12—MARYLEBONE JOURNAL FEATURES
HEARTS & CRAFTS
Clare Finney, distressed by her disturbing lack of basic practical skills, joins a sewing class in Marylebone and discovers a brand new passion among the old-fashioned needles and thread
Of all the disappointments that come with leaving home these days – the cost of putting the heating on, or the pain of Ikea – perhaps the most crushing is the realisation that for all your education and so-called ‘experience’ you have absolutely no practical skills. Oh you’ve degrees alright, and internships and piano grades. You’ve even helped some African children build a school. But cleaning? DIY? Cooking anything more complicated than pizza? Only now you’ve flown the comfort of the nest do you realise such things are important – and that mastering them has passed you by. For me it was sewing that
precipitated this crisis of self. Born into a generation two steps removed from school sewing classes, by the time I was 18 my knowledge of needlework was confined to one scarf, originally intended for mother dear and rapidly downsized to teddy
when I realised how frustrating knitting could be. In the process I became more convinced than ever that such tiresome occupations were far better left to Mrs Marks, Mrs Spencer and my grandma. Initially I saw little reason to
change. Clothes and blankets are available two a penny these days, and even so-called handmade looking items can be bought at a price. Yet as the pile of unwanted gloves and scarves in my wardrobe mounted and the ‘things to be mended’ box began to overflow, I realised it wasn’t just the skills we lost when they took needlework off the curriculum. It was our appreciation of them, too. During my Google search for
enlightenment I come across Tea & Crafting, a series of workshops based in Marylebone and run by a lady named Jane. In my mind Jane will be a quiet, greying matron with knitting needles as hair pins. In reality,
the woman who greets us for our Introduction to Patchwork class flies in the face of almost every craft-based expectation going. She is young. She is vivacious. And she is wearing the most covetable skirt. “Is that homemade?” I blurt,
disbelievingly, before we have even sat down. Jane’s answer comes as a welcome surprise. “God, no. I’m not that patient! Making dresses and skirts is really hard. It’s a very skilled job and it demands you use a sewing machine” – something which Jane tries to avoid when dealing with novices like myself. Instead Jane tends to focus on the simple stuff: purses, small toys, gloves, bits and bobs which can be constructed without the need for technology. “There’s definitely a fear factor.
People who are never taught how to hand sew think it all involves a sewing machine – something they either don’t want to use or don’t have the
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