For me, sharing my millinery journey has been about more than just creating beautiful pieces—it’s been about connecting with others through a shared love of craftsmanship, creativity, and personal expression.

The Early Days

Some of you may know that I began my millinery journey way back in 2011, however it was always on the back burner to being a mum. Along the way, I had several newborn babies with my partner, older school age children to care for as well with all the extracurricular things that come with that age, yes I was a soccer mum, and a ballet mum, my role as a Girl Guide leader and my job as an industrial sewing machinist that would later evolve to being a CAD operator as well. During this time, my millinery was primarily sold on Facebook.

Challenges and Set-Backs

In 2018 I had other issues along the way with an ex-husband that resulted in me closing my millinery down for a year or two and causing a lot of chaos in my personal life. To be completely honest, when you're in the middle of heartbreak, being creative and interacting with people is the hardest thing in the world to do and everyday is a struggle to just keep going.

I decided to continue my millinery again in late 2019 but once again, and for the same reasons, I closed my millinery and social media down again. Closing not once but twice was devastating. I'd not only lost everything I'd been working hard to achieve, but I'd lost contact with customers and friends that I'd made, and unfortunately any interest in creating stuff that I would then put forward for the world to judge. Creating for other people can sometimes be incredibly hard, especially when people in your personal life are telling you that you're not good enough.

I reopened again, despite objections, in mid 2022 with this shop, on Facebook and Instagram. By this stage in my personal life, things had changed drastically and I'm now navigating the world as a single mum. This obviously comes with challenges but for me they're greatly outweighed by the peace and freedom that I'm currently enjoying.

The journey back to feeling ready to reopen was long and hard, somewhere on the journey I actually quit caffeine, but the final decision was probably me being defiant and stubborn. I refused to stop talking to people and I wanted to share my skills again. I wasn't quite ready to create new pieces but I did want to find my people again.

A New Chapter

It feels like 2024 has flown by but when I stop and think about everything that I've done this year, it's really been a very busy year full of personal growth. Last year I decided it was time to move on from the little town I was living in, I was born there, had gone to school there and had moved back 12 years prior to. One of the important lessons in life is learning when it's time to stop trying to fix things and move on. I learnt that last year.

Decision Making

The main factor in this decision was my children's education, truth be told we were at a bad school with teachers that just don't want to fix the fact that it's a low ranking school, despite the best efforts from the principal. So when an opportunity arose for my children to receive a good education at a higher ranking school, I decided to take it. 

I made the very hard decision to leave my job as a sewing machinist and CAD operator and had my final days last December after 9 and a half years in the job, and started the search for a rental in a new town a few hours away from where we lived. With the current rental crisis in Australia, that was a hard task which didn't end until September this year. I was very reluctant to give up the new opportunity for my children's education though so I made the wild decision to travel daily until we found a suitable rental.

Challenges During the Commute

We spent 4-5 hours a day on the road, 5 days a week—and I don’t regret that decision at all. Those hours were filled with music, interesting conversations, and scenic views, and over time, I actually came to enjoy the drive. My confidence grew quickly, as did my driving skills. But more importantly, I learned a lot along the way. I faced challenges like dealing with wildlife, navigating night driving, managing wild weather, and, of course, learning to navigate (a skill I’m still improving!). I also had to handle situations like encountering logging trucks (I think we all remember the "Final Destination" movies), dealing with flat tyres, and learning the importance of asking for help. And yes, I even tried hitchhiking—though I haven’t shared that story with my parents yet... so I’m hoping they don’t read this blog post!

Settling into a New town

As luck would have it, I finally found a house. It was a case of I knew someone, who knew someone, who's cousin had a goldfish and that goldfish had a cousin twice removed who had two left legs and a honky tonky wonky donkey, and their friend had a rental which had just become available, except my story has no goldfish, unusual legs or wonky donkeys.

In the first weekend of September this year, we moved, me and 3 children in tow, to a new town, with the help of a removalist company and someone who knew someone.

For all the horoscope folks out there, I'm just going to throw this out there, I'm a Taurus, and I really am the definition of a Taurus. I am stubborn and I hate change. So this was huge, added to that that I'm introverted. I like things to be safe and stable, I hate going out of my comfort zone. Which brings me to lesson 2 for this year, which is to not to be so fixed, roll with the punches whatever they may be and be willing to try new things because you can find good things outside of your own bubble.

Now as I come up to the end of my fourth month in my new town and the end of the school year, and I'm looking at how far I've come this year, and how far my children have progressed this year, it's been a good year, a year full of fun, change, progress, excitement. We've made new friends and had new adventures. It's been absolutely amazing and I feel at peace.

Looking Towards 2025

I'm also excited for what's to come. As far as this blog is concerned, I'm continuing my series on colour psychology, history and theory, which is something I'm personally enjoying researching and sharing with you. I have plans for another series after that, but we'll see what happens because I'm excited about it as well, so it may start sooner. I plan on diving into millinery history and also providing you with more millinery inspiration.

I also have more millinery pieces in progress, and a long queue of pieces I've planned out. I'm excited to learn new exciting techniques next year to bring new fresh designs to you. The current pieces I'm working on include a cheery yellow feather flower on a Sinamay crown, a dainty yellow fascinator with a yellow bow trim and some fascinators and pillboxes in gorgeous satins in a deep red and also navy. I'm also planning more pieces in crinoline, Swiss Straw Braid, feathers and of course beads. I love playing with beads!

Personally, I’ve decided to return to studying part-time online, and I’m excited about turning my skills and experience into formal qualifications. While I’m not quite ready to reveal what I’m studying (trust me, you’ll have to wait a little longer for that!), I can tell you that I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing where this path leads. Over the past two years, I’ve rekindled my childhood love of reading and have dived into a lot of business and personal growth books. So, here’s a fun question—what do you think I’m studying? Any guesses?

I’ve also recently taken up gardening, with the hope that by the time I retire and become a little old lady, I’ll actually know what I’m doing. A girl can dream, right? And in my dream, I’m living on a farm, growing my own fruits and vegetables, keeping a couple of chickens for eggs, and if I’m lucky, I’ll have a cat, a dog, and maybe even a horse. I may even explore the idea of growing flowers and try and decide which ones are my favourites, at the moment it's peonies. For now, though, I’m starting small with an apple tree, a strawberry plant, a blueberry bush, a lavender plant, and a very tiny Christmas tree (just for fun). If you’re also a gardener and have any tips, feel free to share them with me!

To be honest, I never thought of myself as a gardener. In fact, I was told I wasn’t one before I even gave it a try. But I’ve come to see gardening as a form of creativity. Much like any art or craft, you take raw materials—a blank canvas, a piece of fabric, a slab of wood, or a ball of yarn—and transform them into something beautiful, personal, and unique. In gardening, you take seeds, cuttings, or plants and nurture them, arranging them in your garden to create something meaningful. Whether it’s a flower garden that brightens the space or a vegetable patch that provides nourishment, you turn a patch of bare earth into something full of life and hope.

As I look back on this year, I’m filled with gratitude for the experiences, lessons, and changes I’ve embraced. It’s been a journey of growth—both personally and professionally—and while there have been challenges along the way, I’m excited for what the future holds. Whether it’s returning to school, diving into gardening, or dreaming of life on a farm, I’m learning to enjoy the process, not just the destination.

A special thank you to my readers and customers. Your support, encouragement, and feedback mean the world to me. I’m grateful for each of you who have been part of this journey. I hope you’ve found some inspiration or a shared experience in my story, and I look forward to what the future brings as we continue this adventure together.

Here’s to a new year full of possibilities and growth—no matter what dreams we’re chasing.

Melissa