This month we had a joint group meeting, so six WIs got together to hear all about the history and personal experience of Sally Wilson, former Devon County Chairman working there for her first job.
Sally's dry wit and interesting information made this a fun afternoon.

This image, of Madam Taussaud herself we made by her when she was about 70 years old:

Last night at Preston WI we had fun - what some call a 'dabble day' and others a 'four-corner day' - or in this case - evening, where we were offered the chance to try three of the five crafts on offer.

The choices were making earrings, knitting with carrier bags (!), making ribbon flowers, folded star patchwork and glass painting.  

It was a good chance to try out crafts we perhaps hadn't done before.  Also it was really nice to have a chance to talk to other members; this WI is growing so fast that it's difficult to keep up with who's who. 

Friday: I have started knitting a bag rather like the one above - can't decide whether to iron it or not.  

We had a talk this month at Paignton WI about tiaras, followed by a demonstration and fashion show of members wearing all sorts and colours of  fascinators.    

For wearing the fascinators, we were chosen according to the colours we were wearing, hairstyle and head shape - and what was amazing was that everyone looked fabulous.  Will post a photo on here very soon ...

The first part of the talk, about tiaras, was mainly tiaras for weddings, tiaras to go with brides and bridesmaids dresses and slightly less ornate ones for wedding guests, as well as ornaments to decorate the hair.  

These were all hand made by the demonstrator and incorporated beads and crystals, and some of the crystals had even been dyed to match the bridesmaids' dresses. 
We were shown how fashions in tiaras had changed over the years, becoming less ornamental but perhaps more complex. Some fashions in tiaras have even changed due to people wanting to emulate celebs and dress how they've seen people in the movies.   An example the speaker gave was of someone who wanted a tiara like the one which had been worn in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.

The demonstration about fascinators was preceded by an interesting aside about the different feathers which birds produced, samples were shown to us of feathers from various parts of an ostrich, also chicken feathers.  
Apparently, the longer, outer feathers are less bendy than the short inner ones.   It was interesting to see how stripping away most of the feather left a fun bit at the end which would wave around as the wearer moved.

to be continued ...

New WI in Preston, Paignton

Did you know a new, evening, WI has recently started in the Preston area of Paignton.  More information can be obtained by contacting: http://www.devonwi.co.uk/

Oldway Mansion

Do you fancy getting out and having fun with friends? . . .

. . . then come and join us at Paignton WI

First Wednesday of each month at Paignton Library

To belong to the WI costs £30 per year 

which entitles you to attend 11 meetings free, 

plus 8 magazines and a membership book with 

money-off vouchers - oh and 10% discount at Julian Graves.

We also have local Group Meetings, Bi-Annual County Meetings and regular county events, a national Annual General Meeting and our own College in Oxfordshire, Denman College.

History of the WI

The WI movement began at Stoney Creek in Canada in 1897 when Adelaide Hoodless addressed a meeting for the wives of members of the Farmers' Institute. The first British WI meeting took place on 16 September 1915 at Llanfairpwll on Anglesey in North Wales. The WI was originally set up in the UK to revitalise rural communities and to encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War.

http://www.thewi.org.uk/

Our national structure The national headquarters of the WI, the National Federation of Women's Institutes, is in London. We also have an office in Cardiff,NFWI-Wales, and a residential college in Oxfordshire, Denman College. We produce a membership magazine WI Life. WI Enterprises is the trading arm of the organisation and exists to raise funds and provide benefits for members. Companies wishing to explore sponsorship should visit the commercial opportunities section.

Our regional structure Our 7,000 WIs are grouped together to form 69 county and island federations, each with a regional office. Details of federation offices can be found in the Find your WI section. Together the WIs and federations make up the National Federation. Each level of the organisation is run by a committee of elected members. The NFWI Board of Trustees is democratically elected every two years by the members.