Workshops and Talks Available

My Workshops help you to gain new found skills and inspire you to create. If you would like to travel further down the road to sustainable style, they offer ideas, inspiration and the skills to assist you. The sessions offer a fantastic creative experience, are value for money and lots of fun. All workshops are designed to suit beginners to advanced crafts people.

My workshops enable you to build your skills and knowledge of mending, embroidery and craft techniques. They offer different themes and skills to create an enjoyable atmosphere and always include a mixture of hands on skills with informative instruction. I look to inspire people to up-cycle, recycle, reclaim and renew along with offering a great place to meet new people and bring out your creative side. Workshops in my Brunswick studio are limited to 4-8 people depending on the theme. I always follow the current Covid-19 restrictions on number of places in each workshop.

To register your interest in a workshop not currently scheduled please use the contact form.  Feel free to contact me if you would like to arrange a date and time convenient to you for groups interested in booking a private workshop. Workshops are held in my Brunswick studio or I am happy to come to your venue by arrangement (minimum numbers apply).

Workshops and talks for council, libraries and corporate training

I work with you to create the perfect event. Please use the contact form to discuss options and we can arrange a date and time to suit your schedule.

My talks and workshops help people gain new found skills and inspiration. They help to educate the community about mending. I don’t just patch that ripped knee but show participants how to do it so they can apply those new skills to all their garments that need mending at home. I aim to inspire people to get mending and to enjoy the process. For me, mending is more than just the physical act of patching and repairing, it’s a conscious decision to appreciate the value of what we have, reject the constant pressure to consume and to celebrate the fact that we have the power and skills to make something broken whole again.

All talks and workshops are designed to suit beginners and those more advanced. 

Talks: 

Every year hundreds of unused, unwanted clothing are discarded. In 2018–19 Australians bought 383,000 tonnes of new clothing– about 56 items per person. 210,000 tonnes of clothing are donated or re-used annually. Very little recycled sourced fibre is used in clothing fabric production. 

My talks go for 1 – 1 ½ hours and include examples and fresh ideas to enable participants to take home new skills. 

1. Visible Mending 

During the talk we take a look at examples of visible mending and discussing the different techniques and terminology. The aim is to inspire participants to see new ways of giving textiles destined for landfill a new lease of life as practical and creative items. 

2. Darning and Needle-felting – Fix Your Woollens 

During the talk we take a look at examples of needle-felting and darning following discussion of the different techniques used along with storage of woollens and how to deal with moth infestations. The aim is to inspire participants to care for and keep their woollens longer. 

Festivals / Information Days:

I can come along to your Festivals and Information Days to demonstrate mending techniques and discuss clothing repair options with interested participants. My set up includes clothing showing examples of mending techniques, tools used for mending and materials to mend clothes. I discuss mending with attendees and, if they bring items, I will show them how to mend them. I aim to show people how easy mending is to do themselves rather than just mending things for them.