Craft Dabble

Grace and I went to the Craft Dabble at Lancashire W.I. HQ in Leyland.  To be honest we had kind of forgotten what we signed up for, so it was a day of surprises.  16 ladies in 4 groups of 4 rotated around 4 tutor led tables.

Dorset Buttons

Were made in the Victorian era and earlier.  Buttons were an expensive commodity and these could be made with animal bones and twine.  The bone would be dried and then cut to make rings.

We were given curtain hoops which do the same job and wool to replace the twine.

You start by threading a needle and blanket stitching around the edge of the hoop to cover it.

Then you wrap a piece of wool across the hoop 4 times, which makes spokes in the middle of the circle.

Then you thread a needle and weave the needle between the spokes starting in the middle and working outwards.

Once the hoop is fully filled in, the wool is secured.

They are used now for decorations.  Metalic threads make excellent Christmas decorations.  People also used them as a decoration on a bag or as a false button.

Kusudama Paper Flowers

I have never been a big fan of paper flowers but I have to say these have changed my mind.

There are oodles of examples of how to make these on You Tube, which will explain better than I can.

The key to it, is the fact that you make 5 cone shapes and stick them together to make the flower head.

The folding makes the stamen-like centres and we used light card.  An A4 sheet will make 2 cones, cutting the largest squares you can.

These are the two I made in the class.

When I got home I fished out all the old craft magazines I had which had pretty paper in them.  This was perfect for the job.  The centre decorations are cut out pieces of paper and any button or trinket you may have.

The stems are made from bamboo BBQ sticks and we coloured them with felt pens to take away the stark colour contrast of the bamboo.

They are certainly better viewed from above and I keep them on the hearth by the fire. 

A few weeks later, we taught our Craft N Chat group how to make them, so the bunch is ‘growing’.

Fondant Animals

We did not get a choice of animals, but Monkeys, Tigers, Lions and Bears were made by other groups.

They look complicated but when broken down are balls, cones and sausages of fondant.

The lady recommended ALDI fondant, which is also used by professionals apparently.

Zebra Front

Zebra Back.  The thin strips were very tricky.

Elephant Front

Elephant Back

We took our items to Craft n Chat the week after for a show and tell and they were snapped up for a child’s birthday cake, so not wasted.

Sashiko Japanese Embroidery Coaster

Sashiko is a type of Japanese folk embroidery.

We started with a square of fabric which had a disappearing (with heat) design on it.

We started in the middle and simply made a running stitch along the design.  We used 3 strands of the embroidery thread.  

Real Sashiko uses a white cotton thread and is normally stitched onto blue fabric.

We then placed two pieces of fabric and a layer of light wadding together and sewed around the edge.  Once inverted the wadding is in the middle of the fabric layers. 

We made a small tassel, by wrapping thread around 3 fingers and securing at the top, then snipping the bottom edge.

The coasters were edged on the sewing machine and the tassel secured.

Mick claimed mine for his beer glass and it is working well.

We had a thoroughly enjoyable day and met some lovely ladies from around Lancashire.