Take a piece of string...

Press, 3 October 1979, Page 10

Take a piece of string...

Every imaginable aid for home craft-work is on display at the Leisure Craft Centre, next to the Avon Theatre in Worcester Street. Bag and basket-making, candle and copper-work, modelling and macrame materials, as well as weaving, spinning, tapestry and embroidery accessories are available through the shop. A mailorder supply service caters for those who live outside the city. With the recent increase in the popularity of macrame, a good deal of the Leisure Craft Centre’s business is in the supply of yarns, hangers and spacers for macrame work. A series of instruction books is also available, catering for every level of ability

and interest in the craft. For beginners, “If You Can Tie A Shoestring You can Do Macrame,” by Pat Depke, and “What In the Macrame Is It?”, by Judy Johnson, are both simple guides to professionallooking macrame planthangers, necklaces, wallhangings and bags. Those who have a good basic knowledge of the knots and macrame terminology will find “Macrame Guys and Gals,” volumes one and two, by Susan Schwartz, appealing. The patterns in these books are a departure from the traditional macrame designs. Colourful dolls, storybook characters and animals take the place of plant hangers and necklaces, adding a new dimension to the hobby.

Another book filled with ideas for macrame novelties is “Twas the Knot Before Christmas . . .” by Judy Palmer and Lois Anderson. For those who enjoy making their own Christmas decorations, or like to give hand-made presents, this book will provide hours of activity. Festive bell-pulls, Christmas stockings. Father Christmas in a variety of different poses, angels” and pets are included in the range of designs.

The Leisure Craft Centre has all the materials necessary for making any of the patterns, and where certain accessories are not available in New Zealand, substitutes are found and measurements changed to compensate.