Fabric Bookmark

Make a bookmark using hessian fabric, wool and a tapestry needle.

FREE

Development of fine motor skills – threading a needle and sewing evenly spaced stitches in straight lines.

Balls of different coloured wool. Pre-cut hessian fabric strips, approx. 20cms x 8cms. Fabric scissors, plastic, child-friendly tapestry needles. Finished exemplars.

  1. Introduce the task. Issue the hessian. What it is hessian made from? (Hessian is a woven fabric – typically used for sacks and sandbags – made from the fibres of the sisal plant. Sisal is also used to make rope and twine. It is a coarse fabric. Feel the fabric and compare with your clothes.
  2. Thread the needle. Demonstrate and assist as necessary. It helps to wet and twist the end of the wool before passing through the eye of the needle. Sew with a doubled thread.
  3. Demonstrate sewing with 2cm stitches. Show how to check both sides for neatness and snagging.

4. Sew the first row. Leave a long ‘tail’ on both sides to make a tassle. Keep checking both sides for neatness. Sew a second row, changing the colour of the thread. Keep sewing until you have sewn 4 – 5 rows. The exemplar below illustrates the technique.  

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