Begin a Fabric and Stitch Journey

Mentored by

Amanda Duke

Location address: Arundel, BN18 9LT
Chosen age group:

For ages: 18 - 99 years and adults years

Available tickets:
Standard £65
Next date: None - message Mentor to express interest
A SUMMARY
Join me in experimenting with fabric and stitch in a relaxed yet productive environment. Free and experimental approaches to hand stitching will be supported by some traditional skills. A variety of abstract fabric arrangements will encourage a complete focus on manipulating the visual elements shape, colour, texture, tone, line, pattern. Aesthetic choices and decisions will be made when balancing final compositions. Making these decisions can be challenging, contemplative, revealing and fun. Further stitching will focus on the joys of running stitch and include a make do and mend approach. An introduction to Kantha, Sashiko and Boro will support your broader understanding of how all cultures repurpose fabrics. We will build up a variety of stitch approaches to embellish our fabric assemblages and be encouraged to use our intuition. We will allow our stitches to go for a walk. A stitch journey will ensue and we will gradually invent our own embroidered designs. Once all is going well and in the last couple of weeks we will discuss fabric journals and how you could gather what you have made so far and document your works in a fabric book if you wish. All media is supplied on this course but it is appreciated if you bring your own needles, pins and embroidery scissors. Week 1 Fri 17th January Simple, contemplative hand stitching. Relaxing yet productive and fun. Running stitch, linear and textural elements. Make a free flowing and slow stitch sampler. Extend your knowledge and use of this simple yet versatile stitch and learn from other cultures too. Week 2 Tues 4th February Fabric Collage Colour and shape elements -make 5 collage arrangements and start free stitching. Be able to select harmonious colours and develop your confidence in making aesthetic arrangements that have some balance, rhythm and also a sense of proportion before committing to stitch. Week 3 Fri 13th March Simple, contemplative hand stitching beginner embroidery stitches pattern elements make a sampler to practice some stitches other than running stitch before stitching into your fabric collage arrangements. Week 4 Tues 15th April Part 1 Hand stitching into your fabric collages. Get all five going before taking home to complete. Part 2 Introduction to making a fabric journal. A place to keep your fabric samples, fabric collages and other items that you may have in your fabric stash. Week 5 Tues 12th May Continue to put together your fabric journal. Putting it together and what lies ahead to complete at home. For bookings of 5 sessions made before the 30th of November, please message me to receive a block booking discounted price of £295.
About your mentor
Amanda Duke
When your mentor provides a strapline it will go here
After my Fine Art degree at Goldsmiths College and PGCE in Brighton I enjoyed a long career leading Art Departments in local secondary schools. In the last 10 years I have returned to making my own work and teaching adult workshops in three venues; Home, Sussex Prairie Gardens and Amberley Museum. I also cherish my role with the creative textile community group 'The Steyning So and Sews’ who meet regularly to make collaborative textile works to enhance local community spaces. My mixed media and textile works are a response to what I find in my natural surroundings. Inspired by a residency at Sussex Prairie Garden I explore themes around biodiversity I forage and collect plant stuffs from my garden and local hedgerows, experiment with wet and dry media processes and then document my findings in sketchbooks and refined outcomes. Using a variety of paper, fabric, hand and machine stitch and mixed media techniques to make sketches, rubbings, mono and contact prints, dye fabric, I make paper and fabric collages and assemblages. For example, a range of silk scarves show how garden plants can yield a print onto fabric and a range of paper based collages record casual visual impressions caught in a moment, images spliced together to form a lasting memory. Inspired by relief collage works by Ben Nicholson and Kurt Schwitters, the Eco prints of India Flint, Spirit Cloths of Jude Hill and embroideries of Junko Oki, this gives clues about my interest in abstraction and ephemerality in nature
Learning aims
Aim 1
To be able to hand stitch with confidence and ease.
Aim 3
To understand how visual elements can be arranged to develop a balanced or discordant design.
Aim 2
To know a range of traditional stitches to support a free and less structured approach.
Aim 4
Be able to pursue hand stitching independently and develop a personal approach.
Pricing information
Ticket nameStandard
Price£65
PHOTO GALLERY
Where we'll be
New Barn Road, Arundel, West Sussex, BN18 9LT
WHAT’S PROVIDED
Drinks
Snacks
Meals
Equipment
Safety
Enhanced DBS
Basic DBS
Risk Assessment
Public Liability Insurance
Safeguarding Training
First Aid Training
First Aid Kit
Smoke Detector

Please note

Please note, it is the responsibility of the booker to satisfy themselves about the adequacy of the safety measures. This platform is merely an introducer and does not verify the items listed here.

Cancellation Policy
No refunds are given except in the case of a cancellation by the Mentor.If I have someone on a reserve list or you can find a replacement we can consider a full refund.

My experience consists of a leisure activity, on a specific date(s), and therefore the 14-day ‘cooling off period’ under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 does not apply.