Today is the day! The retreat starts at 2pm and we can't wait to meet you all.
Follow us on instagram and Facebook. We will be using the hastag #thecraftsessions.
See you back here on Tuesday with some pictures.
Felicia x
Women and Craft - A love story.
By the time I finished university at the age of 26, I was itching for some adventure. I worked for a scant few months to save some money, before jetting off with no plans and no idea how long I would be away for. I think I murmured something about being home in time for Christmas. Which I was – just six years later…
I arrived home pregnant and now in my early 30s, and the women I had left behind, my women, were thin on the ground. Many had moved overseas or interstate. Some were doing that corporate thing, rather than the kid thing. Others had just moved to the other side of Melbourne. It became clear to me over that first year back that coming home actually meant starting again.
I needed to find myself a whole new community, which to tell you the truth felt a little daunting. As a new parent with a small fella who did a lot of screaming and not much sleeping, trying to bond with women at the local mothers group was often just excruciating. Their babies peacefully slept on their bunny rugs on the floor of the community centre, while mine was a. screaming and b. throwing up all over me. Did I mention that he was also a chucker?
After a long hiatus, and like many women before me, I started crafting around the time I had kids. And so I was making. And making. And making. Making mainly to feel the joy. To feel that little spark you feel when you are lost in whatever you are creating. And I was making to own a little part of my day. The tiny part that wasn’t owned by housework or small people.
A second kid was born not long after the first and things were good. I had made friends and it was friendly, but I hadn’t really met my people. Friendships were based around our kids and while they were nice people, there wasn’t that ease you have when you find your place.
What I didn’t know then, that I do know now, is that things were going to get a whole lot better. A chance meeting on the street one day meant that I became friends with this woman. I liked her that first day. Then I ran into her again. She gave me her number – because she is like that – and after a few days I called her.
The beautiful hands of the wonderful woman who asked me out for a coffee.
I remember calling her. It felt like I was asking someone out. We had coffee and discovered that we both made things. Then there was another chance meeting with someone we both kind of knew – another crafter - and a date was made for a craft night. Something simple at someone’s house. That second woman invited someone else to that first night, and then we were four. By the end of the night we agreed to do it again in two weeks time. A month felt like too long to wait.
We began talking that night and didn’t stop for the year and a half of fortnightly Tuesdays. Four women, a cake and a couple of bottles of wine and craft. Pure magic! Some nights I don’t think we were that productive craft-wise but the joy was there in spades. We talked and laughed and argued about ev-e-ry-thing, late into the night and none of us missed an evening. We knew nothing about one another when we began. It's now seven years later and I know I will grow old with them.
So here is the thing - the whole point of this post - I truly believe that craft was the key to bringing these friendships to me and making them hum. Not just because it gave us a reason to meet up in the first place – which it did. But also because to be a crafter, means that you must understand and value the energy and joy that goes into making with your hands. You must get it! And as crafting is such an important part of my life, I think sharing that value is a wonderful space in which to start a friendship.
Then the what you make, how you make, what you are scared of, how you approach things, tell you so much about a person; who they are or how they are feeling on a given day, that there really is a kind of magic to how you get to know someone. When you are making something, creating something, you have that little spark inside you that makes you feel a little bit more alive, and in my opinion from the outside you look a little bit shiny. You have the joy! And that is a great energy to bring to anyone’s kitchen table.
Crafting gives you a reason to work together, encourage one another, be generous with one another - it gives you the space and a framework to form a friendship. Making together means that you get to see that creative hum in someone else; and it is truly beautiful to watch.
Since that first group, I have been lucky enough to be part of quite a few other craft groups, big and small. I have watched the magic happen over and over again, and friendships form. Some groups have fallen apart, some just fade away and others have morphed into something completely new. And I have been lucky enough to form and strengthen friendships through each and every one. I found my people!
Which then inspired me to start a craft retreat; mainly as a way to create a space to come together in Australia as a larger group to connect around our shared love. But it would not have happened without the encouragement and ideas of my craft group, and it would not exist without their help and support.
Crafting has been the catalyst for connection with a whole range of beautiful, wise women that I now have in my life – and for that I am truly grateful!
I realise I said magic a lot this post and for that I apologise ;). I’d love to hear your craft group stories? Love them, hate them, never tried them….You don’t need to use the word magic. Promise.
Felicia x
P. S. And now for the world’s best segue…. You too can participate in a big craft group called The Craft Sessions. Our event is held September 5-7 in the Yarra Valley, and we have so many lovely women coming. Women from nearly every state in Australia and even few from NZ. Top women and magic teachers! And you can pick up your tickets by clicking on the link register at the top of the page. Registration closes tonight so this really is your last chance for this year!
An update on our September Retreat
Seamless Hat Class
So today we have a few announcements about our September Retreat. It has been a while since I’ve given you an update and I have a couple of important things to tell you.
The first is I've been getting some emails asking if we still have space. And we do!! Not heaps but some. We are fully booked in some classes but there are still great options available for you whether you are a seamstress or a knitter or a crocheter or interested in natural dyeing. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.
The second thing is to let you know if you were thinking of coming (and I know there are still quite a few of you!) that that we are closing registration on August 8th – so about 4 weeks before the event. This allows us time to finalise our preparations, and our teachers the time to finalise any materials they need to prepare for the event.
One of our teachers Kirsten Johnstone's new pattern for girls Medaki! There is still some space in Kirsten's seamless hat class at the retreat.
And the final thing today is to let you know that the lovely Kirsten Johnstone of Assemblage, j(ust one of our internationally respected knitwear designers!) one of our teachers, has sent me some pictures of the hat pattern she has created for her Seamless Hat class. When we were putting together the descriptions for the classes she hadn't really written the pattern so I posted pictures of another one of her hats as a place holder. So below are photos of the finished hat! I got them a little while ago, posted one on Facebook a while ago but forgot to post it here - Apologies! Kirsten has also just released the pattern - called the Go Hat - for sale on Ravelry.
So this workshop would be the perfect class for advanced beginners/intermediate knitters who want to work on bettering their skills. The hat pattern is fully reversible, has five design options (the black and grey in the right hand photo is colour blocked) and uses a single skein of worsted wool. You would be learning a provisional cast-on (which is not as scary as it sounds and very very useful!), about knitting seamlessly in the round, about decreasing shaping to the crown and i-cord bind off. I particularly love i-cord bind off. Incredibly satisfying and such a neat result.
As well as being a great designer Kirsten is a top woman and great teacher. I feel really lucky we were able to convince her to teach!!
Felicia x
The Craft Sessions Turns One!
The image we launched with.
That is right - one whole year ago we launched The Craft Sessions with this excited and nervous blog post on June 24th of 2013! We weren't sure if the idea was a good one at the time. And wow! So many of you lovely people have supported this idea so generously from the time you first came across us, and for that I would like to say thank you! For your comments, and support and all the love you have thrown me and the idea. So very appreciated.
When this whole thing began I really thought that the blog would be something that I used to talk about the event and the teachers and the classes, and not much else. And very quickly it became something else. A place to discuss ideas and thoughts on crafting. And it has become one of my favourite things to do on a sunny/rainy Monday and Thursday night. So much so that many of my crafty thoughts are now structured around blog posts. Just this week I've written (in my head as I get no computer time) one called "Monogamy - the key to getting things done", "The thrill of possibility" and another on the old "Motherhood and creativity" chestnut. And I wouldn't be doing that if you weren't commenting and reading. I've loved feeling the community in your comments, and have learnt so much from all your thoughts.
So as a bit of a celebration, and a thanks from me to you, I thought I would host a little giveaway. I'm offering up my three favourite craft books of all time.
1. No surprises here - "Knitting without tears" by Elizabeth Zimmerman
2. Because it is so beautiful to look at - "Made by Hand" by Lena Corwin
3. My favourite quilting book - "Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration" by Denyse Schmidt
In order to go in the running to win all three* then leave me a comment on this post, on the Facebook page or on the 1st birthday instagram post. And if you would like to enter three times then please feel free to leave a comment on each. I'll close the comments on Sunday 29th June at midnight. And let you know the winner early next week.
Quick Post Update - A few of you left comments asking if the giveaway is open internationally. The answer is a big Yes - I'll post them wherever to you are!
I have a few thoughts about next year (for the retreat and the blog) spinning around in my head, but I'd love to hear your thoughts about what we have done over the last year, what you like (or don't) and what you would like to see more of in our future.
I can't wait to see what The Craft Sessions looks like a year from now.
Felicia x
*If you already have them and you win we may be able to substitute?
Guest Post: Pine Needle and Thread
We are very lucky to have the very lovely Melissa Wastney as one of our teachers at The Craft Sessions. We are even luckier because we have her as a Guest Blogger on TCS…… Enjoy her gorgeous pictures and words!!
Hello! I'm Melissa.
I was lucky enough to teach some classes at last year's Craft Sessions and will be coming along this year too, to teach Embroidery from the Natural World and Freedom Patchwork.
I wanted to write about one of my favourite things, which is free-form embroidery.
When I was a kid, I really didn't like hand-sewing. I remember there being many a project and opportunity to practice at the kitchen table (my Mum was/is a crafter-extraordinaire) and for a while I got into cross-stitch, but on the whole I thought hand-sewing was the worst. I didn't like making the stitches uniform, I wasn't patient enough to constantly thread the needle (why did it keep falling out?) and I certainly didn't want to follow a pattern from a photocopied chart.
But then, about 5 years ago, I brought home some leaves from a forest walk, sketched them in my journal, then suddenly felt compelled to try stitching them. No pattern or transfer, just seeing where my needle wanted to go and letting it go there.
Ever since then, I've enjoyed this kind of embroidery. Freedom embroidery.
I've made lots of different things with finished embroideries: brooches and lockets, bags and needlebooks, clothes and cushions and some of the pieces have been sent to people to hang on their walls.
For a while now, I've been really into stitching repeats- like a print, but embroidered. If I had more time, I would do much more of this work. I often make 'project bags' from these pieces, which are housing crochet and knitting projects all over the world. They tend to be a good size for a pair of half-finished socks!
This is a project bag I made recently for a politician who is into crochet. You can read more about that here.
Maybe you never liked hand sewing either. Do you have memories of tedious cross-stitch charts and feeling cross because your crosses were crossed the wrong way?
If you like walking outside and collecting seedpods and leaves and branches for your sketchbook, I think you'll like freedom embroidery. Click here to learn more about the class, and see some of the beautiful embroideries completed by the students of last year's class.
All the best,
Melissa
