In its basic state, Wonderflex looks like a hard piece of plastic. When heated, however, a built-in polymer adhesive is activated and the material becomes soft and stretchy so that it can be shaped by hand or ‘blocked’ over solid objects. Once Wonderflex cools and rehardens, it retains its new shape exactly. In this way, you can use this modern millinery material to create cutting edge trims, like these spirals, to decorate your hats and fascinators.

Thermoplastics continue to stay on trend and Wonderflex is one of the most popular of these modern millinery materials for a number of reasons:

1. Wonderflex is easy to use and requires no special tools or equipment.
2. It isn’t hard to find as it is stocked by many millinery suppliers and a whole range of online cosplay retailers.
3. It is relatively inexpensive, so it keeps profit margins healthy.
4. Wonderflex is non-toxic, even when heated, while some thermoplastics are not.
5. Finally, and most excitingly, Wonderflex stretches on the bias. Quite a unique property for a thermoplastic material, this is due to the open weave polyester scrim which is embedded into the plastic composite. It is the polyester which gives Wonderflex its strength and which allows it to be stretched diagonally so that you can adhere to millinery’s ‘golden rule’ of always working on the bias and create fabulous curves.

Thermoplastics regularly feature in the collections of English milliner Carrie Jenkinson. In this tutorial, Carrie demonstrates how to make Wonderflex spirals using the same techniques which she employed to create her ‘Mulan’ headpiece (pictured above). Once you’ve mastered these spirals, you will be able to apply the same principles to create all kinds of interesting shapes out Wonderflex.

Category: Fascinators, Trimmings

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