Crafternoon initiative launched in Southbank

A small but enthusiastic turnout at an initial Southbank community craft session shared some colourful work and stories.

The organiser of a “Crafternoon” at Boyd Community Hub is planning another one after a small group enjoyed a fruitful few hours at the initial gathering on March 1.

Long-term Southbank resident Bridgett Braunwalder, a keen sewer who finds her hobby can be a bit lonely, wanted to create a friendly, welcoming space for Southbank creative types to come together and work on their projects after she had looked around and failed to find any local craft groups.

While the turnout for the first session wasn’t a big one, Bridgett said, “everyone was really positive and wanting to look at what other people were doing and to share thoughts and tips”.

“We were getting to know what each person does outside of their hobbies as well.”

The six attendees were all female, but mixed in terms of age and demographics, with some, like Bridgett herself, who had lived in Southbank for a few years and others “who were relatively new or from overseas.”

Their crafts included embroidery, drawing, painting and sewing, and took in different themes, including international interests.

While Bridgett was working on the pattern for a skirt, attendee Alpana, who spends part of her year in Southbank with her kids and part living back in India, was painting an environmental message for her hometown of Mumbai.

Motivated by a long-standing Sunday campaign for the preservation of Mumbai’s Aarey Forest, she “decided to paint tote bags with a ‘Save Aarey’ message, so that I can gift them to those who are playing a part in the conservation of Aarey forest”.

The 13 square kilometre forest is considered to be “the green lungs” of Mumbai, a city of 22 million people, and is a biodiversity hotspot that is home to both leopards and indigenous communities but has been threatened by urbanisation and development, Alpana explained.

Another interesting link was to another woman’s experiences in Botswana.

“She was drawing from her memory,” Bridgett said. “From a childhood memory of Botswana [she did] an animal-themed drawing.”

There was also “some very talented embroidery” going on, with pin cushions and lavender bags being created and decorated, according to the organiser.

While only about a third of people who had expressed interest actually showed up to the first session, the weather was “a bit rubbish”, Bridgett said, and “obviously last-minute stuff comes up for people”.

Overall, she felt the activity was worth doing again.

“And it’s a good motivation for me to continue my craft stuff,” she said. •

Caption: Sunday, March 1 “Crafternoon” at Boyd Community Hub. Photo: Alpana.