Wire Hat 1
Wire Hat pinned frame
Wire Hat frame 2
Wire Hat frame 1
Wire Hat lace
Wire Hat lace placement
Wire Hat cap
Wire Hat untrimmed
Wire Hat detail
Wire Hat 2
Wire Hat 1 Wire Hat pinned frame Wire Hat frame 2 Wire Hat frame 1 Wire Hat lace Wire Hat lace placement Wire Hat cap Wire Hat untrimmed Wire Hat detail Wire Hat 2

When making this hat, I approached it first and foremost in terms of structure. I adore the elegance of structure under tension and wanted to feature that in this hat. Artistically, I was inspired by Art Noveau and Byzantine halos. To form the structure, I laid out the wire shapes over a paper diagram then bound them together with jewlery wire. The whole structure was then wrapped in thin strips of black tulle. The cover is made from fine netting hand stitched to the tulle covering the wires. The floral motifs are cut from vintage lace rescued from a ruined costume. I hand stitched the appliques to the cover after it was stitched to the frame and placed under tension. This was a precaution against the net stretching underneath the appliques and deforming them.