Celebrate Independence Day with our crafty projects

Article Added: 06/07/2009 10:34:40

On 4^th July 1776 America signed a Declaration of Independence that meant the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states and no longer a part of the British Empire. Since then the 4^th of July has become a national holiday in America and a very important date to those who live there.

HotHive Textiles has joined up with artists and designers who specialise in a range of crafts to bring you some great projects to make in celebration of Independence Day. We will begin our craft projects with a selection of tea cosies celebrating the importance the Boston Tea Party had in America reaching independence from Great Britain.

The Tea Party was an action of protest by American colonists in Boston against the British government who had imposed taxes on them, including the Tea Tax. In early December 1773 three ships from London sailed into the Boston harbour loaded with tea and the American colonists, unhappy about the taxes, prevented them from unloading their cargo.

On the evening of 16 December patriots disguised as Native Americans decided they would raid the tea shipment and throw it overboard into the Boston harbour. The act of destroying the tea was intended to show the British Parliament that they could no longer take advantage of the American colonies and was one of the factors involved in the start of the American Revolutionary War, which resulted in America signing the Declaration of Independence.

We have spoken to a number of artists and designers who specialise in a range of crafts to bring you the perfect accessory for your kitchen – whether you have a passion for crochet, knitting or feltmaking there is a pattern here that will be perfect for you.

We will begin with our felted tea cosy featuring the American flag. This pattern was designed by feltmaker Emma Jackson, owner of Silversoles, who you can read more about here. This is a great pattern as it not only teaches you how to make the cosy but it also shows you how to make the felt from scratch if this is something you haven’t tried before. We would definitely recommend you have a go! For this pattern you will also need templates for the shapes used in the tea cosy, which you can download here. Emma has also provided a template to help you when making up the tea cosy, which you can download here. To download the instructions to make your Boston Tea Party cosy please click on the link below. Have fun!

Boston Tea Party cosy

Now that you have all had a go at felting, how about making a knitted tea cosy as well This one was supplied to us by Barbara at the The Wool Shed and is made using their very special Albayarn, which has been produced specially for them. It is Shetland lambswool spun and dyed locally in colours which mirror the landscape in North East Scotland, so this tea cosy will have a very special feel to it. The yarn can be purchased from The Wool Shed website here and we would thoroughly recommend giving it a try. There is also a comment box at the bottom of this article, so if you get stuck at any point then just leave a message and our community of knitters will be happy to assist! To download the instructions please click on the link below:

Knitted Albayarn Tea Cosy

The final tea cosy pattern we have is for the crocheters among you and is a red, white and blue striped pattern, created by Sharon Kearley. As with the knitters please do leave any comments or questions at the bottom of the article and we will be happy to help you! To download the crochet tea cosy instructions please click on the link below:

Crocheted Tea Cosy

The next pattern we have for you is still on the red, white and blue theme but this time will show you how to make a gorgeous knitted corsage to adorn your Independence Day outfit or any outfit for that matter!. This pattern was created specially for HotHive Textiles by artist Claire Montgomerie and is a great pattern to use for any occasion. Claire says, "This pattern need not be knitted in red, white and blue but made in one colour. You could also make a highly striped corsage using up oddments of stash yarn." To download the instructions to make your own corsage please click on the link below:

Knitted corsage

As you will have seen when you made the corsage, the knitting is twisted to create the look of petals on the flower. Claire suggests creating different looks with the flower to suit the outfit you are wearing. She says, "You can play around with how many rows you knit before you rotate the work around the needle to cause the twists, which can change the look of the petals." So why not have a play and make a range of different corsages Don’t forget to send us your photos so we can see what you come up with!

We are now going to take a break from the red, white and blue theme to look at another item that is associated with America – the rose. The rose was passed as the national flower of America by the House of Representatives in September 1986 and each state has selected a different variety of rose to represent them, including the Oklahoma rose in Oklahoma, the Cherokee rose in Georgia and the wild prairie rose in Iowa and North Dakota. This pattern was taken from the book The Handbook of Silk Ribbon Embroidery, published by Search Press and will teach you how to make a beautiful bouquet of roses embroidered on silk dupion, which could be used as the decoration for a greetings card, embroidered to a bag or purse or just framed and hung on the wall as it is!

For this pattern you will need a template for the bouquet of roses, which you can download here. It is helpful to tack this template onto your fabric so that you can lay the roses out as they are in the pattern. Each of the roses are numbered to help you identify them and these numbers will be referred to in the step-by-step stages in the instructions. The pattern assumes that you have a knowledge of some embroidery stitches including French knots, ribbon stitches and fly stitch. These stitches are explained in the book with diagrams to demonstrate how they work if you are not familiar with them. You can buy a copy of the book here.

If you don’t have ribbons in your sewing basket already then we recommend you take a look at the Crafty Ribbons website www.craftyribbons.com where you will find all the ribbons you need to make this project and a lot more besides! Be warned, the amount of ribbons available on the site is quite staggering so you may find that you lose the rest of your day to browsing!

To download the instructions to make your bouquet of roses please click on the link below:

Bouquet of roses

For those of you who would like to celebrate Independence Day, but don’t have the time or skills to make the items featured in this project our artists have very kindly offered to make up the patterns for you, and a few other items besides. Please click here to visit our Independence Day shop and treat yourself to something special!

We would love to hear your comments about this article and any other suggestions for American-themed projects you may have. Please login to the website and leave your comments in the box below.

Contact Details:

Silversoles
99 Highbury Road
Kings Heath
Birmingham
B14 7QW
0121 443 1861
www.silversoles.co.uk

The Wool Shed
Rye Hill
Oyne
Aberdeenshire
AB52 6QS
01464 851539
www.thewoolshed.co.uk

Sharon Kearley
Hilltop
Bulford Rd
Shipton Bellinger
Tidworth
Hampshire
SP9 7TF
07746 084970
www.sharonkearley.wordpress.com

Claire Montgomerie
London
07773 865726
www.clairemontgomerie.com

Crafty Ribbons
3 Beechwood
Clump Farm
Tin Pot Lane
Blandford
Dorset
DT11 7TD
01258 455889
www.craftyribbons.com