FACTS Christmas Crafting Weekend a success - Dec. 7, 2017

BY DENNY SCOTT

The Fashion Arts and Creative Textiles (FACTS) program hosted a successful second annual Christmas Crafting Weekend event Dec. 1-2.

Organizer Jennifer Triemstra-Johnston said the event was a great success with many attendees saying they had a good time.

Over the weekend, 15 people attended classes including needle working, sock monkey-making classes, bobbin lace making and felting classes which produced a pair of woolen slippers.

Attendees at the event were as young as 15 years old and ranged from new craft makers to experienced artisans.

One late addition to the event, the bobbin lace making, was a very exciting development for Triemstra-Johnston.

“I met [instructor Tini Pel] at a spinners and weavers event in Goderich in early November,” she said. “I was blown away. She was the first bobbin lace maker I have ever met and they are definitely few and far between.”

Bobbin lace, also known as pillow lace, is made by weaving threads held on bobbins and pinning them on a pattern. Pel learned the practice by correspondence after moving to Canada in the 1950s.

“It’s definitely a waning art form,” Triemstra-Johnston said. “It’s not taught anywhere and I love that we were able to bring it to some new students.”

She said the class was very successful and taught three different techniques. A video detailing the practice is available on the FACTS Facebook page.

Triemstra-Johnston said if the program runs next year, she will be looking to host it earlier than she has in previous years because the first week of December was a little too close to Christmas for some people.

She said, however, the event was great and that she and participants all had a very good time.

For more information, look up the FACTS program on Facebook.