2024 Classes

I'm a textile artist based in Wellington New Zealand and I teach a range of dyeing, printing, quilting and bookmaking classes. The first classes for the year are usually the indigo dyeing classes as they are much more fun if we can hold them outside!

This is a list of my current bookings

Indigo Dyeing and shibori - Tawa College, Tawa, Wellington. There are still spaces in this class.

Saturday 9th March 10-4pm.

Karori Art and Craft Rooms, Karori, Wellington.

Printing on Fabric - 24th February 10-4pm

 This class can be booked online here.

Inspired by Boro (quilts/patches) - 25th May

Crazy Piecing - 30th June

Sashiko - 27th July

Quilt As You Go bags/placemats/table runners. - 10th November

Hutt Art Society Rooms, Lower Hutt

Indigo Dyeing and Shibori - 3rd March 10-4 (Class Full - waiting list available)

Komebukuro Bag - 2 classes - 7th April 1-4pm, 12th May 1-4pm.

Inspired by Boro (jacket). 4 sessions - 16th June 10-4pm,  (Class Full, waiting list available)

21 July, 4 august, 25 August, 1-4pm.

New Zealand Quilt Symposium

I have been invited to teach at the New Zealand Quilt Symposium 2024. This is to be held in Cambridge in the North Island of New Zealand. 

The classes are not confirmed yet but I hope to be able to tell people soon.

My new studio!

I have a new sewing room/studio in my house. Its really nice to have the extra space as a lot of my 'stuff' has been left stored in the little room I had previously. Hopefully both sons won't want to come home to live at the same time as we now only have one spare room.

Anyway, to celebrate the new room I have started teaching private beginners patchwork, collage/ appliqué and machine quilting classes. I also hope to run some very small classes during the week and some play days for small groups who want to try out different techniques. I'm also happy for people to do 'studio visits' (just ring first) or can arrange a short private class for overseas visitors who want to make a memento of New Zealand. Just get in touch to let me know what you would like.

The first small group play day is Indigo dyeing and shibori.

If anyone is interested in indigo dyeing while the weather is warm ( indigo likes warm weather) . Possible dates are
Saturday 20th February
Friday 18th March
Saturday 19th March (nearly full)

Email me at smith_c*actrix.co.nz for further details or reply to this post.

Note to Chyfly who commented on my previous blog post, I'm sorry I don't seem to be able to answer your comment so I left a message in the previous post! Thanks for letting me know about the tatters in relation to the barge-man's clothes, that was very interesting and I'd love to know more but couldn't find anything on Google.

Using Fabric Scraps

Todays project makes good use of strips and scraps of fabric but it isn't 'string piecing' or 'quilt as you go', or foundation piecing. Instead I have used up all those strips and small pieces to make Morris Dancing tatters.

Tatters are part of the costume for Morris dancers who dance Border Morris. The strips of fabric are attached to a coat or shirt. I have used an old and tatty lab coat with the sleeves removed. The aim is to use enough fabric to cover the white background but not so much that it gets too heavy and hot to move around in.

NB. Thankyou Chyfly for your comment, see below. For some reason I haven't been able to answer your comment but if you ever find any photos or information about the Barge tatters coats I would be very interested in seeing them. I  have tried googling it but nothing so far.

sewing on 10 inch long fabric strips in rows

The finished Tatters

There is a lot of African Fabric on this set of tatters. It's left over from an African fabric quilt I made about 7 years ago for our bed. There is also poly cotton fabric from Samoa where I was Artist-in-Residence at an art workshop in 2014, there is left-over quilting fabric and bits of old kimono. Each piece of fabric has its own story and I'm the only one who knows it - a bit like a scrap- quilt really.

detail of African Fabric quilt

The fabrics on this quilt are a mixture of fabrics collected when I taught at a Quilt Festival in South Africa,  scavenged from clothing which we wore back in the 1970's when we lived in Kenya, and fabric bought here or donated by an African friend who lives in Auckland. This quilt has been on our bed for quite a few years now and the fabrics are starting to fade.  In the detail shot there is one splotchy fabric which has really changed color. Considering the high UV levels in New Zealand, it is not looking too bad.

At the end of the day yesterday I had completed 4 doorstops as examples for my beginners sewing - doorstop class. I think I like the green and the photo transfer one the best.

My next job is to make a fabric covered book as a sample for the Visual Diary book-making class.

Life gets in the way

I was on a roll, I had ideas and I was making things. Then I had to go back to work. I shouldn't complain as I had last week off which was great. But this week I am teaching first aid because they couldn't find anyone else to take the course. So much for me not working very much till after Easter. Then went straight from the course to take James to a piano lesson and from there we had about three bites of dinner before hading off to Venturers where the kids saw a presentation on Venture which is a big 'Jamboree' type camp for Venturers (older scouts). So the new quilt is just hanging there, all forlorn and untouched, just waiting for me to have chance to get back to it....