How it’s going…

Hand-stitching for beginners workshop

Having launched my wee shop on Etsy in February 2022 I wanted to find other ways to connect with people who wanted to sew and make things. I hosted my first in-person workshop in March 2023 and called it “Hand-stitching for Educators” because I know lots of people who work in education who are eager to teach craft skills to children.

This resurgence in handcrafts is influenced by many things but especially the work of educational theorist Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852). Froebel invented the term ‘kindergarten’ and changed how we think about early childhood education. You can read more about his work here. Sewing is one the Froebelian ‘occupations’ and I’m seeing it more and more in my day job. There is a brilliant sewing pamphlet from the Froebel Trust if you want to know more or download my pdf from Etsy.

Since that first workshop I’ve added weaving, felting, patchwork, repairing your clothes and slow stitching. So far I’ve focused on the basics so that anyone who wants to make things, but doesn’t know where to start, can come along to learn new skills and hopefully be inspired. There are dates in the diary for all of these workshops which you can book through eventbrite.

I’m also available for one to one tuition. I have to confess this wasn’t my idea but one of my pals on Instagram asked me if would do it so I did. She was an experienced spinner who wanted to level up her spinning to play more with colour and develop art yarns so we spent a couple of hours together doing just that. Whether it’s weaving, spinning, sewing or knitting do get in touch if this is something you fancy.

Wet-felting workshop