Art in the Park 2023 - bigger than ever

• Published date: 15 March 2023

Yvonne Spencer-Hoskin was seven years old when she was given her first sewing machine, a Singer treadle. "Mostly dress-up costumes and dolls clothes back then," she smiles

She has experimented and learned a lot since then.

"Pretty much everything I've learned is self-taught. I love creating, designing, trying new ideas."

She now has 15 sewing machines, very old to very new, including one that was once her husband's great-great-grandmother's.

In the fabric-festooned sewing room of her Nelson Creek home she mostly uses three sewing machines: a free-motion quilter Juki; a quilt-piecing Jenome; and a robust Bernina with which she creates unique, quirky teddy bears. Each is a unique individual, a character with a story to tell. These are not production-line bears. These are works of art that their owners would want to treasure and to pass on to future generations.

They are made from the thick woollen blankets of yesteryear, either original pastel tartan pattern, or white that Yvonne has dyed to vibrant colours.

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