We had some awful weather at the beginning of June – but that didn’t stop The Tanglewood Project Forest School from going ahead. The class normally braves the weather whatever the conditions but due to a leaky shelter (soon to be rebuilt) they retreated to the classroom.

Once inside, our young learners pressed plants and flowers onto fabric. They arranged their flowers onto the fabric, folded it in half, placed it on a wooden block and gave it a good bash with a hammer! They then unfolded the fabric, brushed any loose bits off, and were left with some beautiful patterns.

The next step was to use old Singer Sewing Company machines to stitch up the fabric into bags and pouches. The Singers have been collected from recycling centres over the years and are from the 1930s – almost antiques. Forest School teacher Nick said:

‘What is great about the Singers is that whoever is using them can take it at their pace, whereas an electric machine can very quickly run away with you. They are also beautifully engineered items from a bygone age which intrigue people, then very quickly put a smile on their faces when they find out how simple they are to use.’

Click through the images to see some of our students with their finished pieces.