Meet our talented tutors!
We bring together some of the UK’s leading textile specialists to host our workshop programme at The Stitch Festival.
We want you to learn from the best! So, whether you’re looking to further your dressmaking skills, aim to master the art of the overlocker, or simply discover a new passion, we have just the person to help lead you through your creative journey.
Caroline Barley
She has lived in the UK, Japan and Germany. She is a social creature who loves to learn. She enjoys sharing her knowledge of techniques in making things with others, and believes in sharing stories, skills and experiences. Her cross-cultural background enables her to relate to all individuals, and easily provide an understanding and empathetic ear.
Website: www.handmadebycaroline.net
Insta: handmadebycaroline_
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-barley/caroline-barley
Etsy: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/atHandmadeByCaroline
Facebook: Search for Caroline Barley
Get to know Caroline in this extended interview.
Claire Tyler
With her daughter Amy, Claire also runs Sewing Retreats in hotels around the country from Brighton to Carlisle and the very popular West Country Retreat in Totnes, Devon. 2022 saw the first New York Sewing Tour and Cruise – a 4 day tour of New York’s famous Garment District, then returning on the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship where a Sewing Room was set up so you could sew all the way home across the Atlantic.
As well as teaching at the Shows, Claire & Amy have a stand selling haberdashery, patterns & fabrics including the fabulous Linton Tweed – the fabric used by Couture houses like Chanel! Being at the shows is an opportunity to meet lots of new people and tell them about the workshops and retreats, – it’s also lovely to be surrounded by like-minded people and share sewing stories and ideas.
“I am inspired by Couture and love to pass skills on to students.”
You can find out all about Claire’s workshops on her website www.claire-tyler.com.
Debbie Harris
Debbie now appears regularly on Sewing Street TV, Yarn Lane TV and Hobbymaker TV with her new patterns and kit designs in Sewing, Crochet & Knitting.Having had a successful career as a Secondary School Teacher for more than twenty years, Debbie now enjoys teaching a variety of craft workshops across the UK, including London, Birmingham and Belfast.
Debbie has a significant presence on Social Media, presenting live demonstrations weekly. All of her patterns, kits and haberdashery essentials are available on Debbie’s website.
“When a lovely customer buys one of my patterns or kits, there is nothing better than seeing their creation. It’s an absolute pleasure passing on my love of sewing, crochet & knitting”.
Get to know Debbie in this extended interview.
Eleonora Cugini
She is now a full-time crochet/sewing teacher and crochet pattern designer!
Her business name is Elendipity, which come from Eleonora + Serendipity because “This is a passion that was born by change and it makes me feel so happy”, she said.
She started crocheting when she was 9/10 years old, then she stopped for a while, exploring also other crafts such as embroidery, cross stitch and finding another big passion for hand sewing and sewing machine.
She learned a lot from online videos and tutorials that in 2018 she decided to open a YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/elendipity) to share her knowledge through her own sewing and crochet tutorials to help others learning the same way she did.
She started then to teach in person and online through one-to-one classes to help more people learning and growing their passion for crafts.
You can find more information about her, her journey and her services/products at www.elendipity.com.
Elspeth Jackson
Elspeth has taught thousands of people how to rag rug in her classes, which are run all across the UK. She is the author of two books, “Rag Rugs, Pillows & More” and “Rag Rug Techniques for Beginners” and can regularly be found in craft magazines. As well as the day to day, Elspeth often appears on Create and Craft TV and her brand Ragged Life was the winner of Mollie Makes Best Established Business Award 2019. If you’d like to find out more about Elspeth and rag rug making, you can find out more on the Ragged Life website.
Janet Goddard
Patchwork and quilting is her first love and not a day goes by when she isn’t stitching, talking about stitching or thinking about stitching!
Janet is the author of several books featuring patchwork, quilting, bag making, applique and English paper piecing. She is a regular contributor and pattern writer for sewing and patchwork magazines and has written over two hundred patterns for a variety of publications. Janet also designs projects for fabric companies.
Jen Hogg
Jen writes for various sewing magazines, blogs for independent pattern brands and regularly runs residential sewing courses in Scotland. You can see more about Jen’s work on her website www.jenhogg.co.uk and on social media @jenerates.
Jessica Grady
Her work is a colourful and creative exploration of hand stitch and mixed media, and she utilises waste and recycled materials, which are transformed into exciting embellishments. Jessica’s work has been exhibited in the UK, Europe and Asia, and she shares her skills across the UK and beyond through workshops and lectures.
She teaches in schools, universities, for charities, festivals and private groups, as well as online classes. She is a big believer that textiles and hand stitch is an accessible medium that all ages and abilities can enjoy, and there is no wrong way to begin and get creative!
Jules Mayouf
Jules is a freelance tutor, designer, and demonstrator, being best known for her regular Guest Designer spots on Sewing Street TV.
Jules is a popular workshop tutor, being an avid supporter of passing on her knowledge, hints, and tips. Jules can be found at many of the larger craft shows (e.g., Knitting and Stitching Shows, Belfast Quilt Fayre) enthusiastically tutoring in the workshop studios. Jules offers individual and small group tuition on a diverse range of skills. She is a level 6 diploma Assessor.
Jules is always open to crafting ideas and likes to take inspiration from her family and the natural world around her. She is currently designing a fabric portfolio.
“Crafting is a powerful entity bringing likeminded people together spreading positivity and wellbeing”
Follow her on Instagram @byJulesMayouf
Karen Crookes
Karen moved to Hampshire 7 years where she set up her business, Sunflowerstitches. She has a passion for teaching complete beginners and loves setting them on their journey of enjoyment in patchwork and quilting. Karen loves face to face teaching but is equally very at home teaching over Zoom, which is how she continued all of her classes during the pandemic, ensuring that her community were all kept in touch with each other. Karen also designs her own quilts, including the very popular Sugar & Spice.
As well as regular classes, Karen also organises and runs quilting retreats throughout the year and is often found teaching different techniques to many WI and quilting groups and, more recently, teaching at Festival of Quilts, and The Knitting and Stitching Shows and Stitch.
Mark Francis
Mark ealised he wanted to work in the sewing industry and set about making that happen. He now has his own range of sewing patterns, designed with men in mind whist being great on the ladies too. He also teaches, hosts workshops, lectures, talks and TV demos and appearances.
Get to know Mark in this extended interview.
Miroslava Mihalkova
She picked up a hook a few years ago and it is not an understatement to say that she did not put it down since. If she is not crocheting, she is certainly thinking of a new design. She loves to learn new stitches and techniques, so her crochet book collection and yarn stash is ever growing.
Get to know Miroslava in this extended interview.
Molly Brown
At the end of 2015 she retired from 33 years in the NHS as an Occupational Therapist (OT). Having been interested in sewing, textiles, knitting and various crafts since childhood, she wanted to set up a business using these skills. When she teaches she feels she is using skills from being an occupational therapist and sharing the skills she has learnt over the years.
Get to know Molly in this extended interview.
Monica Russel
Monica is an author of knitting pattern books with ten books published to date, and is currently working on a new one. Monica teaches for a community learning partnership and also runs workshops for knitting shows and various organisations and shops in the UK. As a designer she works for yarn companies and magazines including Simply Knitting, Molly Makes and The People’s Friend. Monica designs her own knitting kits and knitting patterns which she sells online, at shows and at farmers markets.
“I love teaching and helping people to learn new skills and develop skills they already have. I am always willing to take on new design challenges and love working with natural fibres.”
Get to know Monica in this extended interview.
Nerrisa Pratt
A simple and easy craft to master, Bargello is not only methodical and mindful, but once you know the basics, you’ll be creating your own patterns and colour palettes in next to no time.
Fast-forward to now and Nerrisa Pratt AKA The Bargello Edit is bringing this easy to master, colourful craft to a new audience of modern makers through a series of online workshops, supplies and kits. Pick up a copy of her debut book ‘Bargello’ by Nerrisa Pratt or even a starter kit to get you started on your stitching journey.
Sarah Brangwyn
In recent times she has also started to share her own designs as a presenter/designer on the shopping channel Sewing Street. You can find out more about her face to face and online classes at www.madeandmaking.co.uk . If 2 days away indulging in your passion sounds fun then check out www.sarahbrangwynretreats.co.uk. Find us on social media @madeandmaking and @sarahbrangwynretreats.
“I have always wanted to create a relaxed, friendly space where people can come and learn something new without any pressure but with lots of fun along the way. Made and Making is just that and it has created so many lovely new friendships. There is no greater buzz than helping someone learn something new”.
Get to know Sarah in this extended interview.
Steffi Stern
In 2015 Steffi was approached by Hawthorn Press to write her own book Making Needle Felted Animals, at which point she co-founded The Makerss – a business supplying needle felting and doll making materials and kits. Since then she has written three more books (Making Simple Needle Felts in 2018, Making Soft Dolls in 2020, and Making Fairy Folk in 2022).
In 2022 Steffi bought her then business partner’s share, and continues to needle felt, create, write and run her all female craft business The Makerss Limited.
Steffi sees herself as an ambassador for spreading the needle felting love and has an insatiable enthusiasm to share and teach everything she knows. She features regularly on craft TV (Create and Craft) and streams live every week a Make-Along on The Makerss YouTube channel and Facebook Page. Her hobby is her profession and she designs new kits and makes every day. Her other hobbies are her pets (dogs, cats and chickens). She loves the natural world and gets her inspiration from walking through the forest, fields and meadows as well as spending time by the sea in the UK and Germany.
She lives in The Forest of Dean where nature surrounds her. She also loves to work out, spend time with her children and enjoys picking up knitting needles or a crochet hook in the evenings to create for her own pleasure.
Susan Burns
She works with all kinds of knitters from complete beginners to experienced, including returners who need a bit of confidence before they re-join their knitting journey.
You can see Susan’s work online or out in her local community. Together with her knitting group she knits annually for the Royal British Legion and local charities during the year.
She has learnt many new skills with her knitting not just new techniques, and she is now developing her design skills, which is resulting in new knitting patterns and ideas. She is learning a new skill of editing patterns for other designers who wish to share their ideas in patterns.
Knitting is such a wonderful skill as it can give you so many benefits, including mental health, reading and maths, problem solving, completing a project. Being part of a group, maybe charity knitting [for knitters who want to spend time doing this]. There is much to learn, not just skills and techniques, but history of knitting, the list for this alone is endless.
So come on pick up those needles and join Susan, together we will have a new knitting journey together.
