..... 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!"

With only just over a week to go before our first event of the season, Janet Bolton's ever-popular five day workshop, Narrative Stitches,  (6th-12th May), one of the participants has had to drop out due to ill-health and a place has become available for someone fast on their feet.  If you're travelling from the UK, Ryanair flights are still remarkably cheap, as are some of the last minute booked flights from the US and Australia; so if you think you might be able to act quickly, we are offering a huge £400 discount on the regular price of £2050 ($3000) for a standard room, inclusive of everything except your travel to France and spending money! 
 

  
Last year with Janet Bolton at Les Soeurs Anglaises
 

And in case we've never mentioned it before, May is THE best time of year dans les jardins de Les Soeurs Anglaises.  With south west France exploding with late spring promise, we have over 60 peony plants all about to burst into flower; the many wisterias blooms are just a little ahead of them as are some of the magnolias.  Fresh organic vegetables are already available and the swimming pools will be open and should be warm enough to take a dip.

In our experience, last minute breaks are often the most exciting and rewarding, especially with a teacher of Janet's calibre, and Carol our transport coordinator would be happy to help in any way she can with travel arrangements.
 

If you are interested in joining us for this event, contact us as soon as possible.

 

 

.... the autumn leaves......

For us in Europe the clocks fall back tonight, the days become noticeably shorter and the world outside is just about prepared for the winter ahead.  Meanwhile, we'll hunker down in front of log fires for the first time in many months - it's not all bad.  Though the summer wasn't one of our best, we've had a fabulous autumn here in South West France and for those of you who have been here during the high-season heat and are curious about  what it's like at Les Soeurs Anglaises for the rest of the year, here are a few photographs ......

hibernation time for the bike and ladder

deckchairs out to catch the last of the fabulous autumnal sunshine

Interior hall of Maisond de Maitre just before dusk

lilies at the front of the Maison de Maitre with a second lease of life 

wisteria on pergola turning a magnificent russet in the evening sun

the last Clos de Vougeot of 2012

 road to Bordeax as storm approaches

golden maple

November figs

walk along fishing ponds

elderly poplars before the storm 

Roger McGough and Julie Arkell

I cannot believe it had been almost two months since my last blog; tempus fugit! We have had such a mad, mad time at Les Soeurs Anglaises but it has been a joy meeting new (and old) faces and sharing our amazing new studio space and accommodation.

Roger McGough's three day workshop in June was a first for us and a delight. The days were divided between group sessions and one-to-one tutorials and everyone went away with a copy of a compilation of poems written over the workshop and sporting an introduction by McGough himself. He has promised to return next year for a longer stint and we are looking forward to it enormously!

Julie Arkell arrived at the end of June for her five days of Stitching, Knitting and Collecting, followed shortly thereafter by thirteen participants, some from as far away as Australia and the United States. Despite the jet-lag, everyone threw themselves into the extraordinary jumble that is Julie's creativity, ready to be inspired by her sense of colour, design and adventure. This was particularly evident on the evening of the Fourth of July when we put on our glad-rags and headed out for the evening.

Julie appeared in a concoction that was a cross between Paul Revere and a sans coulotte impressing both the Americans and the local French in one fell swoop.

As for our beloved new l'Espace, some of the more sociable participants had plumped for the new dormitory space above the workshop which overlooks the magnificent studio:

This space obviously doesn't suit everyone, but is a cheaper option that allows you nevertheless to benefit from all the other little luxuries at Les Soeurs Anglaises. In future we will be posting photographs of the various accommodation so that everyone understands, well in advance, the limitations and advantages of this unique shared sleeping area.

Meanwhile, tout la monde had an opportunity to relax each afternoon by the pool, enjoy the fresh food, fine wine and good weather whilst making and renewing friendships - more requests for recipes mean that a cookbook will be a probable project this winter for some of us.