Another Outing for the Creative Co-op

The Creative Co-op made a block booking for space in the Craft Hall at last weekend's Local Life Show. Several of us shared the cost by taking tables. It was the 3rd year that the County Council had put on this event and it really is becoming well worth a visit. Many local traders, service providers and community organisations were represented in the Main Hall, along with entertainment in the form of fashion shows and displays by children from a local dance academy. Especially noteworthy was the Community Chef and his mobile kitchen. He gave demonstrations showing how to produce a nourishing seasonal soup and tasty lamb kebabs. The Chef drew quite a crowd, watching him cook and sampling his endeavours. The children were not forgotten - they were able to make themselves a delicious smoothie using healthy ingredients and his bicycle-powered machine! Local artists, makers, alternative therapists and organic products were represented in the Craft Hall and there was also a farmers' market and a vintage fairground ride for the little ones.

Here's a picture of my table - mostly dolls this time, with a couple of embroidered containers and some heavily embellished fabric badges.


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We were given 4ft tables instead of the 2 metre ones we were expecting, so unfortunately it has the look of the jumble sale about it! You can see some of Suze's knitted, felted bags in the left-hand corner, along with some of her jewellery made with semi-precious stones and a display of cards featuring her artwork.

Here's Suze:


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with some of her unusual and colourful necklaces featuring hand felted and knitted beads and semi-precious stones.

This is Tarni, the Chair of the Creative Co-op, with her table:


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and Alana:


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Alana's super halloween spiders and their webs practically walked off the table and she also had some of her summer best-sellers; her driftwood hangings and some brightly coloured tassels made from rescued and recycled fabrics.

Rosie was there anticipating the coming winter weather and doing a roaring trade with her hand-knitted and crocheted hats and scarves:


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And so were Sharon, with her beautiful beadwork and colourful candles and Ruth, with her very original silver and gemstone knitted jewellery:


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Tarni took the children's entertainer, Frankenstiltz, in hand and instructed him in the philosophy and techniques behind some of her artwork and also took the opportunity to introduce him to the RegenerART project that some of the Creative Co-op members are involved in along with other local artists' groups and the The Royal Project .

Boxing Cretan

I thought I'd have a bit of a change from doll making - I've been doing quite a lot of that lately.

I'm not sure if this is a box or a vessel, but it IS embellished with cretan stitch.


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I made one of these before, to drop my specs in. I've got 3 pairs - walking around, reading and computing - and I was always putting a pair down and losing them when I changed over. Then I started putting things like scissors, haemostats and pens in it, so I need some more.

I used the cardboard tube from a large reel of crochet cotton and some odds and ends of picture framer's board. The fabric is one of my old favourites. Chiffon and wool sliver (roving) layered onto a synthetic felt dishcloth with the embellisher machine. Then machine 'quilted' with preprogrammed stitches. It's divided into three sections inside and the lining and the base covered with oddments of fleecy fabric. I padded the lining and the base with light quilt wadding, to give a little bit of protection to the specs!

Here are a couple of views of the stitching and embellishment:


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Of course, I couldn't stop at just stitching and added beads and sequins too. And then I got really carried away and made a smaller one with the leftovers.


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I would normally use ladder stitch (zipper stitch) to attach the base but here I used cretan stitch. It seems to have worked really well and is quite decorative.

Co-incidently, cretan stitch has just been featured as stitch of the day on the Hand Embroiderers Network Blog. If you haven't seen HEN yet, do go and have a look, it's well worth a visit.