..... sew much patching .....

There's never been a better time to join us for a last-minute-workshop and it's really not too late.  We've just checked out Ryanair and end-of-season flights are being offered at just over £30 each way from Stansted or East Midlands to Bergerac where we, of course, will pick you up and drive you through the late September sunshine to this amazing area of France.  We're very keen to make Celia Pym's first visit with us a rip-roaring success so we''ll even throw in a free night's B&B if you need to stay an extra night.   CELIA PYM's Mending, Darning and Knitting Workshop Wednesday, 21st to Tuesday, 27th September 5 Days / 6 Nights As one of our favourite workshop leaders, Julie Arkell, says:  "The early days of autumn bring many pleasures. One on the top of my list would be a workshop with Celia Pym at Les Soeurs Anglaises in the French countryside at a particularly beautiful time of the year.  Celia's work is amazing, and the opportunity to work alongside her, discovering her techniques and sharing stories about the history of textiles and their repairs, in such beautiful surroundings, is an experience hard to miss.  I feel very envious of anyone who is planning to join this event at one of my favourite venues." While invisible mending is keeping tailors and seamstresses busy around the world, Celia Pym – a London-based artist, knitter and darner — specialises in visible repairs. Using white yarn on a blue Norwegian jumper and yellow on a pair of blue jeans, Celia’s handiwork celebrates wear and tear.  Finding solutions other than throwing away clothes isn't just environmentally friendly. “I love seeing damage and holes,” Celia says. “Making mending invisible doesn’t make sense for me: things happen, stuff changes, holes appear. Let the darning grow into the old bit so that the garment can be seen to change and age.”   Through ‘The Catalogue of Holes’, an ongoing project that she began in 2007, Celia mends strangers’ clothes. Recording the items through descriptive ‘mend slips’ and sometimes photographs, has led to exhibitions at the Royal College of Art and beyond. “I find it is a way to get to important conversations quickly, with strangers,” Celia says. “As we look at and examine the garment and discuss work to be done, all sorts of stories come out. Sometimes the most important part is talking about their sweater's history.” Book now for Celia's workshop (we still have 2 places available) and we guarantee you'll not only get lost in the art of giving new life to beloved items - clothes, haberdashery, household fabrics - you thought were beyond repair, but you'll also have an opportunity to slow down, enjoy the fabulous space, light and atmosphere of early autumn in South West France before the winter months set in.   Autumn at Les Soeurs Anglaises won't come around again for at least another year.    And if October seems like a better time to get away from it all, one place has also become available on Claire Wellesley Smith's Weekend Workshop here from 7th-10th. Don't tarry if you can join us...... Katie x "Don't chase the butterfly.  Mend your garden and let the butterfly come!"

..... 12 things we've loved in 2015......

Twelve things we've loved this year and that you might enjoy...... The rediscovery of Sarah Moon, fashion and commercial photographer and film-maker since 1968, known for her dreamlike images and her representation of femininity as free from time and context. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. Seventeenth-century Amsterdam comes alive in this meticulously researched, enchantingly told tale    Claire Wellesley Smiths' divinely uplifting blog.  So thrilled she will be joining us next year to lead  one of our new Weekend Workshops Love the music of Blue Rose Code; Edinburgh-born songwriter Ross Wilson. At the edge of contemporary alt-folk, Wilson's music evokes a meeting of Van Morrison and a young John Martyn, both shipwrecked with a bunch of Motown records. We've long been smitten with the bijou, extravagantly expensive London clothes shop, Egg.  Finally it has developed a website with an on-line shop - a bit clunky, all things considered, but gorgeous photography and edible garments.   Yes, yes, yes you can buy yarn from almost anyone, anywhere these days, but Wool Inspires, a mail-order company based in Luxembourg, is our latest flame.  The latest Otto Lenghi cookbook Nopi, named after his restaurant in Soho, London.  What's not to love about these sometimes challenging, but always delicious, Middle Eastern recipes.

A film documentary about the life and work of Sebastiāo Salgado, who has spent forty years photographing  deprived societies in hidden corners of the world.  Directed by Wim Wenders, the film is unforgettably beautiful.... and with an inspirational message.

Introduced to us by a former participant, we're just bowled over by the boundless enthusiasm and creativity of Åsa Sōderman of Åsa Tricosa (her Knitting Masterclass weekend at Les Soeurs Anglaises is at the end of April - can't wait!) New York based Emily Barletta, whose embroideries on paper are compositionally simple but conceptually complex and beautiful, straddling the two worlds of art and craft. Our continuing admiration for the dedicated work of the charity Women for Women International, which supports marginalized women in sometimes desperate situations, in countries affected by war and conflict, including North Iraq,  and offers life-changing skills to move from crisis and poverty to stability and economic self-sufficiency. We believe women are the answer and are currently funding a W4W project in the Sudan. The curiously fab, mini animations of cartoonist, Moose Allain (And I've snuck in my personal 13th:  Susu and Carol without whom Les Soeurs Anglaises would just be work and not the joy that it always is.) And a huge thank you, of course, to all our workshop leaders who have been endlessly enthusiastic, and our past participants for your continued loyalty, your many kind words and most of all for allowing Les Soeurs Anglaises to thrive in these strange and difficult times.  Without you we would not exist, and if we didn't exist what on earth would we do! Best wishes for 2016 and we hope to welcome many of you (back) here next year! Katie  Susu Carol xxx

..... with winter on our heels.....

.... and cooler temperatures outside, we at Les Soeurs Anglaises think there's a lot to be said for staying indoors and catching up on some of the little sewing jobs that have been accumulating over the warmer months.  Inspired by the current work of two of our Weekend Workshop leaders for next year, Claire Wellesley Smith and Jessie Chorley, but also by the exquisite Japanese mending of Boro, we're working on our patching & darning skills using textiles. We've been trying our hands at repairing damaged knitted items, too, but more about that in our next newsletter!

A soft, old linen shirt patched and re-patched.. Favourite shirts, sweaters and vintage clothing that perhaps have seen better days, and are now in need of some tender loving care, become not only wearable once more, but also something to wear with pride and pleasure (and not a few compliments!).  In Claire's fascinating book, Slow Stitch; Mindful and Contemplative Textile Art, she mentions that in the UK alone, ".... we send 1.2 million tonnes of textile waste, much of it good quality, to landfill or for incineration every year."  A staggering amount  by any standards.  If we wear clothes that we hope reflect our personalities then these much-cared for items say more about us than any throw-away garments from the likes of Walmart or Primark; ".......garment production that involves the cheapest and most flexible labour in some of the least regulated workplaces in the world".  If there is a common thread (excuse the pun) in our choice of workshop leaders, it is their celebration of, and respect for, heritage, memory and the hand-made. Here are a few examples of rescued clothes that we love and that might otherwise have ended up in a land-fill site. Compared to metal or stone, of  course the lifespan of textiles is much shorter, but with love and attention is it considerably longer than our consumerist zeitgeist would have us believe.  Personally, we prefer to hand stitch repairs, but sometimes the zigzag stitch on the sewing machine is just too tempting. go to this fascinating blog to see how they darned in Medieval times              New Skirt made out of old fabric with a multitude of patches.            Hand-stitched Boro jacket Elbow patch on a recently found shirt at our local brocante, bought for pennies and patched with other vintage offcuts. Children used to be taught a myriad of beautiful  darning techniques - a stitching art in itself.  This darning sampler of 1814 is by Martha Woodnutt and was stitched at the famous Quaker Westtown School, Pennsylvania. It is worked in cotton on a linen/wool mix and is a perfect blend of painstaking needlework and practicality.  5 Day / 6 Night Workshops   Julie Arkell   Birds on a Table   1st  to 7th June       Anna Kristina Goransson   Felted Form and Function    22nd to 28th June     Fiona Rutherford  Tapestry Weaving   31st August to 6th Sept     Celia Pym   Knitting, Mending and Darning    21st to 27th Sept       Weekend Workshops ASA TRICOSA  Knitting Masterclass  30th April / 1st May  ROSALIND WYATT  Stitched Calligraphy  27th - 29th August JESSIE CHORLEY  Embroidered & Appliquéd Illustrations  27th - 29th August CLAIRE WELLESLEY SMITH  Dyeing and Stitching   7th / 8th October

Book a place now

It's been a long time coming, but to paraphrase the words of songster Sam Cooke, a change is definitely on it's way here at Les Soeurs Anglaises.  

We have finally uploaded our new website with all the workshop dates for 2016, and what an eventful and stimulating year ahead we have for you.  As usual, there will be our 5-Day/6 Night textile related events spaced over the summer months; one is to be led by returning favourite, Julie Arkell, the other three by new artists/crafters whose work we have long admired: Anna Kristina Goransson, Fiona Rutherford, and Celia Pym.  All three are mistresses in their field of excellence and we expect workshops to fill quickly. 

To stir things up a little, in 2016 we will also be hosting a new series of Weekend Workshops, for those of you who would like a taste of what we have to offer but whose busy schedule or travel arrangements don't allow a full week away. These are for a limited number of participants and will be taught by popular, past LSA Workshop leaders whose work and teaching we have particularly admired.  We suggest you check out their pages on our website, and trust you will find the possibilities as tempting as we do.

You'll find a lot more detail and information on our newly designed website.

Following on the heels of India Flint's highly successful event here this year, and amongst the Weekend Workshop leaders we are hosting in 2016, is the inspirational dyer and stitcher, Claire Wellesley Smith - whose book, 'Slow Stitch: Mindful and Contemplative Textile Art' was published last month by Batsford and is now available on Amazon.

So many of Claire's thoughts and ideas touch a cord with us at Les Soeurs Anglaises, and the illustrations of her beautiful work are truly inspirational.  
Hoping to see you next year

Katie x

.... and the winner is.....

At last!  All the workshop leaders have chosen their favourite jigsaw submissions and the majority verdict is that Claire Sounes' three beautifully executed and creative pieces made her a worthy winner. We are extremely grateful for the seventy plus entries from all over the world - we know how much thought and hard work was involved in thinking through and then creating each piece.  Everyone entered the spirit of the competition and we anticipate a beautiful final quilt (though it might be some months before it is completed);  our plan then is to auction it to raise funds for the Cambodian Childrens Fund

AS you can imagine, it was a tremendously difficult task for the workshop leaders to choose their favourite piece as there were so many brilliant submissions, but the three that Claire submitted  reached the finishing post with a majority of one vote! and she will be joining us for one of our workshops later this year.  Over the next few weeks, however, we will be posting photographs of many of the other submissions and cataloguing our progress with the quilt.  We very much hope that you have had as much fun as we have collaborating with this project.

… the craftiest people….

If you follow this blog the chances are you'll be interested in one or two of the following:

and if that's the case then the New Craft Society might be just the ticket. 

They recently won Cosmopolitan Magazine's coveted Best Craft Blog Award so they're not just pretty to look at.  Their posts are generally full of useful and crafty information (what to do, how to do it, where to go to get what you need, what to see),  but there's one that you might find particularly helpful if you're thinking of entering our Easter 2014 Competition.   Called The Liberty Lifestyle Baby Patchwork Blanket it demonstrates just how rewarding  even a small patchwork made from favourite fabric offcuts can be.

As promised, here are a few more tips from our own Christine Green who will be leading a cutting edge workshop, Patchwork Pearls, for us in August:

• To get a really good mix of fabrics for a patchwork project my general formula is something with a big bold pattern, something with a small pattern and something with a structure to it eg striped or checked.
• Colourwise (which is the bit a lot of people panic about) these are some suggestions
• Choose fabrics that are all the same colour but different tones and patterns
• Choose two or three fabrics that are the same colour base then throw in a wild card eg three bluey fabrics than add a   bright yellow
• Choose a multi coloured fabric as a starting point then pick out the individual colours and find fabrics to match them   

… a textile jigsaw of words …..

Judging by the feedback, our competitions are always a great favourite, but nobody enjoys them more than we do at Les Soeurs Anglaises.  It is so exciting to receive entries and emails and messages from all corners of the world;  looking at the beautiful contributions (always so different and original) and reading the stories behind them, just tickles us pink! and reinforces our belief  that allowing your imagination a free rein and then thoughtfully stitching an idea together with fabric or yarn, is a very special kind of meditation, something that - with the hustle and bustle of the world today - we could all use more of. 

So it is with great delight that we are launching our Easter 2014 Competition.  

With several new and exciting workshop leaders, who are involved in some way or another in the art of patchwork - whether it be the exquisite dyeing and stitching of natural fabrics Claire Wellesley Smith, or Christine Green's re-invention of the traditional patchwork quilt , we thought we would combine these traditional tactile arts and crafts with our love of inspirational words from the good and the great. 

Hey presto!  

The brief is to embellish a piece of your own fabric jigsaw (in the shape of the jigsaw below) with a quote of your choice; send it to us and we will combine it with all the other entries to produce a Jigsaw Patchwork which, if large enough, will be auctioned to raise money for the education of children from the poorest areas of Phnom Pehn (The Cambodian Childrens Fund).  Our workshop leaders will then pick their favourite submissions from which one will be chosen as the winner.

Entries should reach us before the 10th April 2014.

And the prize?  A free place on one of our workshops later this year where there are still spaces available.

Here are the template and instructions, and as long as your jigsaw piece includes a quote, and is the size of the template when completed, you can decorate each entry with as much creativity as your little heart desires.

So, are you ready to start stitching?