Four Parishes Arts Society - February 2009

A talk given by Shirley Hayward on Straw Jewellery - Tuesday 13 January 2009

Members had already met Shirley when she exhibited at our 2008 Summer Four Parishes Arts Society Exhibition. Shirley makes jewellery and pictures from straw, rye and a wheat straw named Trikacaley.

She opened her talk by saying that straw work began in Switzerland over 300 years ago.   Rye and Trikacaley were introduced later in 1840. The wives made straw hats for the workers to wear in the fields when gathering the straw and from this followed the making of ornaments and other items, such as decorations for the hats they made.

Neighbours bought from neighbours and from this a cottage industry grew, selling to other villages and towns.  It expanded still further into Europe and grew into an international trade. With the demise of wearing hats trade has now fallen off.  Swiss straw work is exhibited in a museum in Wohlen, Switzerland and an English lady, Barbara Fitch, exhibits in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.   It was from Barbara Fitch that Shirley first learnt the art of straw jewellery.

From two books Shirley brought along, we marvelled at the intricate and unbelievable items that can be made from the different straws and straw thread.  As Shirley is not yet adapt at making thread from the straw, she buys it from The Screepur Village, Bangladesh and over 90% of the money raised goes towards helping the people in the village.  Some of the straw thread is intertwined with coloured silks.

Shirley then demonstrated how she used the different straws, which must be organically grown.  Firstly the straws have to be made wet before she can work them.   After wetting, one piece of straw it is split with a “splitter” and from this one piece she can get 6 – 8 pieces.  The straw can also be coloured, blue, red, and yellow.   Shirley demonstrated how she makes the earrings which some members were wearing when they purchased them from her at the exhibition.  We were invited “to have a go” twining the straw on small metal combs to make the earrings and pendants.  A great deal of in interest was shown, especially amongst the lady members!