Monday, July 11, 2011

Crafts Day at The Mermaid Theatre

Last Saturday  Old Rectory participated in the Mermaid Theater's Craft day. In the morning I ran a 2 hour workshop - DIY; Print your own fashion, for 7-11 year olds. With my very able assistant Corinna, we got through 9 original paper cut-out designs (all created by the children) and had a wonderfully energetic time screen printing the designs . The children were great and couldn't wait to wear their own designed t-shirts.

The majority of schools do not have access to screen-printing facilities that would cater for today's class sizes so children can feel a bit daunted when trying out a new medium that they've never heard of before. Even as they are drawing and doodling their design's I can sense they're not totally convinced that this isn't any other generic art class; It's a tricky end-result to grasp before getting to the actual screen printing stage. For children who've never screen printed before it's good to push ahead with one student's design quickly and therefore have him/her demonstrate the print to the rest of the class. Once the children see what they can achieve with their drawing or cut-outs a wave of excitement and focus prevails. Children love the physical aspect of printing and it's great for instilling confidence in children who might not feel overly confident in drawing or painting. The most effective prints are sometimes the most simple drawings - Dots, squiggles, abstract shapes, anything goes.
Children making bunting........

The whole day made for a great family day out. The theater space provided a cornucopia of local crafts and designers displaying their products and trade. Visitors could try their hand at beginners millinery, felting, weaving, crocheting, edible necklace making, bunting making,  there was even a knit-a-thon taking place all afternoon under the warm sunshine. We offered up rubber stamp printing on small tote bags. This simple but careful skill sat nicely alongside our printed clothing which we had on display. Lots of flyers were taken away so hopefully this will drive potential customers to our website and stockists.
......to be used by the Bray community for local festivals,

It was very encouraging to be amongst other like minded designers from the Wicklow area. I shall be checking out the Yarn Room workshops in August with my children. I still think knitted cardigans and booties would sell very well alongside our printed baby clothes. I've kept all of my children's knitted booties that they had as babies - they are completely delicious.
Felting workshops run by Joanna Kidney

Tomorrow we are doing the photo shoot of our spring summer '12 collection - very exciting. Our location couldn't be more local seeing as we live in the most gorgeous rolling countryside. Keep a check on our website for exciting updates and our new site layout.

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