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Monday 16 May 2016

East Riddlesden Hall Inspiration

(Images are the property of Skipton Branch of The Embroiderers' Guild)

Monday 16th May

A lovely day out at our local National Trust property, East Riddlesden Hall - full of inspiring images of ornate 17th Century plastered ceilings, tapestries and embroideries.  In the afternoon we had a brilliant behind the scenes tour of the grounds by head gardener, Jill Sanders.  Jill has worked at the Hall for 22 years and has been responsible for designing and planting the sensory garden and the innovative children's secret garden - full of dens, fairy-tale doors and a mud-pie kitchen as well as the day-to-day upkeep of the herbaceous borders and orchard.

But for us, the most interesting development was the new dye-garden.  Jill told us that this was very much, work in progress and she hoped that some time in the future there would be a washing line with fabrics dyed with each of the plants.   There is lots of scope for a collaborative project - maybe next year!

Thank you to Sue Ingles for arranging the visit.

Tuesday 10 May 2016

Crafter's Apron Workshop

(Images are the property of Skipton Branch of The Embroiderers' Guild)

Monday 9th May

By way of preparation for all the summer schools and workshops that are up and coming, we spent a lovely day in the company of Charlotte Meek from The Stitch Society learning how to make her fabulous aprons.

Charlotte understands the needs of a crafter; she is an accomplished designer-maker herself and knows that having a comfortable and practical cover-up is an essential whilst working on projects.  The apron features a roomy pocket at the front and cross-over straps (no messing with apron-strings that constantly come un-done!).  The workshop was so poplular that we had to run two sessions and one person even came back for a second apron.

The Stitch Society website features a range of apron designs including smaller versions for children and they will also be on show at Yarndale and the Country Living Christmas Fair at Harrogate.

Our thanks to Charlotte for a thoroughly enjoyable day and some beautiful aprons.