Reverie

Karen Geraghty

United Kingdom

• Jinsin Saucer Hat Project by Catherine Ellen

I absolutely love the look of the jinsin saucer, so the choice of project was easy.

I found an amazing jinsin with knotted raffia stripes, and that dictated the rest of the materials used. I wanted to use slightly less refined, rougher looking materials in keeping with jinsin, while making the overall design refined, elegant and exotic. I love the contrast of materials and design.

The inspiration for the design itself is a tropical garden in the moonlight when everything is touched by silver. The headfitting is inspired by an iron railing in the garden with flowering vines.

• Jinsin
• Silk
• Floral wire
• Cane
• Millinery wire
• Spring wire
• Bondaweb
• Floral tape
• Silk covered wire

• The jinsin was pleated as per instructions.
• The cane was soaked in a pva solution, blocked, spliced and sewn at the brim edge above and below the jinsin. I added spring wire behind the cane on the bottom as the cane didn’t feel stiff enough to hold the shape of the brim on its own.
• The flowers were formed by sandwiching jinsin and silk, then shaping with steam.
• The headfitting is wirework in silk covered wire and millinery wire.