Sew & Sew Retreats are purposeful getaways that are aimed at
rescuing you from your everyday routine and whisking you off to an
exceptional location to bask in the happiness you find in creating with textiles.
All levels of experience will enjoy the workshops, from beginners to advanced!
Lisa Binkley
"I’m excited to guide people in stitching on vintage and heirloom fabric while being
in France!"
The gifted artist and teacher Lisa Binkley will join us for the Celebrate French Textiles retreat. She will conduct an on-going workshop while at Chateau Dumas.
France is well known for its vintage textiles. There is an abundance of these textiles, with many for sale at flea markets and antique stores throughout the country. Hundreds of years ago, France adapted the motto, “tout par et pour la metropole,” meaning everything produced by and for France. The Kings of France thereby triggered the rapid development of the textile industry in cities and villages all over France. This included producing wool, silk, lace, Jacquard weavings, Provencal and Toile patterned fabric, linen, tapestries, brocade, cotton, thread, trims and buttons. Later, in the mid-1800s, France forged ahead as the leader of costume and interior textiles.
All that production has left France rich with vintage textiles. We aim to get our hands on some! You might already have some of your own heirloom fabrics. Well this workshop will give you the chance to put beautiful, one-of-a-kind heirloom fabrics or vintage linens to use.
While at Chateau Dumas, Lisa Binkley will teach a variety of approaches to cutting, piecing, appliqueing and other ways to combine heirloom fabrics and vintage linens with hand stitching and a variety of thread types. Design and composition will be addressed as well as approaches to stitching and embellishing cherished fabrics, which might be different than ways you’ve approached other types of fabrics. We think it will be very fitting to stitch with heirloom and vintage fabrics during your stay in France!
Lisa has had a life-long passion for working with fabrics, threads, beads and her hands. She has maintained an active fiber art studio since 2000. Lisa has taught fiber art workshops throughout the U.S. since 2007.
Her award-winning artwork has been selected for national and international exhibitions including the American Quilters’ Society, the International Quilt Association, CraftForms, Crafts National, QSDS, Wisconsin Artists Biennial and many others. Lisa and her artwork have been featured on local and national television and internationally distributed books and magazines. Her art is represented in public, private and corporate collections.
Lisa loves sharing her passion for fiber art and beads through her artwork, classes and lectures. She and her husband, artist Ed Binkley, have two adult children. Lisa and Ed live in the woods of Madison, Wisconsin with their big fluffy dog.
Linda Sweek
"I LOVE FRANCE! About 30 years ago, I said someday I'd like to take a group to Europe for a textile retreat. Someday has come!
Even though I am the host of Celebrate French Textiles, I love to teach. I am happy to be teaching an embroidery workshop using French textiles!
Embroidery is a charming overlay embellishment that, similar to the coloring book, can also be a wonderful Mindfulness experience.
The group will embroider French fabrics to create a lovely, embroidered piece. We will finish our embroidered fabric into a sachet filled with lavender – a natural stress reliever.
Rebecca Devaney
"Your Textile retreat sounds fabulous, I'm delighted to share my passion for luxury textiles, fashion and embroidery that's woven into the fabric of Paris!"
In Paris we'll have an embroidery workshop with haute couture embroider Rebecca Devaney. This will be held at Au Ver à Soie, the world's leading silk thread manufacturer, which is an exclusive opportunity with Rebecca as they are closed to the public. Plus Rebecca owns Textile Tours of Paris and she will be our guide for the haberdasheries and flea markets!
Per Rebecca, "In this exclusive embroidery workshop, we will be hosted at the legendary Au Ver à Soie, filled with old world charm, their offices are usually open to industry professionals only. We will be welcomed by Nathalie Botherel, the fifth generation of this family run business and she will give us a glimpse behind the scenes to reveal the fascinating story of how Au Ver à Soie has manufactured the finest French silk threads for over 200 years. We will have the pleasure of embroidering with these exquisite silk threads in the workshop that follows!
Rebecca has created Samplers of Seduction, a luxury collection of limited edition embroidery kits inspired by vintage French designs. The first edition, A Brief Dictionary of Stitches, introduces the 17 basic embroidery stitches and contains only the highest quality and award-winning materials used in the Haute Couture embroidery ateliers of Paris; hand-crafted heirloom scissors, sharp needles, wooden embroidery hoops, Italian linen and of course, Au Ver à Soie silk threads! Rebecca is passionate about supporting craftspeople and has considered every last detail in this collection, in the ateliers of Paris, skilled artisans hand-crafted the gorgeous boxes, bound the pages of the beautiful stitch booklets and screen printed the vintage embroidery designs. These artisans combine centuries of savoir-faire and many of them have received the prestigious Enterprise du Patrimoine Vivant award from the French Government for their continued contribution to French heritage and culture.
One of the many pleasures of embroidery is that it takes time. After we have enjoyed the introductory workshop at Au Ver à Soie, Rebecca is very kindly giving us life-time access to her online course A Brief Dictionary of Stitches, so that we may continue our embroidered adventure at our own leisure and have a fabulous reminder of our time in Au Ver à Soie.
For more info about the silks of Au Ver a Soie, please read my blog post.
https://www.rebeccadevaney.ie/blog/au-ver-soie-the-finest-french-silk-threads"
Sew & Sew Retreats brings together people with a similar interest and then offers the opportunity to spend memorable moments creating, learning, exploring, relaxing and laughing with like-minded people. I hope you will join us!
Registration is Open
Space is Limited.
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