My Wensday Textile Group

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

I belong to three textile groups, all great and very different. Today was "Sindano". Sindano translate into "needle" in Swahili. We are 15 ladies, age between late 40 to late 70, that have been together, as a group for several years. We all got to know each other, when we were attending a course in creative hand embroidery. Our tutor decided, after I had been with her for +3 years, that she needed more time to develop her own fantastic work, so she moved on. We ladies had so much fun, so we kept meeting. In the beginning for pub lunches. Later we decided that we might as well get some work done, and we hired a village hall/community center in a local village. We meet once a month and we alternate between own sewing/working days, teaching each other a technique or having a "proper" workshop with a paid tutor.
Of the three groups that I belong to, this is the most social group, but having said that, we are working towards an exhibition end November 2009. We exhibited in 2007, and it was such a success, that we were invited back to the same place, which was a great compliment. We all bring different craft backgrounds to the group, which is a great strenght and very inspiring. There are quilters (traditional and contemporary), weavers, spinner, dyers, knitters and embroiderers (traditional and contemporary). We bounce a lot of info and tips of each other. There is always someone that can give a helping hand when stuck. Its a lot of fun and always a great day out.