Sew Easy
Yesterday, the residents at Hildesley Court welcomed the children from Pakefield Primary into their home – and what a lovely creative and happy time we all had together.
After a few warm-up exercises and some pens-on-pitch excitement, Kate revealed what the teams will be working on over the next few sessions – transferring their beautiful Archive illustrations and words onto fabric.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in a mixture of frayed threads, pricked fingers and pure frustration at how difficult it was to thread the needles – but how much they all enjoyed it.
Ina commented that it brought back lots of memories, Isabella confirmed that it was ‘frustrating’ but well worth the effort, and Shona thought it was all amazing.
Some of the group had never sewn before, whilst for others it was a reminder of when they made their own clothes, embroidered table cloths and made lace.
Everybody helped each other, there was lots of chat between the children and adults – and lots of photographs, thanks to Simon, of just what a lovely session it was.
After a bit of pre-match limbering up,
Pen-ready for kick off on the paper pitch
everyone paired up with their Archive partner and faced off across a green paper pitch, pen in hand and music up loud.
Surely that's off side?
Having a chat
Little did they know that Kate had already seen their pictures, and done something quite magical with them—transferred them on to fabric.
The artists
An Archive All-Star about to be embroidered
Stitching her picture
Adding stitched details to her picture of The Hooter
I wish I'd brought my glasses
Embroidery hoops ready, now just thread that needle
Half time fruit
Trying not to prick her finger
You hold it, I’ll cut it
Holding it steady
with each other …
‘I really enjoyed it, a lot more than I thought I would.’
‘I loved it. It took me back to when I was a dressmaker. I really enjoyed it.’
‘It's ages since I did this and such fun to do it again.’
‘This was so much fun, I really enjoyed the sewing. I have done some before, but it's lovely to do it with other people.’
Similar stories
Blog posts
Factories, flourishes and fancy footwork
The Extra Time players chat about their visit to Suffolk Archives and finish off their worksheets, adding details and contrast to their artwork, ready for their next sessions with Kate Munro
Find out more
Blog posts
Old boots and brick works
The residents at Britten Court explore some sporting memorabilia including Spot the Ball and old boots, whilst the children visit Suffolk Archives to research some of the Archive All-Stars characters and find out just what goes on in an archive.
Find out more