Friday, 22 July 2011

String Art by Year 10

Today was the last day of term (whoop whoop) and my wonderful Year 10s requested an Arts and Crafts lesson rather than the far more traditional DVD. I took advantage of their good will and had them make some pieces for my classroom, which is being decorated over the holiday. I had to do a certain amount of preparation beforehand and used the free designs from String Art Fun.

I’d bought a pack of cork bathroom tiles from the internet a year or more ago for just this purpose but I’d never got around to making them. I’d also bought some fabric from Ikea for quilting, but haven’t got around to that yet either so I doubled up the tiles and covered them in my bright fabric.

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Next step was to put the design on top of the cork boards and hammer in the nails as carefully as possible. I used 16mm veneer pins and left about 7mm above the boards. I took a couple of hours to hammer in a couple of hundred! Once all of the pins are in place you just lift the paper off and are left with the pins ready to work the design. I worked a very small and simple design to show my students what they were aiming for (in terms of finish and tension).

 

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I started the girls off with a clove hitch around the first pin and then they were away. They said it made their heads hurt and they couldn’t believe how much patience was required but they did a good job following the instructions and working together to achieve some pleasing pieces of work. I haven’t tidied up the starting or end points yet but see what you think of their work…

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I really do love my job, truly. Mind you, six weeks off to do my own crafting will be wonderful. Watch this space!

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