Lilibet

Fleur Curtis

UK

• HATalk Issue 132: Hat of the Month by Sarah Sokol

I was mesmerised by Sarah Sokols' beautiful collection of paper hats in the HATtalk issue number 132, article ‘Whimsical precision’. This inspired me to create a hat predominately using materials made from paper. Further to this was the announcement of the death of Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh on the 9th of April 2021. It was whilst watching the broadcast of his funeral on the 17th of April 2021 that I felt compelled to create a commemorative piece. The Queens tribute to her husband of 73 years was a handwritten letter placed on his coffin signed with her childhood nickname “Lilibet”. It is thought that Prince Philip was the last of those to call the Queen by this nickname. Hence the inspiration for the hats name ‘Lilibet’ was born.

The royal family are well known for their love of millinery, so it felt quite apt to create a commemorative millinery piece. The base of the hat was made from paper straw fabric. The choice of colour for the base of the hat was as a nod to the bespoke military green Land Rover hearse that Prince Philip designed himself. I chose to create the trimmings out of paper card. I chose black as the colour of mourning. The rose as a symbol has long been associated with royalty, and I enjoyed the juxtaposition of using luxurious faux gold leaf on the humble black card of the rose petals. The seven black feathers are intended to represent one for each of the ravens residing at the Tower of London at the time of the Princes death. I wanted the overall design to be reasonably classical in keeping with the royal family.

• Paper straw material for base
• Black sinamay to provide strength to the paper crown
• Black card
• Black millinery wire size1.2 for the hat base wiring and to create hat prongs to keep on head
• Black millinery wire size 1.0 for the card feather quills
• Flower making wire size 28 for the rose leaves
• Faux gold leaf
• PVA stiffener
• Black paper floral tape
• Black Petersham
• Black satin for lining
• Needles and threads
• Blocking pins
• Pliers
• PVA glue
• Green Oasis spray
• Crown hat block

• Block crown base.
• Freeform brim.
• Wire and edge crown and brim.
• Spray paper straw green. I wanted a close match to the hearse. Unable to source or dye. Ensure cures totally. The design itself and petersham placement means it doesn’t come into contact with skin on wearing.
• Sew brim to crown.
• Create rose / leaves from card, floral wire and faux gold leaf.
• Create feathers from card and millinery wire.
• Sew card trims to hat base.
• Create hat prongs and sew in place.
• Create satin lining and sew in place.