Monday 24 October 2016

Sewing Retreat: further details and online booking

I am happy to be able to provide more particulars concerning the Guild of St Clare's first ever Sewing Retreat, to be held at the Carmelite Retreat Centre, Boars Hill, Oxfordshire.

You can book here.


The priory at Boars Hill


The Retreat will run between Friday 10th and Sunday 12th February. Our chaplain is Fr Richard Biggerstaff, the Director of the St Barnabas Society, and he will give us spiritual conferences throughout the weekend and also be available for Confessions. There will, of course, be daily Mass in the Extraordinary Form, and other devotions as well. Sewing sessions will mainly be dedicated to mending and making vestments. We don't expect retreatants to have any previous experience of this, so complete beginners need not be put off! All materials will be provided. There will also be a small (very small!) shop selling sewing equipment, so if you haven't a sewing kit or need to replenish the one you've got, there will be ample opportunity to invest. Please do bring a basic sewing kit with you, if you have one: small sharp scissors, needles, pins, tape measure, a thimble if you use one.


Bring your pocket money!


There will also be a chance to do some hand embroidery. The Guild will provide, for a small extra cost, a choice of surface embroidery kits with liturgical designs, for anyone who would like one. Tuition will be on tap to anyone interested in learning how to embroider. We would also like to encourage people to bring their own sewing with them, for social times; hand work would be easiest to manage but if you have a sewing machine project that has got stuck, we would be happy to help you re-start it.




Amanda's liturgical goldwork, begun at the Royal School of Needlework and since completed




The cost for the whole weekend is £150 per person for a single room. Two people sharing a twin will pay £130 each. For further information, please email me at lucyashaw@gmail.com. The number of places is limited so if you are keen to come, don't delay.