Skip to main content

Upcycling Academy

Now that Josie is 8 years old, she is even more independently minded than ever and savvy enough to evaluate which situation is going to be the best for her. There are times when neither of the choices would exactly have been on her wish list but she was happy to settle for coming to the Knitting and Stitching Exhibition at Alexandra Palace once she saw what was in our picnic. However she clearly stated she was actually excited once I told her she could take along a t-shirt to the Upcycling Academy, turn it into something totally fabulous and model it in our own fashion shoot. (She wants to be a fashion designer)

Before we got to the making area , Josie kindly allowed me to look at some of the textile art, which is of course out of this world. This year, I need to work a little bit harder on collating the inspiration I gleamed, as a lot of the artists did not allow photos, which is my favourite way of recording inspiration. I did get to take a couple of photos but with a tolerant but rapidly morphing into grumpy, young lady, we soon had to stop off for refreshments.





Next it was time for the Upcycling Academy, where we spent a great deal of time and it was also my favourite part, despite jamming the expensive sewing machine. Josie upcycled an old dress that was a little short in the sleeves and created a t-shirt and fingerless gloves with the sleeves.






And after our fashion shoot, waving our banners about the "war on want", our love of fashion and hate of sweatshops and a lovely young man had given Josie a "say 'no' to sweatshops" badge, she whispered to me, "Why are they saying 'no' to sweet shops?" I loved her completely for her misreading of sweat for sweet and the slow serious nods she gave me as I explained what sweatshops were and I realised in an instant that despite her grumbling and observations relating to the slightly older female demographic of the crowd, that this would be one of the memories that shapes her life.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ridgeway Cottage Anyhow - How to add social media buttons to your blog

I know not everyone is excited by learning code and techie stuff but in my quest for website geekiness, this post is just one step closer. For all my lovely friends and family who do not care one hoot about what goes on behind the scenes of Ridgeway Cottage, here are some lovely photos of October life. (Those who do want to know about the buttons, social media and coding, please read on.) Social Media Buttons Anyhow You will need. Your blog open in layout  The URL of your social media places you want to link to Some lovely pictures of social media icons that you would like to use as your buttons A photobucket account which you can easily open here A small understanding of how the coding works  A rather large smattering of patience unless you are super clever at all techie stuff   What social media icons are you going to use? You can find some very lovely ones by searching on the internet or there are some here, here ,  or here . I liked these...

Granny square Christmas

When I was younger I fell in love with the granny square blanket my Nan had made. It was in her tiny little Welsh cottage near the mountains and was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. So many colours and combinations of colours, it was just truly amazing. I'm not sure if it's the happy childhood memories or my ever increasing passion for crocheting, but granny squares (and doilies) are something I could fill me life with. Even more delightful are the variations on granny squares. Star burst blanket, which used to be my favourite, but I have recently had a go at African flowers. They are quick and easy to make and so very pretty. Thanks to the brilliant free pattern that I found here , I have managed to make a little crochet Christmas stocking made out of 16 1/2 motifs. I am happy with the how the little Christmas stocking turned out and am now rather fond of African flowers, star burst and granny squares, well actually, all...

The Pink Ladies

As we sat in our classroom inspired horseshoe, designed to encourage conversation, there was a slightly uneasy silence. Those of us who knew each other, stole furtive glances, others returned our smiles politely although they were not privy to the planning and discussion that had occurred in preparation for the evening. The time had slowed, 8pm seemed an age away. The silence was intermittently interspersed with brief attemps at small talk and the rants of a drunk outside on the city streets. The commanding presence of our WI advisor Dorothy, had the air of an experienced headmistress or well respected senior relative which in the event of such formalities made me feel foolish in my .....excitement. Some of us stifled giggles as advice was provided on the process, as we had already made the majority of our formal decisions but it was with noticeable nerves, that I raised my hand to the question of who wished to be President.   So that's it, another new chapter has open...