As part of the Melville Open 2026, our group TAAMMI ( Textile and Mixed Media Inc) will open to the public, come along and join in with the demonstrations and see all that our group has to offer.  We love to create, whether that be with fabric, wool, paper , our group is very diverse and love to share all of their crafty pursuits.

One of our very talented members will be teaching us how to make some unique Christmas decorations.

We are all gathering for lunch and sharing food to celebrate our achievements over the year.          Image 1 by Alexandru Manole from Pixabay | Image 2 by freestocks on Unsplash | Image 3 by Monika from Pixabay | Image 4 by congerdesign from Pixabay

“A picture is worth a thousand words” Come along and try something a bit different. Raye will guide you in bobbin work explaining her own unique approach that will have you creating with surprising results.

Our inhouse workshop for October will be learning the techniques of using Alcohol Inks in various applications.  A fun play day to experiment with this exciting medium.  

Create an applique scene of Out of the Ashes . Technique is free machine embroidery and embellishments.

Mixed Media Sketchbooks for Textile Artists Who Think They Can’t Draw Join Helen O’Hara for some hints, tips and even cheats for working in sketchbooks. Pick up some easy guidelines for terrified drawers and learn how to change simple photographs into your own original designs for textile art works. We will cover why you think you can’t draw, what the point of drawing is and exercises to improve your drawing. We’ll then move onto how to evolve your drawings into unique designs using collage, printing and mixed media of all kinds. Helen will also bring along her sketchbooks and will take requests to show techniques.

This month is sun dyeing using acrylic paints. You can also do it with dyes that have specifically been made for this technique but it works well with acrylic or fabric paints.

Inspired by dancing cow parsley and tall poppies in a summer breeze, you will create a painted and stitched landscape. We will explore the painterly elements of free hand machine embroidery. Learn how to paint skies and distant hills to give depth to your picture. Learn stitch techniques for trees, hedges, and foreground details including grass, poppies, cow parsley and wild flowers. We will outline a design on silk with resist; paint a background with silk paints and apply a range of embroidery techniques. Students will work from photographs of landscapes of their choice or from a selection provided by the tutor.We will be covering aspects of art theory such as designing balanced compositions, aerial perspective and linear perspective, colour mixing in paint and in thread. Investigate the way texture and colour creates depth and perspective and how to draw with stitches.   After payment is received a requirements list will be sent out. There is a small kit of materials covered in the cost of the workshop.  

The idea is to create an interesting background on fat quarter sized fabric. There will be a number of options for mark making but you don’t have to do them all! You can then choose to use one of them (or not) for the Christmas ‘Secret Santa’.

This month we will be using Mulberry Bark which is also known as Kozo in the UK to make a tree. This workshop is about doing your own version of a tree. It is a good idea to use a photo of a tree you like for the shape so it is more realistic. You can use any sorts of items to make a textured landscape at the base of the tree.  I will also show a couple of other uses for the bark that you can try at home.