... march deals…...

Julie Arkell - ONLY TWO SPACES LEFT! Julie will be returning to Les Soeurs Anglaises from the 1st to the 7th of June 2016 to lead another of her immensely popular workshops here, this year entitled, "Birds on a Nature Table". Participants will be encouraged to bring nature books, a favourite shell, dried flowers as well as any other nature find they love, all of which will be used to populate their unique nature table. Julie Arkell is one of the UK's best recognized contemporary folk artists working in papier-maché and mixed media. She combines these with stitch, knit, ephemera, and vintage fabric and papier maché to produce her own distinctly personal and sophisticated "creatures". Everything is produced by hand using knitted adornments, curious accessories, ribbons and found objects. The results are magically creative and appealing.  Her work has been exhibited at the Crafts Council of Great Britain and the Contemporary Applied Arts, and is collected in the UK, USA, Japan and Australia. Her 2 bestselling books,"Home" & "Away" are published by the Ruthin Craft Centre. We have only two spaces left so book now to avoid disappointment! We're offering 10% off if you sign up by March 10th! Fiona Rutherford (31 Aug - 6 Sep) 15% OFF! Tapestry weaving has a rich historical tradition of storytelling. It is a craft that takes time and Fiona's workshop with us, Tapestry Weaving, is about learning, playing, and exploring your creativity at your own pace. Over the course of the five day workshop participants will be helped to discover their own personal tapestry "story", returning home with a little woven magic with a taste of France. You will be using lightweight wood frame looms and a vibrant range of Fiona’s Swedish cotton and linen yarns to weave beautiful colours and shapes on a small scale. Whether you are new to tapestry weaving or you want to take time to expand your ideas and weaving technique further in a creative environment, Fiona will guide you through the steps of how to create a tapestry, mounted and ready to take home. Sign up with a friend and you both get 15% OFF! Åsa Tricosa (30th April - 1st May 2016) 15% OFF! Swedish born Asa Soderman is widely celebrated as a problem-solving knitter and designer, and over this 2 day Masterclass (her first for us and this part of France), she will be demonstrating how to tailor beautifully crafted, top-down garments using the ziggurat technique, with special attention to all those details that make for an expertly finished garment. Participants will consider intricately constructed pockets, advanced hems with unusual pickup techniques, stitch patterns and quirky design details.  They will be guided through the process of incorporating bust darts, waist and sleeve shapings as well as  the clever use of colour - in fact, the weekend will be packed with inspirational knitting techniques. Book by 10th March and get 15% OFF

… busy stitching...

Late winter and early spring is a relatively quiet time for Les Soeurs, as we look back at the events for the last year with a little more perspective and consider how we can make small changes to improve the experience for participants.  As the snowdrops, aconites, narcissi and finally tulips begin to push their way through the cold earth, we still hunker down indoors and try to catch up with some sewing and knitting projects - some for the Maison de Maitre and l'Espace (our studio complex); others just to to keep us warm and stylish.

My latest creation is a gathered smock shirt;  made with some wonderful fine cotton check, from a favorite on-line haberdashery, RayStitch.  Sadly, I may have bought the last of the red, but they have other colours to amuse and inspire and it is a fabulous fabric to work with, incredibly soft and comfortable to wear and just the right weight under a wool cardie whilst it's still cold outside.  It has a longer, scooped front with a shorter reverse with a button at the neck.   I made the first prototype of this shirt in a floral silk I've had for many a year - great with jeans and jacket for that slightly more formal occasion. 

flattering scooped front

Meanwhile, a project that Les Soeurs have been supporting since we first discovered them last year, is Comma Workshops which is the brain child of Kerry Larkin. In 2006, Kerry installed an art piece at the SAAW gallery in Philadelphia that explored fabric, typography, and storytelling. Wanting to explore this more, she went back to her roots and embraced quilting. From a family of quilt-makers, seamstresses, and upholsterers, Kerry is continuing the tradition with a fresh perspective and her company, Comma, is dedicated to bringing a fresh perspective to the time-honored traditions of quilting and storytelling. Crafting original poems and stories about life and adventure, her talented stitchers thoughtfully sew these stories into every beautiful quilt, producing functional heirlooms.  Beset by floods last year, their workshop was temporarily shut down, but work continued regardless and we recently received a "thank you" pillow for our support of their KickStarter campaign.