my words are failing me somewhat though.
a couple of weeks before the event was due to start, i received a postcard in the mail, containing the words "the craft sessions is a weekend retreat of creative workshops, delicious food, quiet moment and inspiring people. immerse yourself in a weekend sewing, knitting, stitching, printing and dyeing."
that pretty much sums it up!
the first class i took on the saturday, was all about using natural dyes to colour fabric and wool.
julia led us on a nature walk, introducing us to plants that create different colours when treated certain ways before taking us through the actual process in-depth. i've never taken so many notes in my life!
i came away from the class SO inspired! while it may be a lengthy process, dyeing fibres is most definitely something i can do at home, and with the comprehensive instructions i left with, hopefully quite successfully too.
next up was block printing with leslie. everyone sat at a desk with a large and somewhat daunting block of rubber in front of us.
after some initial blank-page fear, i got carving and produced quite a few stamps i was fairly happy with.
then came the printing part though... much harder than the initial carving as differing amounts of ink on the stamp and differing amounts of pressure applied when stamping on the fabric, led to wildly different results.
the whole process was super fun though and i left with a whole pile of hand-printed fabric swatches.
i got to use the aforementioned hand prints in my first class on sunday, freeform patchwork, again with leslie. in both classes, she really encouraged everyone to do their thing, let loose and let the creativity flow, and i definitely didn't hold back! using one of my handprinted pieces as a starting point, i delved into leslie's scrap baskets and found some things to match. then i sewed similar sizes together, again and again until i had my finished panel. it was a bit like a puzzle, and i'm still contemplating what to make out of it.
the final class i attended was a knitting one. fixing and finishing with georgie. holy moly, does this lady know her knitting! she can read knitting like there's no tomorrow, she's a genius!
unfortunately i wasn't feeling 100% through this class so i mainly sat quietly and just absorbed lots of knowledge and energy.
even though i definitely wasn't on my game, i picked up so many handy little tips and tricks!
the whole weekend was just so lovely. the food, the speakers, the classes, the other attendees (everyone was SO nice) and the SETTING! it was all perfect.
i really hope i can attend next year and soak up all the loveliness again.
a massive thank-you needs to go to the awesome ladies behind all of the supreme organising too. it was amazing to be apart of the vision that they had for the craft sessions :D
did you attend the craft sessions? have you ever been on a crafty get-away?
I wish! It sounds gorgeous. Perhaps next year...
ReplyDeleteVery cool! Sounds like it was a very inspiring weekend! Love the printed material and the block you were able to put together. Great work! Hope you are feeling much better. Tammy
ReplyDeletethat sound like SO MUCH FUN!!! the yarns are lovely :-)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds so awesome. Maybe I'll fly over next year and come along.
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