Every month we offer a discount on one of our popular designs and this month it is the versatile saucer block FB50. Sometimes it can be hard to visualise what a hat can look like from a picture of the block. Here we have three stunning examples and each milliner has used the block differently to great effect! The red example is from La Plus Belle!, the Black and White picture shows a hat by Karen Morris and the ivory example is by Aoife Kirwan.
The block comes with a string groove to help make blocking easier but don’t be put off by the fairly large hollow area. To help with this you’ll need some strips of cotton sheet (or any natural material that absorbs water). Once the sinamay is blocked, these can be wetted and stretched across the hollow area to push it down – hold them in place with some pins around the circumference the block. As long as the material is natural (i.e not nylon etc) then as it dries it will shrink back to its former size and thus pull tighter against the block. The result will be a nice even hollow that really gives the elegance to this design.
Check out previous ‘block of the month’ pages for some more inspiration (discounts no longer apply!)