4 minute read
THE MAGIC OF HANDMADE: GRANDMA'S HOME AS A SANCTUARY
Meet Lynne Wynbergen
Childhood experiences often inform the direction we take as adults For Nest volunteer Lynne, it was spending several summers in her Grandma’s house in the Blue Mountains.
"It was like the original tiny house – it used to be a garage that was converted when she lived in it. I have great memories of visiting her and loving the house, she made everything –clothes, furniture, curtains – I just thought what she did was amazing".
Grandma’s handmade home provided a comforting constant for Lynne, during a time of upheaval when her parents divorced It inspired Lynne’s love of making who is a multidisciplinary, self-taught crafter. There’s not much that Lynne doesn’t make.
“My main craft has always been quilting I’ve done that for 30 years now and I used to enter shows, but don’t anymore. It’s my go to ‘craft thing’ – I like to branch out into other things – I can do knitting, crochet, embroidery, all kinds - but quilting is the big one that I’ve done the most”.
Lynne has been sharing her making skills at The Nest Community since 2017 During those early days, before our social enterprise had evolved, she ran workshops like slow stitching and Mexican embroidery Workshops were one of our fundraising initiatives and we’re incredibly grateful to all the volunteers, like Lynne, who fundraised in this way.
When The Nest relocated to Brendale, Lynne continued to do a regular shift in The Nest Haberdashery She also took on the role of curating the Nest’s Heritage Collection, to help document sewing memorabilia as evidence of women’s craft knowledge She truly values the older items that get donated and feels a responsibility to preserve them properly and research their history.
“There was a big donation of silver thimbles recently It was obviously someone’s collection We have a lot more stored while we work out a way to display and store them and keep them safe”
So what’s Lynne's next project?
Would you believe it's a tiny house of a tiny house? Well, to be exact a diorama in tribute to her Grandma’s tiny house.
“Got started when I found an old book in a secondhand shop about miniatures – it wasn’t about houses but all about small rooms. It got me thinking that I could do a whole house – my grandmother’s house in the Blue Mountains...I don’t have many photos of it and when she died it was sold and renovated so the original profile is no longer there. That threw me when I went to look at it and started planning the project”.
True to her nature, Lynne has honed in on the detail and sought new ways of making to get the job done In addition to Youtube videos, she is doing the Queensland Architecture in Miniature course at the State Library which includes learning to use a laser cutter to make miniatures.
But it’s the interiors where Lynne relies on her craft skills.
She made the lounge suite from start to finish and crocheted a throw rug using #8 pearl cotton thread. In her Grandmother’s house, the throw used to hang on the back of the chair.
Lynne says, “I spend a lot of time in 2nd hand shops looking for vintage fabric for authenticity. Solid colours are easier but patterns in scale are hard to find Quilting fabric is usually the best because it has lots of patterns”.
We can’t wait to see how this labour of love turns out. .
