Elisabeth Koch – China

Category: Traditional

Description

Fusion: the merging of different elements into a union. I chose the elements of Earth and Air. Earth is represented by the felt, which comes from the wool of an Australian sheep, an animal that roams on the Earth. Air is represented by the feathers, which in this case, comes from geese, animals that fly through the Air. With this hat, I have united Earth and Air, felt and feathers, indeed not revolutionary, but the way in which I have merged these two elements is simple, yet beautiful in my mind. By leaving a length of quill outside the felt base before the feathered bit starts, the shadow that is cast through the top of the hat leaves lines on the wearer’s face and body. The size is overwhelmingly large and demands visibility and attention, which I love. The colour, red, one of my favourite colours, again one that is bright, obvious and does not need to be asked to be noticed.

Materials

• 100% wool felt
• dyed goose feathers
• petersham for inside lining
• elastic

Techniques

• The main body of the hat, made of wool felt, was blocked over a circular pillbox-type mould that has rounded edges.
• The cut edges of the felt were folded up inside the hat and covered with a petersham ribbon lining, hand-sewn onto the felt.
• With a sharp spike, I pried holes around the edges of the felt through which I could push each goose feather inside. While doing this, I made sure each feather was the same length and style from the outside (a left side or right side feather) to match the others. I cut the feather’s quills on the inside to make them the same length.
• In order for the feathers to remain in place, I attached them to the petersham lining with glue. I don’t usually use glue but there was no other secure way to keep the feathers from falling out of the holes. The sleek quills easily slid out of the soft felt.
• To attach the hat onto the head, there is a piece of elastic to go around the back of the head.