Registration opens at 9am today!

Registration for The Craft Sessions 2o15 is open at 9am!

Big day today - registration for this year's retreat opens at 9am! On offer is a gorgeous weekend in the Yarra Valley filled with good food, beautiful scenery, amazing craft workshops and fantastic teachers. And lovely lovely people - always the bit I love best! 

Just in case you missed the other details;

• The registration page is here.*
• The workshop list is here.
• The workshop schedule is here - you need this for registration!

We do have limited places available in all classes so please get in early if you have your heart set on a particular workshop. With the increased interest in The Craft Sessions since last year's retreat we think we will probably have a full house this year (we nearly hit capacity last year) and we don't want you to miss out. 

And just in case you are still ahmming, and ahhhring about whether it's for you, then take a quick stroll back through our blog archives to this post which is all about the magic that is women and craft. Or go and have a look at our retreat photos from previous years. You can see the joy in every photo. 

Exciting times!

Felicia x

Knit Design - Design your own hat.

A Schedule, some more info, a winner and normal blogging.

So I want to start by asking those who come here for the blogging, and not for the event, to hang in there. Posts have been a little light on the ground - which is due to all the work that needs to go on to get this retreat thing up and running - AND some normal life things like school holidays and unthought-out overcommitment*.

So the Workshop Schedule is up.

I have tried to make it as unconfusing as possible but if you want to ask questions the please ask in the comments of this post. That way everyone will be able to see the replies.

I really hope the things you totally have-to-have-to do don't clash, and that there is enough depth and variety there that if they do clash, that you have other choices. I've tried to spread the different disciplines across the two days so you will have plenty to choose from. 

A couple of important things to note.....

1. The Lace Class 
Sometimes when you are creating an event like The Craft Sessions Retreat, there is the odd bit of a smoke-and-mirrors kind-of game you need to play, to get everything up and running. Especially, as is the case here, when this is a do-it-in-our-spare-time gig, as it is for most of our teachers. So, why am I telling you this? Because I want you to have a look at our Intro To Lace class - I totally love love love lacework - but I've only ever made a couple of lace shawls in my life. Mainly I use lace as an edging on something or as a panel (like the Frost Flowers motif seen in the gorgeous Immie Tee's below) or even in the baby blanket which you see at the top of the post. Even if you think that lace shawls aren't for you, I wanted to explain that in our lace class, the lovely Ophelie is writing a pattern that is incorporating the Frost Flowers pattern (which is the panel in the tee below) into a beautiful shawl or scarf. In my opinion, Frost Flowers is the most beautiful lace motif ever which is why we wanted to design a class around it. I just don't have photo of it yet as the pattern is still in the works. So in the mean time go and have a look at Carrie's gorgeous cowl here for some inspiration. We aren't using her pattern as it is a bit too Frost Flowers intensive for a beginner class but we totally adore it. 

Work created by the incredible Siobhan in last year's Embroidery from the Natural World workshop.

2. The Embroidery Classes and Melissa
Another thing I wanted to let you know was that we have TWO separate Embroidery classes. We have Embroidery From The Natural World (which has been one of the most popular classes for the last two years!) AND then this year we also have Embroidery 101 for those people that want a bit less of a freeform class, a class that is more directed. You will be using transfers in this class and working more closely with Melissa to make a project bag. I need to stress that the gorgeous super lovely Melissa won't be teaching in 2016 as we need to mix the classes up some more so if you want to take a class with her then this is your chance. And you do want to. She is ace!

Create one of these embroidered project bags in the Embroidery 101 workshop.

3. The "Extra" Afternoon Workshops
So I'll be telling you more about these later in the week - but they are pretty spec-bloody-tacular. For those of you that haven't been before, we have "free" time on the Saturday afternoon. Now if you are the slow moving type you might like to sit around and craft in that time, chat around the fire with your new friends, go for a walk in the bush, or do the restorative yoga class. However, if you are more of a "I love a class, as many classes as possible please" type, you might like to try our one hour "extra" classes. You don't need to tell us you want to do these, as there is no class size limit, so if you want you can even decide to come to the these on the day.

So what are the "Extra" 1 hour workshops this year? I'm excited to tell you they are; 

• Blocking your knits - with Ophelie
• Tips and tricks to sewing designer garments - with Beattie
• A Spinning Demo and Q&A - with Judy and Kate.

These classes are just icing on the cake for me - and I hope they are for you too!

Finally I wanted to say a big big thank you to all of you who left lovely comments on the blog post about which classes you wanted to do. I loved reading what you were excited about. The winner of the giveaway was Karen Tsutsumida. Yay Karen! I'll email you directly to get your address. 

Chat very soon - we will get back into the normal blogging rhythm soon I swear. 

Felicia x
 

*OK so normally I just talk The Craft Sessions in this space but this is a fantastic event and for a good cause! One of the overcommitments I've made is that Jenn and I have organised an ace fundraiser for a local kinder**. We have dragged renowned author Steve Biddulph across the Tasman to come and do two different talks in the next two days. If you are in the north east of Melbourne around Eltham or Templestowe way and are a fan of Steve (and who isn't?) then there are a few last minute tickets available. He is speaking about The Road To Manhood on this Wednesday 15th at 7.30pm and then on Thursday the 16th Steve is presenting The Secret To Happy Children, again at 7.30pm. We would love to see you there. 

**The real question is why I would choose to arrange a fundraiser AND launch the retreat in the same week..... that was the unthought-out (and unclever) part ;). 

The Workshop list for our 2015 Retreat is live!

It's one of my favourite days of the year; the day where we get to release the workshop list for The Craft Sessions 2015 retreat. It's live and the full list can be found here.  So so many good things, covering a range of traditional textile based handcraft. I'm really happy with the breadth of subject we have covered this year, and really thankful to have the teachers we have. They have come up with some great stuff!

A couple of things to note; I got it wrong the other day - there are 21 classes, not 20 as I said last week. Three of those are three of our most popular classes from last year and ALL the rest are all new!

We are thrilled to have some sensational new teachers on board (I'm super excited to be teaching a class this year too :) ). I have left our teacher alumni up on our teacher page as I hope to have them all back at some time in the future. They are all such generous and knowledgeable people and I want to thank them for putting in the work to pull this event together. 

The registration page has been updated also with some more information about the process. Registration will be open on April 21st at 9am. The key reason we release the workshop list two weeks before registration is to give you time to think about your workshop choices. You will need to specify your preferences when you register - this way we can get back to you in a very timely fashion what you got into.

The workshop schedule for what workshop is on when will be up next Tuesday.

So because I want to hear what you all think in the comments today, I thought I would offer a little sweetener - I have three skeins of Quince and Co Tern in Stonington to give away! (Stash Less in action my friends ;)) To enter you need to answer the question "What are your three favourite workshops?" Leave a comment on this blog post to enter by Monday 13th April at 9pm EST. I'll draw a winner at random. This is open internationally but if you are commenting from another country feel free to add your country in the comment. Just curious as to where you are all from ;).

Can't wait to hear what you all think - I really hope you like it. 

Felicia x

Easter Break

Just popping in to wish you a super Easter break.

I'll be back next week with the class list for this year's retreat - It's crazy good I promise! Seventeen - that's right - seventeen new workshops!! We are also repeating three workshops from last year due to their popularity. So twenty workshops in total to choose from for your main workshop sessions.

And then we have our optional short workshops that we hold during your free time on Saturday afternoon.  We have created three totally new sessions that I just love. I will be going to all three! Skill building (and joy!) with people that really know their stuff. 

Yep - I'm pretty excited. 

Also next week - the much requested alterations post for the Simple Sewing 101 mini series. I've taken loads of photos for the post and just need to get down to editing them properly to show you some of my favourite tricks. In the meantime keep posting what you are making with the hashtag #simplesewing101. I'm loving seeing them pop up. So inspiring!

Felicia x

The Craft Sessions 2015 - The Details

Hello lovely people! 

So some of you have started pinging me about what is happening with this year's retreat - and I know I'm a week or two late - so apologies! March was annoyingly taken up by sickness so I am a little behind on the schedule. Anyhoo that's detail.

I wanted to share some dates and details with you today so that it is clear how this is all going to roll out. The website will be updated by with all the key information by our official launch date next week on April 7th. In the meantime….

Key Dates

1. Class list will be posted April 7th - via a blog post and by email to our mailing list.
    It is by far our best yet. We are totally chuffed with it and know you will love it! 

2. Registration will open April 21st at 9am. 

3. The retreat will run from Friday September 11th 2pm to Sunday September 13th 5pm. 

Registration details

We are changing how you register this year to make registering your preference for diet, workshops etc part of the registration process. Registration will involve two steps;

1. A direct deposit of your registration fee and
2. Submission of our online form with all your details and class preferences.

Changing this process enables us to quickly tell you which classes you have got into - in the past this took time as we waited for preference forms to trickle in. It will be a very simple process - promise!

Class preferences

Classes are assigned in the fairest way we can think of - on a first come basis, based on when you register. We think it is really important to keep the class sizes small so we don't crowd our classes! 

We release the class list two weeks early giving you a couple of weeks to think about what you would like to do before we start registration. There are twenty different workshops over the three days (as well as three bonus workshops on the Saturday afternoon). There is so much choice this year that we know you will find many things that interest you. At registration you will be asked for your top three preferences for each timeslot. The sooner you register the more likely you are to get your first preferences.

In the past classes such as knitting, embroidery, some sewing classes and our weaving classes have been very popular and sell out quickly, but we are never sure of what will be popular until we see your forms coming in….. To be honest, it's a bit of a thrill for us to see what you are interested in. Who knew last year how many of you would want to do leggings?? 

Cost

The cost of the event this year will be $869. The cost of the retreat is inclusive and covers;

• Welcome drink on our first night.
• Two and a half days of delicious meals - starting with an organic afternoon tea on Friday and ending with an afternoon tea on Sunday. 
• All classes - 2 full days of workshops in small groups. 
• Yoga - each morning and restorative yoga on Sat afternoon
• Two nights twin-share accommodation at the YVCC. 
• An afternoon of "optional workshops" and/or time for crafting, relaxing, walking etc. 
• Gift bag filled with goodies from our wonderful sponsors.
• Open fires, good conversation and community. A chance to slow down and feel the joy craft and community can bring.

The small increase on last year's price is simply based on an increase in our venue costs. 

Payment Plans

Details of our payment plan will be available next week when we release the class list. It will be a super simple process - as it was last year.  

I think that is it for today. The big class list reveal is only a week away. I can't wait! 

Felicia x