MAKE! Craft Britain

There's something incredibly special about making

things by hand, and more and more of us

are discovering the immense pleasure that craft can bring.

I'm really enjoying this. Is that coming out?

Look at that.

We'll be getting right inside the creative process in two workshops.

In Yorkshire, embroiderer extraordinaire Marna Lunt

will be revealing how to create a hand-stitched lampshade.

Delve into the fabric. Just get things that you love.

And, in London, scalpel whizz Christine Green will be making

a very special greetings card.

This one is actually a flat piece of paper cut out above the fold

-and then cut out below the fold.

-Wow.

Both groups contain experienced crafters and complete beginners...

All you're going to do is put it in to...

See the hole where that stitch has come through?

Right, I think I've got it now.

..leaving the outside world behind and immersing themselves

in their own creativity.

I'm really in the zone, floating in my own little place.

You get absorbed. It just takes you away to a different place, really.

I have no idea what time it is now.

They'll learn new skills, but also experience the profound

sense of achievement and wellbeing that craft can bring.

Well, I came in feeling bewildered.

-I've created...

-You came out bewildered.

-I've created...this.

Needle up. Just straight through.

'One person who really understands the power of craft

'is my mother, Kate.'

Pull it down, and you might have to wiggle a bit.

Keep it taut.

'She's been making things all her life, and has convinced me,

'all thumbs, to have a go.'

Why do you think I didn't end up doing any of this then?

You were such a busy little girl, and any time you weren't busy,

-you were reading.

-I do love doing things with my hands,

but I haven't done it so much through making things,

but it's funny, I think the older I've got,

the more tempted I am to give it a go.

Yes, oh, I think you'll really enjoy it.

'One of my most treasured possessions is a beautiful

'quilt she made for me.'

I can't imagine how much work was involved in it.

The fact that you'd made it for me made a huge difference, actually.

Well, you're a very special daughter.

This was something that I felt perhaps only I could give you.

-It was a way of saying, "I love you."

-Aw.

-You know that.

What is it you think you get out of it?

There's a need, at the end of it all, to have something,

if not beautiful, something you're pleased with,

something that pleases the eye.

And I think the need to create - it's a big word for what

you're doing - but the need to do that is very strong in us all.

It gives tremendous pleasure,

and if you're making it for somebody else, that's even better.

-Yes, that makes it special.

-Yes, yes.

This is Lealholm, the village deep in the North Yorkshire moors

where we're holding our first workshop,

led by one of Britain's best embroiderers, Marna Lunt.

Creating something just... It makes you happy.

You get lost in it, so you don't have time to think about

all the other things that are going on in life.

I grew up on these moors,

and this is where everything about me has started.

For some reason, I feel like these are MY moors, they belong to me.

This landscape has defined how Marna approaches her work.

All you can see is colour everywhere - lime greens,

there's pinks, there's damsons, there's deep browns

and such texture and layering, and all of those little things is

what I'm creating in my work every single time.

Her lampshades are built from several layers of cloth

and intricate stitching, each one taking around 80 hours to create.

Marna's workshop will be held in the local village hall.

Seven makers of varying abilities are going to spend the next two days

creating their own embroidered lampshades,

using Marna's technique of building up detailed layers.

But first, some basics.

If you want to have a look at the back of your chairs,

you have got a little goodie bag.

Your needles are in this bag,

and we've got your cotton, is in your bag as well.

So everything that you need for the day is in your bags.

The only thing I recognise is the pencil.

LAUGHTER

Marna's given everyone a pre-drawn template of a Yorkshire Rose

stretched over an embroidery hoop,

which can help make stitching easier.

First of all, we're going to cut our

little piece of yellow fabric in a little circle

and use our glue to just stick it on in the middle.

-I'm struggling with my spot.

-It doesn't have to be perfect.

Imperfections are good.

Tony and Annette live in the village, and have been married for 37 years.

-Look how neat that is. Yeah, that's it.

-Stop interfering.

Well, you know what you're like. You've got to, it's got to be...

-Let's have a look.

-There, that's...perfect.

The first thing and the easiest thing is to think,

"Right, I don't want to keep on threading my needle,

"I'm going to make the longest piece of thread imaginable."

Don't do that, cos it will get tangled and it'll drive you nuts.

Just keep your thread nice and short,

up to about your elbow at the most, and cut that thread.

I normally put two little knots,

one on top of the other, at the end of my thread.

Oh, look at that.

Pinch it in your fingers and bring your needle to your thread, OK?

And that will be easier for you to do.

Is it coming?

Ah-ha! No. Now all my thread's gone.

I'll start at t'other end now.

Understanding how to thread a needle, how to finish off,

all the things that we think might be obvious aren't obvious,

and they're actually quite tricky.

So, they're kind of learning that now.

Masimba is a local playwright, but sewing runs in the family.

My mum, in Zimbabwe, she was an embroiderer.

Watching my mum work was a pleasure seeing, you know,

like, from plain cloth, just like what I've been doing,

and then being able to make something.

I think my mum would be impressed with this.

This task will also help everyone get to grips with embroidery's

most important stitch.

This is backstitch.

This is the stitch that I use for all of my work,

every single line here is using backstitch.

Backstitch gives you a neat, continuous line.

Tie a knot at the end of your thread and put your needle

through the fabric from the back, and pull through.

Then decide on the size of your stitch

and put the needle back through to the other side.

Next, bring your needle back up the same distance

as the length of your first stitch.

And, because it's called backstitch,

you take your needle back into the previous hole.

Before you know it,

you'll have created a continuous line of stitching.

I can see Tony is going to have a new hobby.

People are going to be confused as to,

have I really not done this before?

Since retiring from his job as a policeman,

Tony's been keen to expand his horizons.

You know you've a motorbike to put together in t'garage?

Two, as it turns... Two.

I can see that I'll be coming out with a cup of coffee for you, and

instead of doing your bike, you'll be sat in there embroidering.

-I'll be sat on some old engine, stitching away.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Pull it through.

-Mmm-hmm.

And then all you're going to do is put it in to...

-See the hole where that stitch has come through?

-Mm-hmm.

Put it into there. Yep.

Catherine's currently studying for a degree in textile design.

She's been making things since she was a little girl,

when her grandparents first taught her to draw and sew.

Right, I think I've got it now.

That's it. Once you're away with it...

Yeah, I get it now. Totally get it now.

Well, mine's just a big pile in the middle.

Yeah, so am I. Because that's what I wanted.

-That's what I wanted.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

Look at the back of that. It's like a bird's nest.

Well, you're not going to see it t'back, are you? So don't panic.

With their roses completed, and primed with some basic skills,

our seven makers are ready to begin their main task -

an embroidered lampshade.

This is going to be your blank canvas that we're going to

create your masterpieces on.

Everyone starts with a flat piece of fine weave linen,

cut to the size they want their lamp to be.

There's your lovely piece of linen.

The place to start is to make very, very simple shapes, with fabric!

So this is a picture of the moors with standing stones.

And all that is is just strips of fabric,

there's no technical drawing. Just lay things on simply,

and also play with textures as well.

We've built it up with only blocks of colour.

So, I just want you to delve into the fabric,

find any bits that you like the colour of, the texture of.

Just get things that you love.

Our makers are going to

base their lamps on landscapes that inspire them, and start by looking

for fabrics that might represent the different background elements.

At first I thought this was going to be the sea,

but I think it'll look better as, like, mist or fog.

Oh, I like that.

I've got a picture in my head of what I want to make, so...

So the... Yeah, greens, now, I need some quite vibrant purple ones.

Trina has lived in Britain for more than 20 years, but is originally

from Norway, so her work is going to be based on the Northern Lights.

Catherine's inspiration is closer to home.

My grandad grew up in a house in Whitby,

and his bedroom window, I looked out of it,

and it was literally, you saw the sea and then you saw

the Whitby Abbey, and it was just the most beautiful sight.

So, I've brought that picture, so I'm hoping to kind of recreate that.

I've got this shade for the sea, the seascape

and going in towards the sky.

The graphite colours to go with the dusky Whitby Abbey

on the tops of the hills.

And then some of these lighter colours, just to add...

There's some buildings in the foreground,

so I'm wanting to add some kind of depth and shape with using those.

Blues.

Jane and best friend Terry are street performers who live

nearby in the seaside town of Saltburn,

so Terry's planning a design based on its famous pier.

Darks, whites, greens.

Jane has chosen the seashore for her design.

But I'm wondering whether we can just have really outrageous cliffs.

Sometimes it's actually bright orange, the cliffs.

They're like, if you get the sun on them,

you get sky and sea and the beach.

It's like, I want it all. I want it all,

but I'm not going to be able to use it all, I don't think,

if I'm going to do something sensible.

Am I going to do something sensible?

That's the big question, isn't it, really?

This first stage is to create blocks of shapes using

a process called applique -

putting layers of fabric on top of each other to create a design.

The detail will be put in later.

Tony's found inspiration from

his regular walks in the local countryside.

This is a photograph of a local scene about half a mile

from where we're stood.

And the sign's no longer here, it's rotted away and...

recycled itself.

And I thought it's nice because it jars against the greenery

and naturalness of the countryside.

I always find it fascinating when you come across something that

a previous generation has left.

Might have been there hundreds of years.

Why was that put there?

Annette is planning a sheep theme but is nervous about her

artistic ability,

so Marna's giving her a helping hand with some printable cloth.

It's fabric paper, basically, that can go through your printer.

And I've taken some pictures of sheep.

So, what you do is you peel off the back, like that.

So, this has suddenly become a piece of fabric. Have a feel of that.

-Oh, yeah.

-That's not paper any more, that's a nice picture.

-You can cut round that sheep and place it on.

-Oh, this is good.

-OK?

You find out all sorts of things about sheep, living here.

I think they're just lovely.

They're stupid, but...they are nice.

Don't ask me questions on the different breeds.

I'm not up to that.

I'm just thinking of getting excommunicated from the local...

Why? Because I don't know...?

Because you can't identify your sheep.

Once our makers are happy with their blocked-out backgrounds,

every single piece of fabric needs to be stitched down individually.

It's becoming a more consolidated, single piece,

rather than just a load of bits and bobs stuck on a background.

Anything goes. That's the beauty of it, isn't it?

So I'm using the tweed here to kind of get this grassy,

kind of, cliffside, moorland effect.

And then I've started building up with things like the white

kind of linen on here to get the buildings.

There's areas of it that I'm, like, "Oh, I really like that."

And then there's areas that I'm a bit...unsure of.

I think it's really important that I do this,

because I think it is so relaxing and creative.

So, being able to just sit and do embroidery like this,

it's just...I think it's just good for the soul, really.

Marna's approach is a far cry from traditional needlepoint, something

she has in common with many of Britain's best embroiderers.

Diana Springall has been creating works of art with a needle

and thread since the late 1950s, and still works to commission.

Over the past 50 years, Diana has amassed

over 150 works of some of the country's best embroiderers.

It's one of the biggest collections of British contemporary work.

This is my work space, this is where I work.

This is wonderful, isn't it? So light and airy.

But it's also where I store the bigger

pieces from the collection that can't be on the walls.

Hand-stitching, layering

and using sewing machines are all techniques used

by modern embroiderers

to achieve vastly different results from the same basic materials.

This is a piece by Carol Naylor. She only uses the sewing machine.

And she uses it in such a way that she actually creates undulation

-of the surface quite naturally by the way she's pulling...

-Yes, I see.

..pulling the cloth as she goes,

introducing all sorts of different threads...

Things with shine, things with metal, things that are quite matte.

When you get in close it's just amazing, the colours

-and the delicacy of it.

-Yes.

This is very rural. What else do you have here?

Well, this piece by Janet Brown is a townscape.

-That's so sweet, "Market days in Skipton can get very busy."

-Yes.

So, you have here beautiful little pieces of applique, and then

they're held down with these fine machine lines, a different...

Again, a personal character.

You see, if you draw, you're going

to not make stuff that somebody else has made,

because you're looking independently and originally.

I mean, she's drawing with her needle.

I'm aware that everything that you've shown me

so far has been created by women.

This is very much a kind of women's world, isn't it?

Well, we do have some famous men.

And there's a piece by Richard Box over there.

So, this would be very typical of his style.

Very... He uses his applique in a very gestural kind of way,

-almost like brushstrokes, aren't they?

-Mmmm.

And big, wild machine stitches.

And I know when he was at Goldsmith's, Constance Howard

said to me, "He uses those machines like a traction engine,

-"he's going to break them."

-LAUGHTER

-I love the energy in this.

-It's tremendous energy.

So, this looks very different from the idea that some people

-might have of embroidery, I mean, this is clearly a work of art.

-Yes.

Embroidery became art in the mid-1950s in Britain.

So, an embroiderer came out of college with the same

status as a painter.

Everybody was equal. We were all having the same basic training.

We were all taught to draw.

It was just a different set of tools.

But all regarded as being the same, artistically?

Absolutely, absolutely.

How would you say that British embroidery is

-regarded around the world?

-Well, I think we are the top.

And it's based on the fact that

we had a formal education in embroidery,

in our art schools.

The fact that it is an art-form is pretty unique.

Yes, I think we probably are still best at it.

What a lovely person Diana is, and I can see why she's

inspirational to so many people around the country.

And what she's done, actually, is to make me

think about embroidery in such a different way,

because you have the combination of artistic imagination

and technical skills, I mean real skills, that come together to

create this piece of poetry, as she described it.

"Drawing with a needle."

All over the UK, people are combining their imaginations

with extraordinary skills to create wonderful things by hand.

You've been sending us some amazing examples of your craft,

all of them made with love.

This life-size lion is made out of wool.

Shauna Richardson from Leicestershire has invented

her very own craft she calls "crochetdermy"

to sculpt her woolly creatures.

Sarah Keenan from Southport created this surreal

lobster dog by printing her painting on to fabric

and then quilting it and embellishing it with crystals.

These beautiful fish used to be old wooden floorboards

salvaged by Ipswich-based John Woodcock.

And, believe it or not,

this bull is created from hundreds of old labels.

For the past 15 years, Derbyshire maker Joy Pitts has been

buying old clothes in charity shops and cutting out the labels.

This cow has 5,000 of them.

Paper cutting is one of the easiest crafts to do,

but gives stunning results.

This intricate cut was inspired by the animals

and woods of the Cotswolds.

Louise Firchau took ten hours to make it.

Paper cutting has become an incredibly popular craft,

thanks to its accessibility.

Our next stop is rural Oxfordshire

and the home of our paper cutting teacher, Christine Green.

I really enjoy making things, and it takes you into a lovely

zone that is separate from everything else in your life.

Whether it's a gift or a card,

or something which will have that personal stamp on it,

and in this day and age where so much stuff is bought and shop-made,

and I just think it's great to have something personal.

It doesn't actually require huge amounts of special equipment.

You just need a scalpel and a cutting mat and a piece of paper.

One of Christine's favourite pieces of cut work isn't made from paper.

It comes from Haiti, and it's the top of an oil drum.

It shows beautifully one of the principles of paper cutting design,

and that's that every single little piece of this design

is attached in some way to the rest of the design.

So, whether it's one little leaf, like this,

or whether it's a bird like this, and it's attached at the hand

and this leaf and here at this flower.

There's not actually sort of an algorithm

you can say with paper cutting,

you know, if it's X amount of size,

it's got to have X amount of attachments to it.

As long as it's attached in some way, otherwise, at the end

of the day, you pick it up and it's just a pile of confetti.

And if you get up really close to it, you can

see the way the edges have been nibbled with a chisel.

I love this. Phenomenal piece of work. Love it.

Christine's workshop is going to be held in one of London's most

prestigious paper shops.

I think the sorts of people who really warm to it,

they kind of get what they've got to think about quite early on.

But I'm always amazed, actually, at the end of the day,

what people produce.

And people who've never done anything like it before,

and they always say, "Oh, I can't draw, I can't design.

"Am I OK if I copy something?"

And then they produce something really amazing.

So, today we are going to be doing sort of a very basic intro to

some paper cutting techniques, and then by the end of the day,

hopefully, you'll have produced

something a little bit more spectacular

that you'll be quite chuffed with.

Our six makers include an ex-doctor,

an illustration student and a designer.

None of the group has ever done paper cutting before.

So, one piece of paper,

and this is nothing more exotic or special than photocopy paper.

80g, if you want to know.

So, how are we going to hold this?

The rounded bit goes into the palm of your hand.

You're going to rest this finger on the end of the handle.

So, you're just going to do a series of four or five cuts,

just running parallel, roughly.

Let it run across the top of the paper.

What we're looking for is really nice, clean cuts. OK?

-I've stabbed myself already.

-LAUGHTER

Yeah, yeah. I've drawn a little blood. It's not bad.

Sorry.

-Seriously?

-Yeah. Just a tiny little bit of blood.

Tiny little bit, don't worry.

-Don't panic.

-SHRIEK

Oh, no, no, no. It's fine. It's just... It's not deep.

Accident-prone Jimmy and his wife Eri have just

celebrated their one-year paper wedding anniversary.

Despite the blood-spilling,

Eri is keen to lure Jimmy into her own long-held love of craft.

There.

Here, honey. No blood on the paper.

-No blood on the paper, and look at those.

-That's nice.

I mean, I got that far, so...

All right. So, where were we?

What you're going to do is something using your initials.

Dead straightforward.

You're going to design yourself something a bit like a monogram,

and these are some which I prepared earlier.

So, we've got an E and a J.

And...an R and an S.

An M and an A.

Playing with letters is really good fun.

Paper cutting is as much about the pencil as the blade.

Our makers need to come up with a design that makes

the most of their initials.

Like, this could be an E, and then the T through that.

-I think you could pull off the T to make it look like it.

-Think so?

-Yeah.

-Maybe, like, have...

-No, that's more like "Elf".

-SHE LAUGHS

-OK.

Tried a squiggle. Not into the squiggle.

So, I think just a straight line and...yeah.

I like that, honey. It's very manly.

The group is drawing designs onto a thin layout paper which will

act as a template, and means there won't be any unsightly

pencil marks on the final work.

That looks like it's kind of a bit funky, going on there.

Oh. That's wrong.

I've got another sheet here. That's looking good, though.

No, it's these bits, look. Too fat. The R's easy.

Oops.

Richard and Mark have been together for 22 years.

Richard lectures in art and design, and is used to drawing.

But for Mark, who works in occupational therapy,

this is all new.

I've never done anything like this before, so...

Probably at school, but school was quite a long time ago.

So I'm finding it quite difficult to try and get the pencil

to do exactly what I've got in my mind's eye.

But once you get going, it's quite nice.

You can start tweaking it, and...

I suppose it's getting into the flow of it,

you kind of relax a bit into it.

-Richard's doing really badly.

-LAUGHTER

-Thanks.

-Yeah, that's all right.

-Yours is very gothic, that's nice.

-Mine is a bit gothicky.

-That's really good.

-I like yours. Yours is...

-Mine is spiky.

And pointy. Hold your pencil further away. There you go.

-Not so far, but you do that.

-Like that?

-Really tight, aren't you?

-Oh, OK.

-That's what makes you tight, your circle's really small.

Do that a bit more and you can get bigger curves.

But then, yeah, it'll be more difficult to get that...

-Use your wrist.

-Oh.

There you go.

-Oh, look, but now it's... Oh, it did work a bit.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Try it, play around.

-Yeah.

Struggling with this bottom bit here.

Turning this around and that's how you get contours.

Oh! That's a good idea.

-Oh, I see, so you get more of a swoop over.

-Use your wrist.

-Aaaah.

-OK.

-Wrist action.

Once you've finished your design, you're ready to start cutting.

You'll need a cutting mat and a scalpel with a fresh blade.

Choose the colour you want your finished work to be

and place your design on top.

To hold the template in place, use masking tape.

But to stop it damaging the final piece,

remove some of the stickiness with your hand.

Two pieces on top are enough.

It's handy to look at your work in progress.

To stop your paper getting flimsy,

always start with the smallest bits first.

Then you can build up to the larger cuts.

Once you've finished, you can get rid of your template

and you'll have a perfect final cut.

-I'm going to put Xs on the bits you're going to cut out.

-OK.

-So this bit, that bit, that bit.

-Yeah.

-Right, OK.

Ooh! First cut.

Wurgh! Ha-ha!

Hell's bells. Oh, no!

That's a bit square. Damn. Is that nearly out?

It's quite therapeutic, isn't it?

Yeah, I want to do things quite quickly and roughly.

And it doesn't really lend itself to that,

so I'm having to slow myself down.

I just like crafting together for a whole afternoon.

We wouldn't really ever do this and I also get really proud of him

and I like to see what comes out of his brain.

-I do! I think you're really creative.

-Thanks, honey.

-Yeah, sometime strange things come out.

-I have a craft box, you know?

But no, I mean, we would never just sit down and do this.

-It's really nice.

-Mm.

I think you're craftier than you give yourself credit for.

Elbows at dawn. I'm really enjoying this.

Ooh, is that coming out?

Yay!

-Wow!

-Nice.

That's amazing!

It's a quick learning curve, actually, which is great.

But the next project is significantly trickier.

They're going to have to take on board all the things that

they've learned so far

and then they're going to have to build on it quite rapidly.

Many of Britain's makers find endless

inspiration in the natural world.

You've sent us craft evoking wild landscapes

and all kinds of flora and fauna.

All made with love.

These sweet little birds are made by a process called needle felting.

Their Somerset maker, Lucy Pendrick,

is obsessed with getting in as much detail as possible.

This incredible kingfisher took more than 32 hours to create.

The detail on these mushrooms is extraordinary.

Using a mixture of embroidery and papier mache, maker

Amanda Cobbett is inspired by her love of nature, texture and colour.

When weaver Kate Luder moved to the south Wales coast,

she found herself inspired by the constantly changing landscape.

The result? Beautiful tapestries woven from hand-dyed wool

and taking around two months each to make.

In Yorkshire, our makers are embarking on their second

day of their workshop.

But before they continue, Marna has sent them outside to

remind them of the natural detail she hopes to see in their work.

When you go onto the landscape, you have an emotional response to that.

Like the wind and the noises of the birds

and the crunching of your feet on top of heather and bracken.

BIRD CALL

And it will influence the colours and the textures that you use.

I find it amazing how you've kind of got one landscape here

and then it kind of layers to a second, then to a third, then you've

got the hills and there's just so many built up, like our pictures.

-Yeah.

-Yes, I like the gorse myself.

-Do you?

-Yeah. I like the yellow flecks of the gorse.

-Mm.

And you know, things like the lines of trees are... They're lines.

They're like shredded fabric.

We can see how she puts it together, can't you?

Back in the hall, it's time for the next part of the process.

Today is going to be all about the details and the stitching bit,

the embroidery bit. The exciting bit.

This is where everything starts to come alive.

We're going to learn to do all sorts of fun things to really lift it

and make everything become one.

Marna's technique is to draw guidelines for the stitching,

which will create the top level of detail.

So this is what you've got now, and the next stage is to draw

and make it look like this.

The key thing that I use for all of my work is a water soluble pen,

and because it's water soluble,

that's why you've got your little water spritzers, to get rid

of all of your lines after you've finished all of your work, OK?

The more that you draw on that piece of work, the more you're going

to have to sticth because if you're doing a cityscape

and there's tonnes of windows

and tonnes of architectural detail, you're going to be

stitching all over that, so there's going to be an awful lot of work.

Our makers can create different effects with different stitches,

but there are hundreds to choose from.

You don't need every single stitch all over the place.

This is back stitch, so that's what you did on your Yorkshire rose.

Right.

This dotted one that looks like a dash, that's called running stitch,

-and it's a quick stitch.

-That sounds perfect.

-That's perfect.

These little stitches in the middle of the flowers

are called French knots.

I know from my own experience that French knots can seem

complicated at first, so here are the rules.

Hold a thread nice and taut,

about 5cm from where it comes out of your fabric.

Wind the thread around the needle, again keeping it taut.

The more winds and the thicker the thread, the bigger the knot.

Do keep that thread taut.

Slip the wound thread down towards the point, while at the same

time, putting the needle back into the hole it came from.

Don't let go.

Keep holding the thread,

while you pull the needle and remaining thread right through.

And, voila, you have a French knot.

So, remember, keep holding the thread

until the very last moment and your French knots will be perfect.

Annette's planning to use them to create clumps of heather.

I'm going to experiment. This is going to go horribly wrong.

Da-da-duh!

It's meant to go like that, of course(!)

I maybe should have gone through there till I pulled it out,

but oh, look at that.

Wonderful.

It's worked.

Done a few birds. This is...

Cos I'm originally from a landlocked country,

so seeing the sea for the first time was...

I haven't gotten over that yet.

This was actually the composite of many seaside places that I've

been to, that I've seen.

And, of course, lighthouse - I've always liked lighthouses.

I'm glad I came here, cos this is the best part of England.

That's my view.

I'm really trying just to get a kind of a wiggle on with it,

because I am working on my little Whitby Abbey.

I'm just putting some satin stitch, just in the windows,

just to give it a bit mnore life to it.

So it's just a continuous next to each other stitch,

which is just giving a real kind of block effect of colour,

so you can see it really visibly.

I had a horrible night last night, not sleeping very well,

cos I kept dreaming of splashes of colour

and buckets of fabric everywhere,

and it kept coming down to this middle like that.

And then, at three o'clock this morning, I suddenly went, "Ammonite!"

And I woke my partner up.

And I realised that I wanted something in the middle

and I couldn't think what it was, so I've gone for a really,

really big ammonite, plonked in the middle.

For no particular reason at all.

Stab stitch.

Which is basically, "stick it in anywhere

"and pull it out anywhere else."

It's been very feel-your-way, completely.

I really am in the zone, I am.

Floating in my own little place.

-Oh, look. I've run out of...

-Oh!

-Bugger!

-Oh, look, me... Oh, it's all gone wrong now.

Me sequins have fell off.

-I've done some French stitches on mine.

-Have you?

-French knots.

-French knots, that's it.

-I think that's wonderful.

-Well, I'm glad you think so.

-I do. I do think so.

-And I think yours is...

Yours is wonderful, Terry.

In its own different kind of way.

Yes!

-What is it?!

-It's the pier at Saltburn, for goodness' sake!

Tony!

-Get your moors goggles off!

-It's the wrong way up.

No, it...

LAUGHTER

-It's marvellous.

-Yeah. I like it.

But, you know, there are some men who would deem it to be a bit sissy.

If men want to do embroidery

then men should feel free to do embroidery.

-You might not brag about it in the pub...

-Well, exactly.

If I can do something that somebody else can't do,

I'm quite happy with that.

If they want to call me a girly boy for doing it...

But you're clearly not!

..I'll smack them round the head.

LAUGHTER

So now we're going through a period of calm contemplation of where

we're going to put the next stitches in, thinking

about the texture that they're going to use with their threads.

It does take quite a lot of concentration, on what

colours you want to use, and they're kind of almost lost in that now.

I've put two different coloured threads through

the eye of the needle to try and replicate,

if I twist them, the sort of climbing vine

on another plant or tree.

See what that looks like in the final picture.

Being a totally untrained and non-artistic,

as far as I'm concerned,

there are no rules that I've got to stick to, so I'm developing...

..techniques and trying ideas and just seeing what turns out.

After a morning of learning the basics,

our paper cutters are ready to step up to three dimensions.

OK, so here's a selection of three dimensional cards, and they are not

as complex as they might appear when you just look at them like this.

So, this one is actually a flat piece of paper, with one fold in.

You've got a mixture of cut out above the fold

and then cut out below the fold here.

And it just works really well, very simple.

This has actually got three folds in it, OK?

And this is based on a window at Kew Gardens.

Now, this is quite complex, but if you imagine just doing,

you know, two of those panels, that would be a really cool cut.

The first challenge of a three dimensional paper cut is to

work out how the different folds and layers relate to one another.

Maybe that's your horizon line or something.

Things come up from that side, don't they? Can I borrow that?

Let's say we've got... Right?

That then pops up above there, doesn't it?

Our makers have all brought ideas for a design

-based around their favourite places.

-Tell me about this.

That's the old subway at Crystal Palace.

That's been closed off to the public.

This is amazing. I love the brickwork. Just gorgeous, isn't it?

Really, really beautiful.

I was starting to think about your upright concertina piece.

It's all lending itself really well for paper cutting.

Absolutely stunning.

I'm just trying to simplify my bricks here.

This is not what I expected it was going to be at all,

in the sense that it was so intricate, the preparation,

I think, in that respect. And the planning of it.

And this three-dimensional side of it has totally blown out what

I was thinking.

Cos you've got to think of it, not in a three-dimensional way, but

you've got to think about the layers and the connections of things.

I'm doing three, rather than four, panels, I've realised.

And trying to fill in some packs.

If anyone can tell me how I make bricks in a circle,

that would be really nice. I'm struggling with that one.

-Can you help me out?

-Pass.

-Yeah, thank you(!)

Mark is also basing his design on his home, Crystal Palace.

I used to be quite good at drawing when I was a kid.

Then it all went wrong.

He's planning to incorporate its famous Victorian dinosaur park,

built in 1854.

Struggling with ferns.

Going to be less literal.

-Hi.

-Hello.

-So, what are we thinking about?

I liked the idea we talked about doing three folds

and doing a pop-up fountain, which I thought would be nice and simple.

I think you have to really graphicise it,

really make it graphicy and not go for super-duper realistic detail.

Imagine you're making a symbol of a fountain.

I love our home. It's our first, like, marital home together.

I was inspired by the kind of Kew Gardens multi-fold piece.

I'm going for the slightly less ambitious two-fold,

but I'm going to do the doors opening

and then there's a little saying that we sometimes say

to each other, so I'm going to do that, "To the moon",

with some plants in front of it.

You're going big for this one?

Jimmy is basing his design on a pagoda in his local park.

I love running round the park.

It's like where I get my me time, I find it quite meditative, running.

So I always kind of, you know, see the pagoda in the middle

and see it through the trees,

and I think will look quite nice in the design, so I'm trying

to have a layer of trees and then the pagoda, and then trees.

Designing such complicated paper cuts takes a few hours,

but by mid-afternoon, all the group has started cutting.

Because their designs need to stand up,

our makers are working with a heavier cartridge paper.

I really enjoy affecting a piece of material.

To actually get crafty and artistic is very rewarding, very satisfying.

I just like that state of innocence

and just completely turning off and zoning out.

It's like a warm bubble bath for your mind.

I was completely gone then. Completely gone.

Once you start, it's actually...

The time just flies and I have no idea what time it is now.

You get absorbed. It just takes you away to a different place really.

It's quite nice.

I feel quite relaxed, even though I'm wielding a very scary scalpel.

It doesn't feel uncomfortable.

Nice cutting.

Thank you.

I think it's time to have a bit of a group fold-up

and see how these things actually look and how they work, OK?

OK.

-ALL:

-Whoa!

Look at that!

I'm so proud of what I achieved.

To sit with what was a blank piece of paper and now have this,

and to be able to leave and put it in our home is...is awesome.

To have something at the end of it that, like, actually is tangible

and you can touch, you can actually see it in a physical space,

is, like, an achievement. It really is an achievement. Yeah.

It was quite frustrating to do, so it feels quite special now.

I quite like the 3D quality of it, giving shadows

and using the scalpel almost like a pen.

I'm definitely proud of it.

The initial design part was maybe the most challenging part of it.

But once you get that together it works really well.

I'm just really, really happy and proud.

Something I had to create, something I had to put my heart

and soul into, and I'm standing here with it now.

Brilliant.

Ooh!

-CHEERING

-Success!

-Well done!

Brilliant!

Woo!

-There you go.

-Thank you.

To toast to your creativity and your brilliance.

It's been a fantastic workshop

and I am thrilled with what you've achieved

and I hope you go away and cut lots of things, but not yourselves.

LAUGHTER

-ALL:

-Cheers!

I can't quite reach.

Righty-ho. We've got about an hour left.

How is everyone doing? Are we all happy?

After two days of intensive creativity,

Marna's workshop is in its final stages

and our seven makers are preparing to transform their finished

pieces of embroidery into lampshades.

Everyone gets an off-the-shelf kit, which contains top

and bottom rings, a stiff backing panel, and tape.

Once the stitching lines are cleaned off with water, the fabric

can be stuck to the panel and taped together to form a cylinder.

Finally, the fiddly job of securing it to the rings with

double-sided tape.

All that remains is to see what the shades look like when lit.

Come and see what you've made, your amazing makes.

So you spent two days working really, really hard,

and look what you've made.

Ta-da!

-Ooh!

-Oh!

-Wow!

-We did it!

Fantastic!

That's worked very well.

Oh, it's beautiful.

-Yours is lovely! Look at this!

-I know.

The light's shining through so well.

Oh, yes!

-Look at that!

-Oh, yeah!

Oh, look at it! You've just blown me away.

Absolutely exceeded, I think, all your own expectations as well.

-Thank you, Marna.

-Yes, yes.

-Thank you.

THEY APPLAUD

I'm surprised at how much they managed to achieve in such

a short period of time. Really surprised.

Cos embroidery takes hours.

It takes me sometimes weeks and months to produce something,

and they've totally risen to the challenges.

It's inspiring to me.

A lot goes into this, into making it.

A lot of thinking, a lot of feeling.

Embroidery is an art form.

These gaps here, where you've just got the basic

linen of the shade itself, the light actually shines through brilliantly.

I'm so chuffed. At one point I thought, "Oh, my God.

"I'm not going to get this done!"

But it's here, it's a physical item and I'm just over the moon.

You never know the kind of - is it going to shine through

and what it's going to look like.

And I am absolutely delighted. Really am.

I've loved it. I've really loved it.

And it's been really nice cos I've got completely absorbed

and I've forgotten about the rest of the world. That's been really nice.

It's playing, isn't it? It's playing with colour.

Well, I came in feeling bewildered.

I've created...this.

I really don't know how.

I started with a photograph that I thought

I was going to replicate, and I just put that to one side,

having taken some inspiration, and here we are.

I think it's fantastic.

I mean, I think he is artistic, really.

More so than I am.

So, I'm really, really impressed with what you've done.

I think I may have created a unique piece of art.

I think it's brilliant. It's really playful and fun.

-It's colourful.

-It brings together some lovely colours

and some lovely images,

and I think it will look wonderful.

-We'll find a lovely place for it at home.

-Do you think?

I'm sure we will.

-Yeah.

-Could be a redecoration job.

-No.

Absolutely not.

It's so obvious, isn't it, how much everybody has enjoyed those

workshops, and I think what's really shone through is the sense

that it's almost good for the soul.

And, actually, it doesn't matter

whether you're artistic or even what you end up with.

It's the making itself that counts.

If you've been inspired

and want to know how to make a lampshade or a 3D card,

then go to...

..to find out how.