MAXINE GORDON meets a bunch of women who have made their own Easter bonnets this year.

A LOVE of hats and horse racing was what tempted medical secretary Tracey Bennett into school again. For next-door neighbours Wendy Wood and Debbie Martin, it was a business idea which brought them back to the classroom. And for Kat Hazelton, it was a bit of both.

They are just some of the 30 women who are enrolled on the adult-education millenary courses at York College, Tadcaster Road, on Tuesday evenings and Thursday afternoons.

In the space of only six months, many of the woman have gone from not knowing one end of a sewing needle from the other to creating hats stunning enough to turn heads at the races.

Tutor Helen Woodcock teaches the women traditional methods of hat making, starting off from using patterns and moving on to blocks for more intricate and individual designs.

Most of her students have made eight hats each during the six-month course - no mean feat when you consider each class meets for only three hours a week and many women were absolute beginners.

Helen said: "There was a wide range of abilities. We had women who had never used a sewing machine before, but even among those who could, most had never done any millenary."

When we gather for a photocall for this article, it's a good opportunity to admire the work of the women. It's an impressive array, with hats of every shape and colour - although there is a clear trend towards dramatic black and red.

Particularly eye-catching is a snug-fitting black and red felt number by Tracey Bennett, compete with a stripped-feather flourish at the front.

Tracey, a medical secretary at York Hospital, is passionate about hats but never dreamt of making one until she saw an ad for a millenary evening class at York College.

She said: "I have always loved hats and drag my friends round lots of shops so I can try them on. Now I can make my own hats and just have to buy the clothes to go with them."

Tracey, of York, is a big racing fan and says she will have plenty of opportunity to show off the results of her new hobby.

Wendy Wood and Debbie Martin, who live next door to each other in Church Fenton, signed up for the course to further a business dream they share. Wendy makes wedding dresses for a living, but was looking for a new challenge after becoming a mum to Amy, now three. Debbie is a nursery teacher who also makes wedding cakes as a side-line. She is also a keen sewer and wanted to learn how to make hats. The women decided to do the course with a view to offering a bespoke wedding outfit and hat-making service - with perhaps cake-making included too for good measure.

It's early days yet, but the pair hope to launch the business later this summer at a number of wedding fairs in the region.

Wendy said: "Since having Amy, I have wanted to do something different and this has given me a new outlet."

Debbie definitely has the hat-making bug. "I love crafts and sewing. If I could give up work I'd love to do this all the time."

Miniature hats are more Kat Hazelton's scene, and it was a desire to make more authentic small-sized hats that prompted her to take the course.

She explains: "I run a business making miniature hats for dolls, using straw. At fairs, I often get asked if I can make ladies' bonnets or gents' top hats, but I didn't know how. I really wanted to find some way of learning, then I saw the advert for this course."

Kat, who lives in Market Weighton and works part time in the dolls house shop in Fossgate, York, says the course has opened up business opportunities for her as well as allowing her to indulge her passion for hat wearing.

For her picture, she models a striking plant pot-like red hat with fastening details, which she says she often wears to go down to the pub. Another well-worn hat was a huge floppy patterned pink one she made for winter. But the piece de resistance is a black hat with spider-web netting which she plans to debut at the upcoming Whitby Goth Festival.

"I like to make crazy, mad hats which reflect my interest in rock music," she said. "At the goth festival last year, I saw some great hats, but they were really expensive, so it's great that I can now make my own."

The next millenary course for beginners will start at York college in September. For more details, telephone 01904 770200.

Updated: 10:04 Saturday, April 03, 2004