Herb Activity Sheet

Making a lavender bag

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You will need

  • A fine net of about 20x20cm
  • A tea plate
  • A pair of scissors
  • A round-ended needle with a large eye
  • About 30cm of embroidery thread or similar
  • A short length of narrow silk ribbon.

What you do

To prepare the lavender

  • Pick about 20 stems of lavender on a warm sunny day. The middle of the morning is best, when the sun has dried the dew.
  • Arrange them carefully on a wire tray to dry. A cake cooling tray is ideal. Make sure the flower heads and stems do not touch each other.
  • Place on a sheet of paper in an airing cupboard. Leave for about 1 week.

To make the bag

Follow these steps and the pictures on the right.

  1. Strip the dried heads carefully from the stems.

  2. Cut a circle of net using a tea plate as a template.

  3. Cut 30cm of embroidery silk or similar. Thread a round-headed needle with a large eye. Use a running stitch. Sew the thread approximately 2 cm from the edge of the net circle. As you sew, ease the thread carefully. Take care not to pull too hard. It may tear the net!

  4. Draw up the thread to form a bag, leaving a gap at the neck. Put 2 teaspoons of lavender heads inside the bag. Pull the thread tight and knot together with a reef knot.  (Click here to find out how to tie a reef knot).

  5. Tie top with ribbon, using bow.

Make as many bags as you have lavender heads for.

Uses

  • Place in your clothes drawers and cupboards to make your clothes smell nice and to keep moths away
  • Or, if you think you might like a lavender bath, hang the bag over the hot tap while you run the water.

 

 

D&T KS1/KS2 1a,b,c  2a,f  3a,b  4a,  5c

Dried lavender flowers stripped from stalks

1. Strip the dried heads

Using plate to cut circle of net

2. Cut a circle of net

Sewing aroud net circle

3. Sew around the edge

Drawing up the thread to create bag

4. Draw up thread to make bag

Final bag tied with pretty ribbon

5.  Tie end with ribbon

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