Shauna Richardson’s magnificent crochet lions have arrived at the Natural History Museum. The three large beasts form The Lionheart Project, an Arts Council commission for the Cultural Olympiad.

The lions are situated in a glass case just outside the main entrance to the museum and I was instantly struck by their size. Even though I had read they were 4m tall, I still wasn’t expecting them to be so huge, lifelike and a bit scary! They have big teeth and I thought they looked a little hungry.

Even if you don’t crochet, you’ll be impressed by the work and skill that went into crafting the beautiful lions. Shauna spent two years making them. The 150 Swaledale sheep from Derbyshire who supplied the wool for the project might be a little surprised to discover that they weren’t growing jumpers!

Viewing the Lionheart project is free, and you can enjoy the free Exhibition Road Show festival and plenty of other free events in Kensington’s museum quarter this summer.

Free. 20 July – 10 September 2012, Natural History Museum
www.lionheartproject.com

London’s Science Museum was full of woolly monsters at the weekend as Stitch London took up residence to explore science through craft.

Stitched Science included an exhibition of scientific objects made by knitting, crochet and sewing, from embroidered cells to a rather charming knitted Professor Brian Cox. The highlight was the incredibly beautiful Orion Nebula pictured above, which was knitted by Lisa Bentman.

Craft workshops took place under a large knitted solar system. The workshops included pompom planets, knitting Mars monsters, recycling plastic bags into yarn and cross stitch classes. In case you’re wondering how scientific this actually was, I joined the Knit a Neuron workshop and while we knitted, PhD students explained enthusiastically how neurons work and their role in the brain. The Woolly Thoughts workshop explored maths and the science behind altered perspectives.

If you’re sad you missed the opportunity to make a Martian at Stitched Science this weekend, the Science Museum will be holding a Real-Life Gaming Festival at the end of September where you can enjoy being chased round the museum by aliens and rope other visitors into playing games you’ve invented.

www.sciencemuseum.org.uk Free entry. Real-Life Gaming Festival 28 September – 2 October 2011.

Make Do Mend launched their chic craft party business at London’s 40 Winks on Thursday night with champagne, sewing, sequins and cupcakes!

Make Do Mend organise bespoke craft class parties for you and your friends. Last night we were offered a little taster of their fun, friendly parties with Christmas cupcake decorating and corsage making.

Novice sewers worriedly announced that they couldn’t sew and then dived into the enticing pile of Liberty print fabric and vintage buttons and made beautiful corsages and Christmas tree decorations. Textile tutors Claire Montgomerie and Bee Clinch were warm and entertaining hosts and were full of ideas and advice to make sure that we all learned how to make lovely things.

Downstairs in the kitchen, creative cupcake expert Mae Len Nam was teaching guests how to professionally decorate sparkly silver and red cupcakes which were sweetly wrapped in little bags to take home. (The take home bags were nice in theory but anyone who managed to get a cupcake that tempting home has more willpower than me!)

40 Winks is the perfect venue for crafting. This stylish townhouse owned by internationally acclaimed interior designer David Carter is full of design inspiration and beautifully crafted objects – the house regularly features in magazine photo shoots.

To keep the house in pristine condition we were asked to leave our shoes at the door and sat around wearing little red fluffy slippers which added an even cosier, comforting atmosphere to the evening.

Bespoke craft parties are a lovely way to celebrate a birthday, a hen night or learn a new skill with your friends. One class Make Do Mend host is a baby shower party where each of your guests knits or crochets a blanket square for a baby blanket. Too cute!

Make Do Mend will arrange a class for you and your friends in a chic local venue or they can host a craft party in your home. Prices are per person and depend on the venue and your craft desires. You can find more information about their parties and classes at makedomenders.blogspot.com.

Everyone attending a Make Do Mend party gets an exciting little goodie bag to take home so you can keep practicing and playing with the techniques you’ve learned.

These new Central London evening classes have just launched and they’re the perfect way to try something new.

Each class lasts for one evening and you’ll take home something you made and the instructions to make more. I learnt how to make a crochet flower corsage which I finished off at home with a shiny button.

As there are only eight students to a class, it’s perfect for beginners. Tutor Jane was very patient, spending extra time with complete novices and suggesting advanced techniques for those of us with a little experience.

If, like me, you’ve been trying to teach yourself to crochet from a book, failed, thrown your knotty mess on the floor and then stamped on it, you need this class. I now know where my rows begin and end, how to hold the yarn and can read a basic pattern.

Classes lined up for September in London include beginners’ knitting, basic jewellery, crochet granny squares and crochet flowers. Find out more at www.teaandcrafting.co.uk.