| RETICULE and ACCESSORIES

Craft Fair 2011

A big thank you to all of our members who helped by making items to sell, looked after the stall and attended the craft fair last Saturday. The sales table looked very attractive and tempting.
However, because of the economic climate attendance was fairly low and people who did attend were being careful with their money. Despite this we still managed to raise £93-50 which will help subsidise some of our workshops. A big thank you once again for your support.

Craft Fair

We are all working hard making things to sell at the Craft fair we will be attending on the 22nd October to raise money for our funds to help subsidise our workshops. The pictures show a range of items completed so far ranging from mirrors and Christmas decorations to bags and hats.

Posted in craft fair |

October Meeting 2011

After our A.G.M. some members carried on working on their Olympic postcards

When completed they will be displayed with postcards from other branches of different countries.
Our country is San Marino and a whole variety of embroidery techniques are being used to represent the flavour of San Marino.

Posted in postcards |

September Meeting 2011 Nuno Felt

At our September Meeting we welcomed Jan Hicks who showed us how to make nuno felt. We laid out towels then a slatted blind followed by bubble wrap. Our piece of damp open weave fabric { silk, muslin] was laid out on top. We then laid out our coloured merino wool fibres thinly, either in patterns or randomly.

After the fibres were laid on the base fabric of silk or muslin hot water and soap were applied. Friction was then applied by rubbing with hands, rolling and finally banging and beating on the table to encourage the wool fibres into the spaces in the material. We all enjoyed getting rid of our stress by beating on the table!

As the wool began to shrink and felt interesting patterns began to appear on the fabric rather like seersucker.

The nuno felt was laid out to dry but most went home in plastic bags to finish the drying at home.
Once the felt had dried some were going to be used as scarves, some were going to be incorporated into other embroideries and some embroidered into to make a new embroidery. It was an enjoyable work shop and thanks go to Jan for her help and expertise.

Posted in nuno felt |

Olympic Postcards

It will soon be time to think about our Olympic Postcards based on the country of San Marino. The pictures show two that have been made already. One is about the founding of San Marino in 301 making it the oldest continuous republic in the world and is machine embroidered. The second one is based on a picture looking through a window and is hand stitched.

I know some more of our members have started to think about what they will put on their postcards. They will look really good when all stitched together.