Platt Hall Make Space Workshop

November 2024

As part of my funded community project (see my ‘Weaving Manchester’ post), I ran a workshop at Platt Hall in Fallowfield, as part of their Make Space programme, in which members of the community around Platt Hall and Platt Fields Park learn new art skills and create their own work.

I set up some small frame looms, as well as a large-scale frame for the exhibition and my own tabletop 8-shaft loom. Inspired by the colours around them in Platt Fields Park, participants used various yarns and threads to create a collaborative piece, as well as samples they could take home with them in colours personal to them.

The collaborative piece used recycled and discarded scraps of fabric from clothes and sheets, as well as discarded fabric from the fashion studios at University dyed with indigo. Some participants also used some yarn made from jersey fabric donated to Platt Hall. The final piece is incredibly textural, with varying shades of green, blue and red to represent the autumn leaves and colour of the red brick at Platt Hall.

Make Space aims to encourage everyday creativity, something I am incredibly passionate about, and something I hoped to promote throughout this project.

Making art and textiles more accessible, using it as a way to connect with others and be sociable, I feel, is one of the biggest reasons why I want to pursue a career in which I am able to facilitate workshops such as this. Winter months can lead to increased isolation for many, yet being a part of this lovely group for the afternoon was incredibly rewarding and made everyone forget about the miserable weather for a bit!

Click HERE for more information about Make Space & Platt Hall.

My helpers Molly and Lizzie and myself with the collaborative piece participants made!