Join Durham based artist Betty Brown for a fun day breathing new life into colourful scraps of fabric.
Is it a bowl? Is it a hat? Could it be a snooze-hole for your cat? This easy pattern makes fabric bowls that have endless uses from holding sweets or sewing kit, turning into hats or pet-beds among many others. (But not for eating soup out of!)
Plus, the Japanese knot bag is an easy yet intriguing design that you can make for yourself or your friends and family, bet they won’t have one of these! Both patterns are easy and infinitely repeatable, the bowls and bags are washable, unbreakable, unusual and pretty. Quick and addictive makes, you can sew them by hand or by machine and are do-able whatever sewing experience you do – or don’t have! Expect to make a number of items.
Ideally please bring bits and bobs of fabric that you like, cottons are easiest to work with and any weight will do from cotton lawn to furnishing fabrics. Fleece is great for hats and beds too! You can use scraps of fabric from old clothes as the pieces only need to be between A4 and A3 in size so huge pieces are not needed. Please bring plenty if you have them with lots of different patterns and colourways. Fat quarters or pieces of that size are fine but at least 5 or 6 so there’s stuff to work with. It is a great way to use up offcuts and odd shapes!
There will be some fabric available to use if you don’t have any but do let us know so we can make sure we have enough.
You’ll need your sewing machine (make sure it’s in working order) but let us know if you would like to borrow one.
Please note there is a £2 material charge payable on the day.
Click on the title below to find a list of what you’ll need to bring with you if anything.
What to expect
Time at ArtisOn is designed to take you away from it all. We provide the environment, the time and the guidance you need to create. You can expect a warm welcome, skilled and friendly tutors and the chance to meet like-minded people keen to share ideas. You can even leave us to clear up the mess! There will usually be two workshops going on and we encourage everyone to mingle and be nosey about what the other workshop is up to.
We encourage you to arrive at 9.30am. This will allow time to meet other participants over a cup of tea or coffee and biscuits before beginning workshops at 10am. There will be a mid-morning break for refreshments and a chance to talk over progress with others. Lunch is usually around 12:45 for about 45 mins – you can expect a delicious homemade 2 course lunch. There will be a further afternoon break with tea or coffee and cake. All food and refreshments are included in the price of your workshop.
The finish time given is a target. There are occasions when the session may overrun so do let us know if you need to be away promptly.
We aim for your day to be a real treat. You could always learn a new skill in a shed or a draughty village hall with a curly sandwich, but we want you to have more fun than that! So we make sure we provide a day where you will be looked after, with good food, good company and great inspiration!
What you’ll need to bring with you
You will use a mixture of hand and machine sewing, so bring your sewing machine or let us know if you would like to borrow one and we'll see what we can do. Please also bring a general sewing kit.
Please also bring bits and bobs of fabric that you like, cottons are easiest to work with and any weight will do from cotton lawn to furnishing fabrics. Fleece is great for hats and beds too! You can use scraps of fabric from old clothes as the pieces only need to be between A4 and A3 in size so huge pieces are not needed but please bring plenty if you have them with lots of different patterns and colourways. Fat quarters or pieces of that size are good but bring at least 5 or 6 so there's stuff to work with. It is a great way to use up offcuts and odd shapes!