More About Michelle Marie Millinery; How it began...
Many people ask how I got into Millinery. Growing up, I always had a keen interest in sewing and fabrics as my mother spent a lot of her spare time sewing. She made beautiful curtains and clothes for friends and family.
When I was a teenager, we bought my mother a new sewing machine, thinking she would be delighted. She claimed she was, although the new sewing machine lay idle, she preferred her old reliable! So, determined not to let it a new machine go to waste, I signed up to the "Fashion Design and Dress-Making" evening course at Limerick Senior College, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I later did the continuation to that course and also other evening sewing classes. I made small items like a top, a skirt or a child's dress, many of which were unwearable! One dress that I toiled over for hours for my young niece was worn as a Halloween costume!
I eventually made a coat I was relatively happy with, which I still wear. While I enjoyed following the patterns and making basic items, I found the part I really enjoyed was designing my own flower to go on the dress or being creative with the fabric. Also, sewing had become a very time-consuming, expensive hobby.
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In 2015, I was attending the Galway Races with my friends. I wanted to find a headpiece that would be the finishing touch to a dress I already had. I looked in all the hat shops in Limerick and found nothing suitable. I eventually found a very talented milliner in Clare who very kindly let me hire a beautiful piece to match another dress I had. I wore the hand-made headpiece for the day and felt a million euros in it!
In my search for a piece for the races that year, I fell in love with hand-crafted, unique designs and found they simply did not compare to the factory made, high street, cheap and tacky "fascinators" that are sold.. In stark contrast, the hand-made piece added the perfect finishing touch to my outfit and felt beautiful to wear. I went home dreaming of all the style and headpieces I saw at the races that year and decided to make a hat of my very own!
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I attended a beginner millinery course in the since closed "beads and bling" shop in Dublin. I did lots of online courses and tutorials both paid and free. I also attended some other day courses before I decided to take a little more training with a milliner on a one-one basis during my holidays from work.
Though it was hard, intensive work, I loved every minute of it. Especially when I got to work with materials or fabrics I loved and be creative. I made a few hats for friends and family as a hobby. I loved it so much, I decided if I wanted to continue I needed to fund my creative addiction! And so, from there I started to make a small selection of pieces for hire and sale...
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Please know that when you purchase or hire from Michelle Marie Millinery, you are supporting a small, local venture that grew from a creative passion. I hope you enjoy your piece as much as I have undoubtedly enjoyed creating it.
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