knit one

Our y3's are currently knitting! Most of them, having mastered the basics are flying along. As their current study theme is to do with cold places I had the brilliant idea (!) of getting them to knit a bobble hat! It's been a struggle but I think we may be getting there.

Meanwhile on my painting board - 'A Close Finish'. Acrylics on paper, roughly A4 size.
Playing around with my 'new', extremely pared down and simplistic style, to see if I could do more than footy players and folk diving! I would more than welcome any feedback.

sewing

Just been to a secondhand warehouse and bagged this for €39.

The clutter on the top is just some of the goodies that were still in the drawers! It worked too - until I snapped the belt putting it in the car! I'm hoping they're easy to repair/replace.

more elephants

Y3's have been sewing. They've cut and stitched two sides to what is going to be a stuffed hanging decoration.  

trees

Yesterday the y2's enhanced their Autumnal pics by adding stitched 'grass' and 'bark'. These mixed media pieces have involved printing, collage and now ' textiles'.   

leaves & buildings

The y1's followed their paper weaving exploits of last week by stitching some Autumn leaves. The shapes/holes had been pre cut so they could concentrate on the sewing! Wool and big plastic needles were the order of the day.

The y6's have started to paint their bisque-fired, James Rizzi inspired slab, city block containers. They used acrylic paint and we'll probably varnish to further protect and give them a glossy finish.

sewing

Today in y1 we stitched images of flowers. Using wool, plastic needles and a piece of pre-punched card we carefully sewed flowers, stalks, leaves and grass. It was the first time the children had sewn and, using tremendous powers of concentration, they managed to do a fantastic job.

completed bookmarks

Today the y2's completed their woven bookmarks. After cutting them from the card looms we just tied the warp threads together at the ends.

Some children added stitching.

I'm sure that whoever receives these will value and treasure them knowing that a lot of effort went into their creation.

weaving

Continuing with our 'going green/enhancing the environment' theme in y5, we used prunings to make small looms. We tied them together with colourful threads before adding woollen warp threads. We started to weave using wool but, as they progress, we'll add other bits and pieces.

 

 

'River'

Y6 have completed their river piece.

 

 

We decided to hang the fish with wire instead of thread as some of them are quite heavy.

 

Not sure whether it looks better with the added blue wool or not (?). I might put a blue sheet against the wall behind it 'under' the table and a simple riverbank above.

jewellery and tapestries

In art club we've been making ceramic jewellery. The children created pendants, brooches and rings.

 

In y3 our tapestries are continuing apace. The children were tasked with creating a symmetrical design and have been busily stitching their patterns onto hessian backings. We hope to further embellish them with beads and buttons.

pollack & doodle

In art club this week we embellished our strip woven pieces by adding woollen threads and card 'buttons'. They turned out quite 'Jackson Pollacky' !

 

 

Today's doodle - 'bowling 'bot', A5, ink & pencil on paper.

 

stitch

A bit more sewing with the y3's today. The embroidered/applique elephant pieces are coming along nicely. Might even decide to make them into small cushions.

 

 

recent



A few pics of stuff we've been doing around school over the last couple of days. Y2 are about to start a project on mini-beasts (and maxi-beasts ie. dinosaurs!) so we drew some spiders. In the top left corner you can see the child's initial drawing of what they thought looked like a spider. He was amazed at what he came up with following some guidance. 

 

 

 

In Y1 we completed our project on vehicles by constructing a rolling chassis and adding suitable bits and pieces to represent a specific form of transport.

 



 

 

In Y5 we looked at toys made by children in less fortunate parts of the world and then set about creating our own from bits and pieces that we had lying around - off cuts of wood from earlier projects, lengths of thread/wool, bits of wire etc.

 



 

 

In Y2 we also put together our Fire of London display using the mixed media pieces we created just before the Easter hols. It just needs a few written pieces to finish it off.

 



rivers

We continued to work on our appliqued/embroidered riverscapes today. We made pom-pom bushes in the traditional way using rings of card (although some children found it a bit tricky initially because they made the central holes too large).

 

 

 

 

At the end we laid out some of the pieces on the floor (even though they're not finished yet) just to see how they were looking. Each piece is 15cm square , so this section is about 1 metre long. We think the effect is quite good so far.

 



weaving

In y2 we've been weaving bookmarks. Simple card looms with woollen threads. The loose ends have been tied off. The children did really well to keep the tension constant and still manage to weave quite tight pieces.

 

 

It's also Christmas card making season. Here's a small selection of the card designs we've done so far this week. Simple cut/folded shapes.

The Globe

We thatched the Globe model today.Various threads, strips of felt, raffia and wools were wrapped and woven around the upper seating units to give an impression of coarse thatch.

 

 

These are the partially completed units temporarily arranged to give an indication of the size when complete.

The whole thing is just about ready for assembling - we've just got the stage left to do!

peg doll

Arabella Peggotty is a refined young lady. She is confident and poised. It wasn't always thus - she had a lowly start in life, but through persistence and a winning personality has managed to overcome all the obstacles life has thrown at her. She is now looking to broaden her horizons further - you'll find her in my Folksy shop (button on the right) patiently waiting for the right person to come along.

She stands around 13cm tall and is made from a wooden peg, a lollipop stick and a carved wooden bead. Her joints are secured by thread and vintage Fench nacre buttons.

doll

Meet Abigail Spooner

From very humble beginnings, Abigail has grown up into a feisty, quirky young lady. She has very individual tastes and strong ideas about an eclectic range of things. She cares nothing for fashion trends and prefers odd, mis-matched outfits. She has a particular liking for bright red shoes.

She stands around 13cm tall and has moveable limbs. She's made from a small, carved wooden spoon, parts of a peg, lollipop stick, paint, thread, vintage buttons and string.

greek sculpture

Over the last 3 weeks the children have been undertaking a mini-project - to create Ancient Greek sculptures from 'scrap'. This is one of the results!

A stunning recreation of Aphrodite (Venus) rising from the sea. She stands around 40cm tall and has been made from card boxes, tubes and thread. The child who made her was insistent that her modesty should be protected - hence the strategically placed arms!

peggy

Here she is all finished. I think she's turned out much as I envisaged. I like the primitive style and lack of fussy detail. She's about 13cm long. Might end up making a few of these before my attention switches to something else!

I've listed her in my Folksy shop (please click the button on the right to visit).