This is a week long holiday, with 4 mornings in the studio and some slow, leisurely stitching to help you relax and unwind, away from your busy “normal” life.
This holiday is 7 nights/6 days long, with 4 days in the Studio and 2 days to relax or explore – see What is included?
This holiday includes some simple hand sewing and simple machine sewing – it assumes no knowledge of – or experience in – sewing at all…
I have always found sewing to be an excellent way of relaxing, but I didn’t actually realise this until I came to France! I’ve sewn all my life and it was when I was teaching full-time in the UK that – ironically – I stopped sewing for pleasure; there simply wasn’t time during term-time. For the first few years I was a new teacher and there was so much to learn myself… Then, when I worked in a busy boarding school, there were too many other things to fit into my life, that I had no time to sew for myself.
Here in France, I’ve learned again just how healing it can be… You can with off your mind from all the worries spinning round in your head, and just focus on the task in hand. If it’s something complicated, something demanding skill and concentration, there simply isn’t enough room in your head to remember your worries or your sadness! However, not everyone has these sorts of sewing skills, and even as a complete beginner, if you focus your mind on what you’re doing, on each stitch, you can find it to be relaxing and therapeutic. In fact, a couple of my regulars – who attend fortnightly workshops – have said to me how much they enjoy the fact that when they’re here in the studio sewing, they forget to work about their worries!
So, this holiday focusses on “Sewing for Mindfulness” and it can be adapted – just ask me!
Techniques you might cover – not necessarily all of these – it’s up to you:
- Sashiko stitching (hand-stitching. This originated in Japan and was traditionally used for mending clothes, which somehow seems, to me, to be very appropriate!)
- Kantha stitching (hand stitching, running stitch)
- Hand stitched (EPP) patchwork (small-scale, “precious”)
- English quilting on a sewing machine, stitching very freely which, even for beginners, can be soothing!
WHAT YOU WILL MAKE:
- An eternity scarf
- A small storage pouch
ITINERARY: The aim is to be in the studio from around 10-1pm, and then you have the afternoon and evening free to sleep, read, relax, walk, cycle (we have bicycles), explore… or to continue sewing. Mindfully!
