims including a double-sided sculpted trim. You will also be shown how to create a sinamay brim without blocks.
Sinamay Brim Extensions
A sinamay brim extension is a light and delicate way to extend or finish a brim. Learn this technique with Louise Macdonald to complete a parisisal straw hat with a brim. Suitable for intermediate or advanced millinery students.
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