Playday is the national day for play, celebrated each year across the UK on the first Wednesday in August.
We believe there is nowhere better to play than in the great outdoors. This Playday, get out in the wild with your family and create, using the natural materials you can find around you to make a woodland weaving frame.
Once you’ve made your weaving frame, find a good tree to hang it on. Or bring it to one of the gardens at our community museums in Aldershot, Alton or Fareham to share your creation with the local community…
Natural weaving frame
You will need: four sticks, string, scissors, natural materials, including flowers, long grasses, leaves etc., fabric offcuts (optional).
Venture outside on a walk to find natural materials you can use to make your weaving frame. What leaves or plants growing wild could be used to weave with? Think about what sort of shapes will work well for weaving? What sorts of textures will you find and what colours will you chose?
1. Lay your sticks out on a flat surface in the shape of a square. Make sure the ends of the sticks overlap each other.
2. Tie the sticks together using the following method:
a. Tie a knot around a vertical stick and pull the knot very tight.
b. Then wrap the long end of the string over the front of the horizontal stick, then around the back side of the vertical stick, then over the front of the horizontal stick.
c. Continue with this method, alternately going over and under each stick for four turns.
d. Tighten your knot by wrapping the twine one way diagonally for a couple of turns, and then the other.
e. Finish by tying two or more knots on top.
3. Repeat step 2 on each of the four corners to secure the frame.
4. Once you have made your frame, tie a long piece of string to the top left-hand corner of the frame.
5. Pull the string downwards in a straight line and wrap the string twice round the bottom frame before pulling it back up to the top of the frame.
6. Move along the frame, leaving a thumb-width gap from where you first tied the string on the top frame.
7. Wrap the string twice round the top frame before pulling it back down to the bottom frame.
8. Continue steps 5 - 7 until you reach the end of the frame. Secure the end of the string to the end of the frame with a knot.
9. Now you are ready to start weaving! Use the fabric offcuts as well as any natural materials you can find such as, leaves, twigs, feathers, flowers, grass to weave going over, then under each string from one side to the other. Have fun!
