Crafty King Alfred

King Alfred Paper Puppet

Have I mentioned lately that I love my job? I run the Toddler Time sessions at the Museum of English Rural Life (every Friday during term time, 10-11 & 1-2), and part of that is to come up with an activity every week – preferably one that’s linked to the museum’s collections in some way.

This is a sneak preview of Friday’s activity – a paper puppet of King Alfred to colour in and cut out. You fasten all the pieces together with split pins, in case you were wondering. One of the highlights of the museum is a six foot straw sculpture of the king in question, so I thought it would be nice to make a little something in his honour.

I drew a quick pencil sketch, and had planned to recreate it in Illustrator. But the scanner won’t speak to my computer, I couldn’t get a photograph that was clear enough to be useful, and so I decided to go back and do things the old fashioned way. I traced my sketch onto a new piece of paper, drew over it with two different thicknesses of pen, and rubbed out the pencil lines. On Friday I’ll fit all the pieces onto A5 paper, then use the photocopier to enlarge it onto A4 card.

Sometimes it’s so much easier to do things the old fashioned way!

[edit] If you’d like to see some of the puppets that the toddlers made, I took some photos. Can you tell which is the one I made myself?

Sewing Lessons

Drafting a pair of leggings

Given that my current job contract runs out at very soon, I’ve decided to offer sewing lessons.

They’re held in your own home, so that you can learn on your own equipment.
Unless you’re booking a hand-sewing session, you’ll need to have your own sewing machine.

I’m based in Reading, Berkshire, and prefer to teach anywhere that’s easily reachable by public transport. (I don’t drive.)

One-to-one sewing lessons

These sessions can be tailored (pardon the pun!) to your own requirements. You might want a hand with one of my tutorials, or some help with deciphering a commercial sewing pattern. Perhaps you need to make some repairs or alterations, or want to learn a specific technique such as inserting a zipper.

Simply let me know what you want to learn, and we can go from there!

Make Do and Mend

Don’t have a sewing machine? Not a problem! I can teach you some basic hand sewing techniques which will allow you to mend, alter and re-vamp your old clothes. From turning up a pair of trousers to restyling an old blouse or t-shirt, you don’t need to be an expert seamstress to give yourself a whole new wardrobe!

Corset drafting lessons

Make your own simple underbust corset, drafted to fit exactly to your own measurements. Each session requires a full day. Please note that we will be drafting a very simple corset which is tailored to the modern figure, and is not period-specific.

If you’re interested, there are more details over here.