Lucy Towle works straw into corn dollies and harvest favours in Nottinghamshire, trading as Braided Grain. She is the third generation of her family to do it, after her grandmother and her mother and I'm so pleased she does. Because corn dolly making is now on the Heritage Crafts Red List of British crafts at real risk of dying out. The range goes from small harvest favours, the plaited straw tokens once tied at the end of the harvest and now sold from £5, up to larger worked pieces. Some follow old regional patterns, the Welsh Border Fan, the Staffordshire Knot, the seven-plait Mordiford Heart. Others, like the Kusa Dasi, come from straw-working traditions well outside Britain. Most people who do this buy their straw in. Lucy has started growing hers, trialling the handful of heritage grain varieties whose long hollow stems suit the work. She sells online and at markets, teaches the craft in workshops and takes on commissions. There is no premises to visit. Most of what she makes turns up on Instagram first, finished and photographed before it sells so follow her there if you'd like one of her beautiful pieces. It is a craft a lot of people assume has already gone. It hasn't, not while someone is still growing the grain and plaiting it by hand.

Social Media

https://www.instagram.com/braidedgrain

Can people visit or buy direct?

The premises are not open to the public. You can buy direct from her online shop - see below - and in person at markets and craft fairs. She takes commissions and runs corn dolly workshops too.

Website

https://www.braidedgrain.com

Address Summary

North Nottinghamshire