From a month of following in the footsteps of the digital world where the ground keeps shifting and everyone is in a hurry to keep up, I side-step into one where socks new and old are transformed into elbow patches and sock-teddies. The elbow patches are a bit mis-leading, as it was a one-off patching job on a treasured cardigan. The sock-teddies on the other hand are waiting to be made on a jolly evening with the lovely Julie Peasgood leading the way. |
| Sock-teddies chillaxing |
Taking place Upstairs at the Much Ado bookshop in Alfriston, from 7 til 9 pm on Saturday 26 October 2013, Julie will be showing you how to turn a sock into a teddy, with all materials provided. Supplied with a new, unworn sock, buttons, ribbons, stuffing and a silk bag to take your sock teddy home in, there will be light home-made refreshments included in the price.
Although best known as an actress and TV presenter, Julie Peasgood is now also becoming known for her passion for crafts. As a child she made Christmas decorations which she persuaded her neighbours to buy, then throughout her teens and twenties, she successfully sold a variety of work at markets throughout London.
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| Julie Peasgood |
In recent years Julie has organised and mounted seven large craft / antique fairs in Richmond and Barnes, garnering Time Out’s Pick of the Day award. She currently gives craft classes on board cruise ships and together with her business partner, Wendy Turner Webster, Julie is the co-presenter of ‘Crafty Beggars’, which she and Wendy have devised. This brand new crafts show will be screened on Channel 8 and Latest TV in April, 2014. Her favourite crafts include collage, beading, decoupage and creating sock teddies.
The store is the perfect setting for this light-hearted fun, in a book-filled oasis, with comfy chairs scattered amongst a hodge-podge of bookcases.
The shop, located in the heart of the Cuckmere Valley and a 40 minute drive from Brighton, began in a colonial seafront town just north of Boston, Massachusetts. After 20 years the owners decided to cross the Atlantic and open a new Much Ado in a Medieval English village instead. They now have a two-floor shop, large yard (for their three chickens to scratch around in) and a barn that houses antiquarian books, printing presses with space for workshops and events, which they converted from a former builder’s yard.
Named Independent Bookshop of the Year in 2007, just three years after opening, they specialize in books by and about the Bloomsbury Group of artists and authors, including Virginia Woolf, Duncan Grant and Maynard Keynes; while Charleston, the group’s East Sussex home, is just a few miles away.
For more details please click on the link http://www.muchadobooks.com/sock-teddy.php. Spaces at the workshop are limited, so Much Ado suggest stopping by, calling them on 01323 871222, or sending them an e-mail as soon as you can to make sure you can join in the crafting party.
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| Sock-teddies en masse |
