Weave a Rush Hat with Rachel Frost

Weave your very own bespoke rush Hat with Rachel Frost

An opportunity to make your own woven rush hat using the indigenous common bulrush, Scirpus Lacustris, collected from the river Thames. Starting with your own custom-made hat block, you will be using this wonderfully supple material and techniques common to basketry to create a unique hat to wear and treasure.

 If you are planning to make a hat for someone else, it would be useful to obtain their head size. Using a soft tape measure, measure the head across the forehead / above the ears i.e. the widest part.

These are lovely 'hands on and very tactile' courses using natural rush which is harvested by hand from the various special waterways of England such as the Fenns that are slow moving and perfect as a rush habitat.  Each is carefully cut and gathered to bolts that are dried in the sunshine and air alongside hedges by the river. The process is an entirely natural one and there are no chemicals used in the rush harvesting process.  Pictures show student work.

10am - 5.15pm
£75inc  Aga lunch included
Material Charges from approx £15

Dates for this course - see the table below to book:

2021

Kindly note there will be a materials charge payable directly to the tutor on the day, from approx £15 upwards depending on the item made... Typically this course runs with 8 students. Suitable for Beginners and intermediates. Please note that this workshop will take place in a first floor studio up a flight of stairs. 

Please bring: The tutor will provide most tools required for the course. Below are pics of students hats made in summer 2019.

About the Artist. Rachel works in a variety of mediums and disciplines, focusing on the reproduction of historic and traditional crafts. She specialises in the making of traditionally felted hats and the weaving of baskets.  Her work can be found in museums and private collections worldwide. In 2009 she received the Janet Arnold Award for costume study and has twice received the South of Scotland VACMA award for her hat business. She is a member of the Incorporation of hat makers and dyers in Edinburgh.