Since the release of lockdown is uncertain, why not do some creative work to refresh your brain?
Sewing hadn’t intrigued me until I met Anna on a sewing workshop. She was concentrated on sewing her cushion’s cover when I said hello to her. She was working on the front of a cushion’s cover with a Welsh dragon made of different fabrics.
Although Welsh dragons- as a symbol of Wales are everywhere in Cardiff, such as in the stadium, souvenir shop, St. David parade and so on, Anna’s embroidery makes me feel very fresh.
The mixture of her embroidery gave me a homely feeling. In the rest time of the workshop, I became her little apprentice. She said she would teach me how to make pillowcases by hand.
First of all, Anna lent me the picture of the Welsh dragon she had prepared and some different dragon bodies that were cut out. Next was to choose the fabric. This sewing workshop organized by Women’s Aid provides fabrics for participants free of charge.
There were fabrics piled up like a hill, and some were brought by other participants. I selected some fabrics like classic paintings, mainly red and green, and small florals. But when I picked up all the fabrics and pinned them on the fabrics, the workshop was almost over.
By this time, Anna had completed her cushion’s backside. They are a square made of some abstract patterns. If you don’t have a sewing machine at home, you can sew by hand, Anna suggested. In fact, she liked hand sewing, but it requires more patience. And, if you sew by hand, the stitching may not be neat, but this may add some “childish” feeling to your work.
It has been almost a month since I joined the workshop. After lockdown, Cardiff ’s Google searches for sewing increased by 70%. People are more and more interested in sewing. Probably it’s because creative work like sewing can refresh a person’s brain.
Here are some tips for producing Welsh dragon patterns:
Required tools: threads, scissor, fabrics, needles, pins, Wales dragon pattern, Acrylic Quilter’s Ruler.
Production steps:
1. First, separate the body of the Welsh dragon (paper) into different parts, choose fabrics of different colours and materials, and cut them out according to the shape of the paper.
2. Choose another large piece of cloth which can have enough space for your fabric dragon. You can use acrylic quilter’s ruler to measure your favourite size. Then fix the dragon with a pin to this large cloth.
3. Sew the dragon by hand or by sewing machine. You can also sew some decorative threads on the dragon’s body.
4. If you want to make cushion ’s cover or canvas bag, you can use the front with Wales ’dragon made above.
You can get a more intuitive understanding by watching the video.