Here at Tea and Crafting we’re always trying to think of exciting and fun classes that we can offer to help teach you new skills or build on existing ones, and next month we’ll be debuting our brand new ‘Weaving For Beginners’ class, which we’re so excited about!

In order to prepare for any new class, we need to run through the schedule a few times to make sure that the pace suits the level of ability that it’s aimed at, and that it’s a fun and educational environment for every one. It always pays off to be prepared, so a couple of weeks ago we had a trial of the new workshop, which went really well!

Personally I found the class extremely relaxing, and I was joined by Holly (our crochet teacher and hen party tutor) and Zoe (who hosts many of our hen parties) too as we gave Francesca a tough tim (just kidding but we did quiz her a lot ha ha) so she would be prepared for all sorts of unexpected questions which she might have to answer during the actual workshops.

Here is Francesca above, a self confessed weaving addict, showing us how to start weaving.

I love our training and workshop planning afternoons! And it’s always especially fun to take a turn being taught for a change, instead of doing the teaching. It’s great to put myself in the shoes of someone who has never done the craft before, so that I know what it will feel like for them and anticipate any problems or tricky aspects of the class. Also from a business perspective its extremely invaluable to do this so I can cost the workshop as attractively as I can and also have a very good idea of what happens during the workshop.

(above) This is the start of my weaving creating the tassles for the bottom of the weave.

I loved Zoe’s tassels (above), she used extra thick chunky yarn so it was really big and then some lovely glittery Rowan yarn as a second layer on top. Gorgeous!

Holly also went for 2 colours and used some really fluffy yarn for the top layer. The photo actually doesn’t do it justice, it is actually whiter and flufflier than it looks in the photo.

This is mine above. I created a Weaving Pinterest Board which you can find over here and was quite drawn to the soft colours and wavey sections that afternoon, but I am keen on doing something geometric one day. I am also particulary fond of Maryanne Moodie’s weaves and colour schemes and this weave was massively inspired by her work.  Some of them are just exquisite. Check her out for some more inspiration if you are not familiar with her work.  I used a chunky yarn on the top layer which I like as it gives the weave a read 3D effect I think.

Close up of my weaving – showing the plain weave, a half soumak braid and the soumak braid technique.

Over the course of the afternoon, we learnt that the ‘Weaving For Beginners’ class is a really relaxing and easy going workshop which would suit both first time crafters and those with a bit more crafting experience who want to start making geometric shapes or other shapes within their design. You really can’t go wrong with weaving, and it doesn’t take a lot of focused concentration, which makes it perfect for getting together with some friends, having a chat and of course some tea and cake whilst you learn a new skill and have a bit of fun.

Take a look at how they turned out :

This is Holly’s – its for her little baby boy’s nursery and it represents the night sky. Totally love the moon and I have to say making a shape in your weave is a little harder than it looks, she did so well. Holly spray painted her little twig silver too. So cute.

Zoe got super creative and created lovely geometric shapes, she used a really thin yarn for the weaving so her weave is still a work in progress and I can’t wait to see it finished.

And below is mine. Very happy with it and a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon too. If you would like more information on our weaving classes then just click the link here our first workshop is on the 10th July (Sunday).

Have you ever tried weaving? If so how did you find it?

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