Mrs Fraser said she was ‘totally surprised’ to be handed the winning gong.

“I really just entered the show for the fun of it,” she said. “It was great to see the show undertake a theme – The Chook Shed.

“I’ve been sewing since I was about eight years of age and was taught by my grandmothers, mother and aunties.

“Unfortunately though, I think craft work including knitting, crochet and needlework is a bit of a dying art.”

She says that not enough young people are encouraged to learn craft.

“Young people tend to think that you can knit a jumper in a few days,” she added.

Mrs Fraser said she ‘loves making toys’ including hand-stitched custom-made toys from cloth dolls, animals, knitted bears and crochet toys.

Some of her work is on display at several Laurieton-based stores. She also has a Facebook page.