Beckie Leigh’s Hat Bar Co. is offering a unique, hands-on experience with their variety of upcoming ring-making classes, including a sold-out Stacked Ring Class, taking place on Friday, June 21, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Waystone Brewing, located at 2101 W Wadley Ave Suite 27, in Midland. For those who missed out this time, there are several more classes coming up where jewelry enthusiasts are invited to craft their own shiny designs.
Becca Haberman, owner of Beckie Leigh’s Hat Bar Co., explained that the events aim to teach the fundamentals of silversmithing, including techniques such as soldering, filing, sawing, shaping, and adding texture to the metal.
“Our goal for this event is to help the community discover the charm of traditional craftsmanship and create a memorable experience at the same time,” said Haberman. “We can see a future where this one spark creates a new silversmith with designs of their own. Each person will leave with a ring set they created from scratch with their own hands. You can't buy that sense of pride in a store.”
Haberman highlighted the partnership with Waystone Brewing, noting their shared vision of bringing new and engaging experiences to the community through their board game café.
“We hope to create a space within the community where we can partner with other small businesses to create unique experiences for their customers,” she said. “We hope to have a ‘Small Business for Small Businesses’ mindset. If we can cross-promote with each other, we have the advantage of both of our services reaching a bigger and new audience.”
Beckie Leigh's Hat Bar Co., founded just over two years ago, has since expanded its offerings to include various vintage services. The business originated from Haberman’s personal passion for continually learning new skills.
“I had this quirky habit of learning one new skill a month from the age of about 11 years old and never stopped. I'm an actual hat milliner, one who makes hats from scratch. That in itself is a lost art,” she said.
Their expanded vintage service series workshops cover a range of crafts, including Hat Millinery, Leathercrafting, Silversmithing, Bookbinding, and now Perfumery. Patrons can join group-hosted events or arrange private individual workshops. The shop offers experiences from making custom cowboy hats to designing gemstone rings and creating signature perfumes from scratch.
“We will continue to add to our unique experiences and workshops,” Haberman said. “We are striving to offer all our services to stack on the back of the other services. So, for example, if you learn to make a cowboy hat from our hat millinery class, then you take a leather class, you can make a hat band. If you learn to make a hat band, you can learn to make a belt.”
Beckie Leigh's Hat Bar Co. is located at 619 West Texas in Midland and is open by appointment only. Beckie Leigh's will host a Silversmith Ring Making class at 9 a.m. on June 22, and an Initial Ring Workshop at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on June 29. Check out her website for more details on future events (beckieleighs.com).