Join us for drop-in gatherings sewing and drawing round our kitchen table.

Come along with your mending, talk about renewing your wardrobe, or make a patchwork cloths with your, or our scraps. Our sewing gatherings are informal and friendly and fun. We have plenty of materials to share, but do bring your own. Over the years we have often done this, (see our Creative Remaking project where we started) but life gets busy and we have let it drop lately. But our New Year’s resolution for 2025 is to take it up again regularly. Our kind of sewing is economical – we are all about making the most of scarce resources and developing new skills to deal with them. The last venture of 2024 was our Christmas window (see headline image above). Created by Mary, Ingelise, Tina and Olya using only scraps of fabric and paper (we cheated with fairy lights too), they made garlands and fan-like angels.

Still Life Drawing on Friday afternoons

Drawing has been Catherine’s passion. She has been steadily hosting still-life drawing sessions round the table for some months now. Always on Friday afternoons, 2-4, they are likewise friendly and convivial. You don’t need any skills, yet we are finding lots of hidden talents. There is nothing like quietly looking carefully to concentrate the mind. See Olya Anima’s lovely little film below here.

Catherine says:

‘Lots of people claim they can’t draw. I put absolutely no pressure, but just arrange a bowl of fruit or vase of flowers and leave paper, pencils and pastels on the table. Each time, people are suprised about what they can come up with, apparently without even thinking. The relaxed atmosphere really helps. I like to make people feel at ease. A good drawing at the end is just a bonus, but never really the aim. However, looking carefully is the beginning of greater awareness – and we need that in order to be mindful of our fragile environment.’

We provide all materials and there are plenty of teas and biscuits around to share.

So join us again from March 19 2025.

Re-Sewing on Wednesdays

Make something out of nothing. Join us round the table with your mending. Bring that skirt you want to shorten or the top you want to alter. Recreate your clothes or cut them up to make something else – a cushion, a throw. Or just play around with fabric to make patterns. It doesn’t matter if you can sew or not – there are enough of us around to help. The point is to practice being economical, resourceful, and to avoid waste. And to have a lovely gentle social time together.