Tag: Christmas

A Crafty Christmas
Christmas elves made from corks, Tunisian crochet hats, with kumihimo braiding scarves

There’s no doubt that Christmas is going to be a little different this year. With a lockdown once again in place, we are looking to crafty ways to stay occupied and even make some Christmas presents.

Here are some of the creations by Weavers’ Workshop member, Anne-Marie, decorations and gifts, all home-made.

A pair of cheerfully coloured rugs made of recycled materials:
- A bathroom rug woven on a rigid heddle loom using ribbon as a warp and old linen strips for the weft
- Twined rag rug made of old linen fabric strips on a weaving frame
The ‘warp’ is the long pieces of yarn or other textile which is held in place on a loom or a frame. In the above left example, ribbon has been used.

Making the twined rag rug from old linen fabric strips on a weaving frame.
- A waistcoat woven on a four shaft loom using Scottish Tweed wool.
- The finished waistcoat.
Looms and frames can vary in size from small handheld frames to huge industrial looms, but the principle is the same. You don’t need a loom or a frame to weave, simple weaving sticks or backstrap are other traditional methods. Find out how we set up our large replica medieval loom here.
- A round woven cushion cover done on a round pin loom
- The cushion cover is made with home spun & dyed merino wool
Amish style rag rug, made from old linen strips, a weaving needle and blanket stitch.
This style is also called a toothbrush rug

These festive little elves have been made from repurposed corks. Their hats are made from Tunisian crochet which blends techniques from knitting and crochet. Their scarves are kumihino, a traditional Japanese braiding craft.

Have you taken up or revived any textile crafts this year? We’d love to see your creations on our social media pages.

Huge thanks to Anne-Marie for sharing her beautiful creations.
November 13, 2020
Textile Craft Workshops at The Weaver’s House

On Saturday 24 November, The Weaver’s House will be running something a little different… get ready for Christmas with a crafty workshop!

Three experienced tutors will be running workshops in different techniques to make seasonally inspired crafts. An opportunity to make something lovely for yourself or as a gift.

A total of six different workshops are available across morning and afternoon slots, each one is two hours long and includes all materials plus tea, coffee and cake.

Tutor Profiles:

Jane Cobbett is a textile tutor who has a passion for patchwork and traditional hand embroidery. She recently brought a thought-provoking textiles exhibition to The Weaver’s House, entitled War and Pieced. During the morning craft workshop session, Jane will show you how to make a Crazy Patchwork Christmas Tree Decoration incorporating pretty fabrics, embroidery and vintage embellishments. For her afternoon offering, she will be doing Redwork Embroidery to make a charming mini seasonal decoration with a cute Robin motif. Explore more about her work here.

Kellie Sweeney loves vintage fabrics and uses tiny little precious pieces in her projects. She is known online by the sobriquet Bobbin Wren, and you can see lots of her beautiful work at bobbinwren.co.uk. She will help you to create a Vintage Fabric Brooch using vintage fabrics, lace, ribbons and buttons (AM) or a Cuff Bracelet using reclaimed fabrics, vintage notions and easy sewing techniques (PM).

Sarah Strover is a keen crafter who loves to share her beading skills! She’s been working with beads since around 2005, and you may have spotted her stall at the annual craft fair Making Merry at the Herbert or Positive Images. Here she brings a different take on weaving to The Weaver’s House with an Introduction to Bead Weaving to make stunning earrings or charms. In her afternoon session, she teaches basic brick stitch to create a striking geometric pendant. See more of her work here.

Morning session from 10am until 12 noon.

Three workshops are available, please select your choice when booking (links at bottom of the page):

Crazy Patchwork Christmas Tree with Jane Cobbett.

Vintage Fabric Brooch with Kellie Sweeney.

Introduction to Bead Weaving with Sarah Strover.

Afternoon session from 1pm until 3pm.

Three workshops are available, please select your choice when booking:

Redwork Embroidery with Jane Cobbett.

Fabric Cuff Bracelet with Kellie Sweeney.

Geometric Pendant with Sarah Strover.

Booking details:

Please select your choice of workshop when booking.

Workshop ticket includes all materials plus tea, coffee and cake. Please make us aware of any dietary requirements at time of booking.

Please note the workshops are for 18+ and must be booked in advance.

Suitable for all abilities.

£25 per workshop class

Booking link for morning session.

Booking link for afternoon session.

The Weaver’s House is a historical site with some uneven floors and steps to some areas. If you have any concerns about access, please do drop us a line via info@theweavershouse.org. You can also read more here.

FAQs

What’s the refund policy?

If you need to cancel your workshop booking, we require a minimum of 10 days’ notice in order for you to receive a refund (less a £2.50 administration fee). No refund can be given if less than 10 days’ notice is given.

What happens if the event is cancelled?

We are sorry, but sometimes we have to cancel a workshop due to circumstances beyond our control, if this happens we will give you as much warning as possible and refund your payment.

October 3, 2018
A wassailing we will go…

According to Wikipedia, the tradition of wassailing ‘falls into two distinct categories: The house-visiting and the orchard-visiting wassail.’

The first involves going door-to-door, singing and offering a drink in exchange for gifts, a practice mostly now overtaken by carol-singing. The orchard-visiting tradition features reciting incantations and singing to the trees to encourage a good harvest. So possibly we should be gathering in the garden of The Weaver’s House to serenade our apple trees.

Wassailing is part of the Twelfth Night tradition (either 5th or 6th January). The word ‘wassail’ originates from the Anglo-Saxon words ‘waes hael’ which mean ‘good health’.

The wassail was a drink made of mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, eggs, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and sugar, which sounds like a good start for getting some singing going!

You can read more about the origins and find a recipe at this informative site.

Once fortified by your wassail, take inspiration from Steeleye Span’s version of the Gower Wassail, and also linked below, a traditional wassail in Coventry from a few years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2tF44lvGno

Happy New Year and waes hael to you! We hope you’ll join us for one of our Open Days this year.

Barker’s Wassail 2013 from Kenswick ©muffinn on Flickr under Creative Commons licence

January 5, 2017
Loom: The Game

Out Christmas shopping, we were pleased to see weaving still has a place on the high street, spotting these looms in Flying Tiger recently.

We previously considered vintage and new weaving toys in this post, but how about something a bit different? Who remembers this game from the 90s?

LucasArts were well known in the 90s for their highly regarded, pop-culture referencing hit adventure games such as Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max Hit the Road and the legendary Monkey Island series. Loom was rather different, set in a fantasy realm where magic, music and weaving are intrinsically linked to the ‘fabric’ of reality. It references guilds, patterns and the hero is named Bobbin Threadbare!

Bobbin carries a magical distaff which he uses to weave spells which are a sequence of four notes in various permuations. The game came packed with a ‘Book of Patterns’ notebook to jot down musical notes and ideas during gameplay.

Image: Wikipedia

A rather different weaving game, Loom is now available on various platforms so you can have a try for yourself or relive your 90s gaming years if you have some quiet time over the holiday season!

December 19, 2016
A look back over the year

We’ve had a busy year! Back in April, the first open day of the year saw a record number of visitors for a season opener; and the good numbers continued throughout. In May, the Spon Spun Festival celebrated the art of storytelling with one of the events being performed in the garden of The Weaver’s House.

We had our special heritage crafts event in June. Trades from the past were brought to life in the authentic setting of the house and garden with guests including Coventry Beekeepers Association, Warwickshire Art & Craft Circle and of course the Coventry Branch of The Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers and Weavers’ Workshop. Not to mention the Heritage Cake Company who provided a tearoom full of delights such as Coventry Godcakes and Coventry Corporation Custard.

It’s also been a busy year in the garden with some rearranging of the beds and growing skirret for the first time. We’ve had visitors with a close connection to the house, and visitors from all across the country and beyond.

The open day season closed with a hugely successful Heritage Open Days weekend in September with near to 400 visitors. Throughout the year our dedicated team of volunteers have provided private guided tours for groups including schools, the Workers Educational Association, Earlsdon Walkers and many more.

We’ve also been laser-scanned, discovered weaving-themed public art, and explored other restored medieval buildings in Coventry.

All this and that’s not even including the Weavers’ Workshops amazing creation, featuring in this great film about Coventry’s history and even getting a look on Pokemon Go.

And of course all the cakes we made – and ate! We haven’t been brave enough to try frumenty though…

We’re looking forward to next year in which we celebrate the tenth anniversary of being open to the public. In the meantime there is loads to do in Coventry over the festive period. Enjoy the city.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

December 6, 2016
Stir Up Sunday – medieval Christmas pudding

It’s ‘Stir Up Sunday’ this weekend, the last Sunday before Advent and the day to make your Christmas pudding! This tradition dates back from the nineteenth century into the mid-twentieth and has enjoyed a recent revival. The ‘Stir Up’ actually refers to a phrase in the Book of Common Prayer, but it is also a great time to make the pudding to allow all the ingredients to mature.

The Christmas pudding as we know it might have undergone some changes but it has more than a passing similarity to the medieval dish ‘frumenty’. A porridge style meal, it was made of boiled wheat, meat, dried fruit, eggs and spices when available.

If you fancy making it, there is a recipe on this interesting site.

If that recipe is not tempting your tastebuds, there is a more traditional recipe, along with a history tracing the evolution of the pudding here.

(Image:”Mmm Pudding” by JamesPeek , via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution.)

November 17, 2016