Dear Sir,
Following up on an notice on matmaking at Bowburn my wife and I spent an absorbing 2 hours there and was amazed at the stunning quality of mats made from rags.
We made a decision to take it up and want to encourage others to do the same. Many hobbies have an initial set-up cost, but clippie matmaking isn’t one of them. I made the simple wooden frame and “proggies” from webbing available at Boyes along with the hessian for the mat base.
Pegs were used to tension the hessian and we cut strips of material approximately half inch wide and 2 inches in length.
You work one piece of rag and one hole at a time. All the holes are 3 or 4 strands of hessian apart. The mat is worked upside down with the proggie on top.
you make a hole in the right hand corner, push a rag half way through then work the other half through the next hole. The first end of the second rag goes throught the second hole of the first rag.
you need one hand underneath feeding the rags through – just keep repaeting this process until the mat is complete.
The mat shown has a denim surround and measures 75cm x 50cm. It is destined for use in my Grandddaughter Millie’s bedroom.
Ken Farrell
ED: If you have a hobby you would like Newton News to feature please get in touch. Tel: 300212.
