Bethany from Braintree Museum came to tell us all about a special sewing project that the museum and local schools were getting involved in. In the 1930s, the WI in Silverend created 50 special dolls for a competition which they eventually won. However, over the past 90 years several of the dolls have been lost or damaged so the museum have decided to get local schools involved to create new dolls.  

The dolls were about 6 inches high and wooden and were wearing handmade clothes to indicate who they were. They were all made to represent famous local figures and our class is going to be making John Constable, the famous landscape painter, as we will be studying his work later in the year.  

We started by looking at why John Constable was famous and looking at pictures of him to study his clothes. We decided as a class we would make a white frilly shirt, a black overcoat and a top hat – we might even think about adding a paint palette! 

Then Bethany gave us some Binka and thread and we practised tying knots in our thread, threading the needle and then a running stitch. 

Practising tying knots in our thread.

Practising a running stitch.

Our final practise piece.

This term our DT topic is cross stitch so we will be using our skills in both areas! Bethany left us with the wooden doll and material to use for his clothes and also a mini doll each so we can make clothes for our own doll. Watch this space for more details on how we get on!