I believe that all children benefit from open-ended creative projects and hobbies, where they can express themselves and enjoy creating purely for pleasure, with no other end goal.
Rather than 'teach' specific skills like crochet or sewing, I hope to encourage and facilitate textile art projects in a nurturing and flexible way. Fibrefolk is a space where children can relax, explore, create and feel at home.
Many people also find that making things with their hands is a good way to still the mind and find inner calm, and the tactile qualities of fabric can enhance this.
We'll settle in with a drink and healthy snack and then explore a different fabric technique each week, with a short project that can be finished during the session, or taken away and completed at home. Children can choose their own materials from the extensive haberdashery to make every project truly their own. We'll sit round a big table and work on it together, or just find a comfy spot on the sofa. We'll tidy away from 4.45pm and pick-up is at 5pm.
Work in progress can be left in the studio or taken home to continue working on.
In the last two weeks of term there'll be the opportunity to design and make a bigger project drawing on any of the techniques we have used.
The projects vary according to children's preferences and the availability of materials -- but include things such as woven table mats, small block-printed bags or purses, braided or macramé accessories, visible mending, woven or tufted wall hangings, appliqué on children's own clothes, mini rag rugs, felted lamps, and many more. I'll happily take requests if there's something in particular they want to make.