faffing

Have been prattling around with wire, fabric, needle, thread and bits of wood - came up with this. Very folky arty type thing, supposed to be some sort of an angel!

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.  

tigers & dishes

Yesterday the y1's created some pieces based on Rousseau's painting 'Tiger in a Storm'. They've also been reading 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea' by Judith kerr. We used techniques from the last couple of weeks in that we wove, using paper strips, the tiger's stripes and then stitched the grass, using coloured wool.

Meanwhile in ceramic club we took home our completed and fired dishes.

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'.   

en vacances

On hols at the mo. Enjoying the searing heat of deepest darkest France. Latest brocante purchase - an old cast-iron sewing machine base. Not bad for €22. Have taken it apart to clean and titivate before reassembling with a wooden top.

textiles

Yesterday in textiles club we finished our padded keyrings - made as Father's day gifts.

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.

'quilt'

We've finally come to the end of a very long term and are breaking up for a well-deserved Easter holiday. The children have created some fantastic artwork over the last few weeks that I'm frantically trying to display. This is a pic of some textile work done by our y3's. It's a combination of some printed cotton panels (for which the children made their own wooden printing blocks) and some tapestry work (inspired by a visit to our local Art gallery). I'm nailing (!) it all in place as staples just couldn't hack it.

 



lots!

This was our art room the other day as y5 finished off their papier mache, tiered, celebration 'cakes'! The children did tidy it up at the end. When they are dry I'll post some pics.

 

Meanwhile in y6, we glazed our (slab) fish sculptures. They are designed to be suspended, hence the hole in the top!

And finally, today in y4 we went a long way to completing our felt hats. This is the back view of one - on the front is a happy face!

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.

riverscapes

This year's textile riverscapes are finished. For some children it was the first time that they had sewn. Here they are temporarily laid out on a table but will soon be mounted on a wall - it might save them getting knocked about!

 

 

Love the flowers on this riverbank - poppies?

 
And I think they've done a cracking job of representing the ripples/river currents on this one.

Each piece is 15cm square. They are primarily made from felt with some managing to add woollen 'pom-pom' bushes. The children used running, applique and cross stitches.

elephants & basketball

 A pic of this years completed embroidered and appliqued Indian elephant pieces. Each square is approx. 20x20 cm. Felt with added beads, buttons and metal washers.

 

 

 

And 'basketball 'bot' ;

 

A5, ink & pencil on paper.

yay!

Today's doodle celebrates a gutsy performance from the lads last night (retro shirt).

 

 

We've also been working hard on, and have nearly finished, our embroidered/appliqued elephant pieces. Stitched flower patterns, beads and bling (small metal washers) have been added.

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.

 

 

red elephant

We've started to stitch our elephants onto a backing. This was the child's first ever go at sewing - I think they've done a grand job. Pins out, ear on next time.

 

 

get ahead, get a hat

Over the last few weeks our y4's have been busy cutting & stitching felt to make wearable hats. They've used a variety of stitches and techniques to create very presentable headgear - some are even planning to wear them on their Easter holiday!

 

 

 

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.

 



rivers

In y6 on Friday we started to create stitched/appliqued pieces that, when completed, will be able to be pieced together into a long, collaborative representation of a river course. Each child is making a 15cm square with the river leaving two of the edges at the mid-points. They should fit together so that the river flows from piece to the next.
We made paper patterns, cut the pieces from felt and then sewed them together using both running and 'over' stitches.

 

 

By using different shades of green and blue we are hoping to end up with a whole piece that resembles an aerial view of the countryside.

This is a pic of  'one I did earlier' to show the children what we were after. In the next lesson we'll make pom-pom bushes and add the stitching to the 'river'.

firemen

The littley's (fs1 aged 3/4) were in town planning mode today. We made buildings and began the 'construction' of our town display - incorporating the theme of  'People Who Help Us'! To that end we made a fire engine (just visible on the left) and drew some of the fire fighting crew. The children carefully followed the step by step instructions and came up with some fantastic illustrations.

 

 

 

 

 

In y3 we continued with some x-stitched bookmarks we began last week (ties in with their Victorian theme). We looked at pics of samplers and then designed our own simple patterns/motifs. The children are becoming quite skilful at sewing, having previously stitched and embroidered Indian Elephants.