I wanted this hat to represent the fragility of the earth and the delicate balance it maintains in an era of environmental issues and global warming. My design intends to show nature around the earth, how the earth sustains life, and how it has beauty but vulnerability. I decided to represent this by creating embroidered sheer flowers which literally encircle the earth, using both hand and free machine embroidery. All of the flowers and foliage have a transparency. I was particularly inspired by the tropical colours of flowers. Some elements (the leaf skeletons) reflect nature under threat. I have only used half of a globe to represent the earth to show fracture, made from needle felted Merino wool tops.

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