We signed up to a streaming service recently, which has given me a rich vein of art and handcraft reality tv programming to binge. I’m not normally a fan of reality tv, but I love the Great British Bake Off, the Great British Sewing Bee, Good with Wood and Portrait/Landscape Artist of the Year. It turns out there is another show in the same vein: the Great British Pottery Throwdown.

I learned pottery between ages 6 and 12, then later it was included as part of my secondary education when I was 16-17. The last time I did any was in my 20s, when I did a terracotta sculpture short course. I had an idea that I would do it once every decade of my life, but my 30s and 40s passed by without me getting my hands covered in clay, and it’s doubtful my back would cope with it now.

So when the show gave me an itch to play with clay, I turned instead to coiled basketry.

This has many advantages. It’s entirely made from recycled materials – strips from old denim jeans leftover from weaving rugs and cotton thrums. It’s portable – I’ve been doing it while visiting Mum in aged care. There’s no need to find a kiln for hire. The materials produce only a little dust and don’t require safety equipment. You can take your time and it doesn’t dry out. And if you drop the object you’re making, it doesn’t shatter.

I had no idea what I was making when I started; I just coiled and sewed until I ran out of denim strip and found I had a little basket. Then I started another. That became a lid.

I’ve started another piece. This time with black denim and blue thread. So far I have a growing disc. I’m thinking maybe it’ll become a trivet or a wide bowl, but in truth I’m happy to let it become whatever the moment leads it to become.