Craft: Carpetright Workshop at Chirpy, Chapel Allerton

Last week I popped over to Chapel Allerton in Leeds to attend a Crafting With Carpetright workshop at Chirpy, design shop and workshop space. After a pretty stressful week, I was really looking forward to an opportunity to be creative for an afternoon with lovely like-minded folk. It was also a great chance to catch up (and meet for the first time) with some fellow Yorkshire bloggers including Kat Got The Cream, Margot and Barbara and Onetenzeroseven.

Our workshop was led by visual artist Miriam Laville who challenged us to make a homeware accessory of our choice, crafted with carpet! The idea is that we often are left with offcuts from carpets and to prevent waste, why not upcycle those pieces to create something new? I, being oh so original, decided to make a door mat. Yes, I’m full of ALL THE IDEAS. Let me just say I’m now a pro at hacking up carpets, spraying glue and plaiting wool. They’re crafting skills, right?

Bloggers arriving in the Chirpy workshop space.

All the crafting supplies! Other blogger creations included embellished mirrors, plant pots, door mats and wall art.

Gorgeous hessian sacks. I wanted to take all of these home.

Carpetright looked after us with goody bags and fed us with sandwiches, cupcakes and brownies from The Sunshine Bakery.

 Our supplies of offcuts, scissors and knives.

 I was peeling glue from my finger tips on the journey home. Most satisfying.

All the sandwiches.

Carpet prep!

My bright idea (ahem) was to make a doormat with a word written on it in wool. I chose the word ‘Hi!’ (ahem) just in case I didn’t have enough time. I told you I was full of ideas…

It turns out spending an hour plaiting and knotting wool to create the letters (pre glue stage pic) was pretty relaxing. You can’t see in this picture, but on the reverse is Hessian fabric and all the letters are stuck in place now, sort of. It now keeps my feet warm under my desk in the office. Take a look at the finished carpet creations and lovely blogging folk here.

After the crafting session we were gifted a £10 voucher to spend in Chirpy, which turned out to be the hardest part of the day! So many pretty things. I chose a Orla Kiely beaker and a little pink flamingo (here) for my desk. I’ve named him Chirpy…

A big thank you to Carpetright and Chirpy for looking after us. I had a brilliant day and feel confident enough to whip out some spray paint and stencils to use on the off-cuts we have at home. Let’s just say doormats make me happy.

♥