T

h

e

 

w

o

n

d

e

r

s

 

o

f

 

w

e

a

v

i

n

g

 

Year 4 pupils enjoy visiting Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft

Year 4 pupils thoroughly enjoyed their visit to the Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft for a weaving workshop last Thursday. 

On arrival, the children were treated to a tour of the museum, where they observed a wide variety of crafts, fabrics, paintings and garden tools, all of which had been made in the local area. Pupils were keen to find out more about the displays and the people who had created the pieces. 

Back in the workshop, the museum staff discussed the difference between the production of art and craft in Ditchling and asked the children to carry out an exploration of natural dyes, fabric textures and how to spin fleece into yarn. The children thoroughly enjoyed feeding back their findings to the rest of the group. 

Pupils then moved on to the exciting task of creating their own weaves. They learnt how to use a loom and the names of the key components used in weaving, including the heddle and shaft, weft, warp, shuttle and comb. Next, the process of using different yarns and pieces of material to create texture and variation was modelled. Pupils were inspired by images of the South Downs landscape when creating their pieces and museum staff were impressed with how well the children matched the colours and layers of the images in their own work. 

“The children were completely enthused by the workshop and many came away wishing to add a loom to their Christmas list,” Hattie Thompson, Year 4 Tutor.