Crochet food hats make artist Chiliphilly an Instagram sensation

An artist who makes food and coffee for a living? It's not an uncommon story, but for Melbourne's Phil Ferguson food is not just how he makes a crust, but also how he's making his mark.

Ferguson, aka @chiliphilly, has racked up 18,000 Instagram followers thanks to his weekly posts of skillful crochet creations that uncannily resemble our favourite foodie crushes.

There's a woolly headpiece that transforms @chiliphilly into a delish slice of peperoni pizza, a meat pie (with sauce, of course), spaghetti and meatballs, a burger with the lot, an egg and bacon brekkie, and pub standard bangers 'n' mash. There's even a fortune cookie hat that started life as a wonton.

When he's not crocheting on his couch in Melbourne's inner-south, Ferguson spends his time making (real) milkshakes and serving (real) burgers, soft serve and (yes, real) coffees at Caulfield's Tuck Shop Take Away.

Before moving to Melbourne about a year ago, Ferguson was studying fine arts at Curtin University in his home town of Perth. A visit to his sister convinced him to make the move and try his luck as an artist.

There are two obvious questions to ask @chiliphilly ... Why crochet, and why food?

Like many of life's important skills, he learned his craft from YouTube. "My mother sewed a lot but she had a lot of wool and knitting stuff around the house from my grandmother ... but I only really began doing crochet in the last few years."

He began dabbling in a minor subject at university, crafting some "big colourful blobs". On a trip to Canberra to visit another sister, Ferguson began to think seriously about crochet and how he could play with the art form. His first creation for social media was a cactus; not surprisingly his second effort, a burger, was more to his followers' taste.

"Everyone loved it," says Ferguson of his burger hat. "They thought it was so funny. It inspired me to keep doing more." His social media star rose when two US websites introduced his artwork to a much bigger market, both in the same week.

"I was trying to pick up 100 followers per post, but in December it went viral."

Asked why he thinks people have responded so well to his work, Ferguson says he believes it is because food, particularly food from popular culture, is so instantly accessible. You don't need any words to show if something is good or bad.

"Everyone takes photos of their food on Instagram [because] food is a full sensory thing," he says. "You can see it, touch it, smell it."

Ferguson now has about 30 crochet menu items to his name, and while he is clearly loved, fortune remains elusive. He gets many requests but the hats are not for sale.

"I don't get any worth out of exchanging them for money," explains Ferguson of the hats, which take anywhere from 12 to 24 hours to make. "If I had to keep making the hats just to make money, it wouldn't be worth it. It would be making me unhappy. It's more about the opportunities that might come out of it."

So far @chiliphilly has been commissioned by a couple of stylists to make hats for photo shoots, and he's currently doing an artist-in-resident stint at the Australian Tapestry Workshop in South Melbourne where he has been wowing the more seasoned crafty crowd. Ferguson has impressed the Workshop's development manager Rayna Fahey with his skill and enthusiasm.

"It's funny because he looks so dour in his [Instagram] photos but he is one of the happiest people I have ever met," says Fahey. "He is so cheerful."

"He already made two or three hats while he's been with us, and has already picked up some new techniques such as blending colours."

Ferguson doesn't rely on patterns; he begins with a colour palette in mind for his next project, buys the wool, then begins making his pieces, trying on for size as he goes.

Has he had any flops? Well, yes. While everyone in Australia knows what a Zooper Dooper is, Americans are more familiar with traditionally shaped icy poles. "People thought it was a sanitary pad."

Phil Ferguson will give a free talk about his work at the Australian Tapestry Workshop on Tuesday April 7th at 1pm.