Tempest

Catherine Storm

Australia

• Crinoline Veil Project by Elena Shvab
• Blocking a Sinamay Hat Project by Amy Fowler
• HATalk Issue 84: Fraying Crin with Bridget Bailey
• HATalk Issue 166: The Final Step: Lining Your Hat by Amy Fowler

A dramatic thunderstorm was overhead when I was searching the HATalk archives. The rolling dark clouds and jagged lightning provided the inspiration for combining several millinery materials and techniques.

Using the crinoline veiling technique, black crinoline with a silver thread has been wired, trimmed with black pearls and twisted into curves that suggest storm clouds and lightning.

This is positioned around a crescent shape blocked with black sinamay and edged with black pearl trim. The sinamay crescent and rippling crinoline veiling are positioned on the head with a black button. The button is made from buckram, covered with black organza formed into pleats that meet in the centre, adding more movement. It is lined using a variation of the hat lining technique.

A cluster of frayed crinoline provides a design feature that recalls the impact of static electricity.

• Black sinamay
• Buckram
• Black pleated organza fabric
• Black pearl trim
• Black crinoline
• Black crinoline trimmed with silver
• Black lining
• Black Petersham ribbon

• Blocking sinamay
• Blocking buckram
• Pleating organza
• Wiring crinoline
• Trimming wired crinoline
• Fraying crinoline
• Lining a button base