Yarn bomb legacy lives on in Sea Views memory support unit

THE Bellarine Women’s Workshop has found a new life for their St Leonards seascape yarn bomb in the Memory Support Unit of Sea Views Manor Aged Care.

What began three years ago as a colourful entry in the St Leonards yarn bomb has now been transformed into an underwater mural, created by members of the workshop and gifted to the aged care facility as a community artwork with a purpose.

Bellarine Women’s Workshop deputy chair Davine Pritcher said the original pieces were made for the trees in St Leonards, with many contributed by workshop members and others donated by the community.

“We got a lot of pieces from a lady who we didn’t know, but she’d gone into care, and her daughter gave us all the pieces, which was the basis of the whole idea,” Pritcher said.

“When the yarn bombing had finished, the pieces were just too nice to go away.”

The group decided to preserve the work in the form of a yarn mural.

The women created a background and sewed the original pieces onto it – alongside some new elements – turning the yarn bomb into a detailed underwater scene before presenting it to Sea Views.

“They loved it,” Pritcher said of the facility.

The artwork now hangs at a height that allows residents to walk past, touch and enjoy its textured detail, something Pritcher said was especially important given its placement in the memory unit.

“It’s very three dimensional. It’s very tactile,” she said.

Lifestyle coordinator Ally O’Donnell said the mural was installed just inside the doors to the memory support unit, where it serves both as a point of interest and a gentle redirection tool for residents.

“It’s so lifelike,” O’Donnell said. “It’s interactive too so you can touch it and feel the actual work as well as seeing it up close.”

O’Donnell said the mural was designed with dementia care in mind, offering sensory stimulation, comfort and a meaningful connection to the surroundings.

“Most people feel safe when they’re at home,” she said. “That’s what we try to make here.”

The nautical theme also reflects the local environment, with the Bellarine’s coast and water-based lifestyle lending itself naturally to the piece.

For Pritcher, the project is about more than craft. It is about community, inclusion and giving something back.

“It’s just giving back to the community… that is the aim of Bellarine Women’s Workshop,” she said. “A lot of our focus is on the mental health of women, women that are isolated… or women that just want to go somewhere and have a chat.”

“It’s wonderful, it’s a really good feeling.”