Saturday, Sept. 6-Sunday, Sept. 7: Crafts of the Past

Fort Nisqually Living History Museum

By John Kephart on September 1, 2014

Did you know September is National Fall Hat Month? According to answers.com, NFHM is "a month of celebration during which the straw hat is put aside by men and women in favor of the felt or fabric hat.  Local businesses and the media are encouraged to plan hat-related activities." In honor of that good news - or maybe by complete coincidence - the Fort Nisqually Living History Museum's Crafts of the Past program has brought in milliner Dana Repp as this weekend's artist-in-residence. The program - which will be ending this month - allows visitors to see the "creativity of daily life" in crafts of the 1800s (other crafts for September include tin whistles and cyanotypes, a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print). Repp makes period replicas of bonnets based upon examples in museum collections, period illustrations and photographs. Examples of various 19th century bonnets will be on display, and Repp will demonstrate bonnet construction methods. No word as to whether she'll be using mercury in her demonstration - though if she is, she'll be prepared for National Mad Hatter Day Oct. 6.

CRAFTS OF THE PAST, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Point Defiance Park, Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, 5400 N. Pearl St., Tacoma, $4-$7, 253.591.5339