dare to dream - heanor library craft group

The Heanor Library craft group embraced Derbyshire Makes Dare to Dream with open arms. Here's a selection of their textile patches in celebration of all that's important to them in Derbyshire - place, industry, heritage and history. 

During my final visit with the group they began to arrange their communal banner - taking up space on the library floor and I loved the relationship between the books and textiles 🙂

Can't wait to see the finished banner! 

Pickaxe and hammer

Millstones

Home

Crich Stand

Museum of Making

dare to dream - heanor sewing group

Fabulous and proud!

It's been a pleasure to spend time in the company of the Heanor Sewing Group who meet on Tuesday mornings at the Infinite Wellbeing Community Centre in Heanor. This is their generous contribution to the Derbyshire Makes Dare to Dream mass participation project.

The group invested many hours into their individual patches, and Allison (3rd from right) arranged the patches into the group banner, hand stitching a ribbon of black roses to complete the work. 

A couple of the group away when this photo was taken, so not everyone is represented here. Well done all!

derbyshire makes - dare to dream

Wow! Was totally blown away by the generosity and care the Heanor Library Craft Group and Sewing Group that meet at Infinite Wellbeing in Heanor have focused into their textile patches for the Derbyshire Makes Dare to Dream project.

The textile pieces have taken hours and hours of work and are a stitched love letter to Derbyshire! The groups are so supportive of each other, sharing ideas, skills and encouragement.

These pieces are being uploaded to the digital loom, which is growing day by day. Check out the link for information on how to submit your own artwork to the loom.

Inspired by the past and looking to the future 💚

dare to dream pillowcase banners 🙂

The weekend of the 5th & 6th of April served sunshine in a brilliant blue sky! We were so fortunate!

It was wonderful to share Dare to Dream, the mass participation element of Derbyshire Makes: an opportunity to stitch hopes and dreams for the future in Derbyshire using sustainable fabrics from the Play & Recycling Centre - Derby.

15 participants kindly left their work to be added to the pillowcase banners, shown below - stunning! Some wrote down the motivation and thoughts behind their stitches, and I added these to the work using a wooden typeface set - wise and generous words. There are more textile patches out in the world, taken home to be treasured and worked into - I like to think of these as 'siblings' of the textile patches below, becoming part of everyday life, mementoes of a shared expression of hope in Heanor.

Unity, Derbyshire Makes - Heanor

All Roads Lead to Derbyshire, Derbyshire makes - Heanor

make

Photo by Karen at Make/Shift

Dare to Dream

Derbyshire Makes Festival - Heanor

5th/6th April 2025

derbyshire makes festival - Heanor

What a brilliant weekend. Heanor market place was buzzing with fun, connection, creativity and positive energy. 

I had a blast running Dare to Dream, the mass participation element of Derbyshire Makes: a chance to stitch hopes and dreams for the future using sustainable fabrics from the Play & Recycling Centre - Derby.

We were blessed with gorgeous weather, and it was lovely to see Heanor create, play and stitch together. 

A MAKEFESTO!

Young maker

First stitches

All roads lead to Derbyshire

Dare to Dream - tolerant people

Generations

Stitcher from Portugal

Friendship

"Friendship is so important, a smile, a friendly nod can mean so much. Don't be afraid 

to talk to someone, you might be the only person they connect with all day."

derbyshire makes festival - heanor - dare to dream

YESSS! I'm all prepped for the Derbyshire Makes Festival - Heanor this weekend (5th/6th April), programmed by Make/Shift 🖐️🪡🧵

'Dare to Dream - Inspired by Heanor's rich textile and making heritage join artist Karen Logan and create a unique hand stitched textile patch to share your stories and hopes for the future. Pin your precious patch to the Dare to Dream repurposed pillowcases and take a selfie. At the end of the festival the patches will be stitched to the pillowcases to create stunning flags showcasing hope in Heanor. Let's fly the flag for Derbyshire!'

FREE. Drop-in, no booking required. All materials provided.

Scrap fabric from Derby Play & Recycling Centre

Cotton reels & threads from my stash & Derby Play & Recycling Centre

Dare to Dream map - research on the manufacturing history of Heanor & Langley Mill - will anyone recognise names & faces?

derbyshire makes - dare to dream 💭

Pillowcase from a Heanor charity shop

Thrilled to share that I'm one of six selected artists working on Dare to Dream, a project inspired by Derbyshire's history of innovation and textile heritage. Dare to Dream invites people from across the county (and beyond!) to create flags from fabric scraps and found materials to share powerful statements of possibility, hope, aspiration and radical thinking.

Dare to Dream is part of Derbyshire Makes, a new, three-year programme of cultural activity across the county - an inspiring celebration of making in all its forms. It launched in late March 2025 in Chesterfield with the free Derbyshire Makes Festival, an annual event taking place each spring across six distinct local Hubs. The Hub locations are Chesterfield, Heanor, Cromford, Glossop, Bolsover and Swadlincote. 

Creative Director Clare Tymon shares her inspiration for Dare to Dream

Dare to Dream Artists'Day