5 days. 30 expert artists.
Endless possibilities.
Discover new techniques that inspire you to slow down & embrace mindful stitching,
whilst letting your inner artist shine
27-31 October 2025
GET YOUR FREE TICKET!
Relax, enhance your creativity, and gain confidence in stitching - regardless of your skill level or available time. Can’t attend live? You’ll get access to the replays during the retreat!
Its time to refill your creative cup and connect with your inner artist - without doing it alone
Join a vibrant community with thousands of mindful makers in this FREE event, and embark on a journey so that you can bring playfulness and presence back to your daily life through art.
WATCH THIS VIDEO TO LEARN MORE
What is Making Zen?
Community, connection, creativity...
Making Zen is a five day online retreat that gathers 30 professional fibre artists to lead free workshops that will help you learn new skills and embrace the power of zen with slow intentional stitching whilst getting inspired by a community of creators just like you.
Join us and reconnect with your inner artist
27-31 October 2025!
"My second Zen retreat and I can't wait for the next!
I'm in awe of the quality of presenters.
Thank you Kate for making this retreat so enjoyable."
It was a great opportunity to be exposed to such a diverse group of artists and to learn from all of them at such a bargain price. I will definitely join again."
- Sharon Walker
The Artists' Workshops
NOW FOR THE PART YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR...
Here's the line up of amazing artists and their workshops to truly inspire you.
All classes are FREE during the event.
OR upgrade to VIP to keep the recordings forever.
Snip and Stitch Lavender Bags
Karen Lewis
Enjoy mindful needle turn appliqué and the delightful aroma of lavender while creating these simple snip and stitch bags.
Fine Line Flowers
Amy Maricle
Draw and paint beautiful fine line flowers that you can use on art journal pages, on handmade cards, and more.
Microweaves for Darning
Skye Pennant
Learn how to create twill, herringbone and houndstooth weaves for visible darning on your favourite well worn knits.
Fabric Tales: Creating Mini Fabric Visual Journals
Rakefet Hadar
In this creative visual journaling workshop, you will work with a piece of fabric as your canvas, transforming it into a storytelling artwork that blends texture, colour, and personal meaning.
Hand Embroidered Rose Earrings Workshop
Lauren Weber
Learn how to stitch a sweet pair of floral earrings in this step-by-step embroidery workshop. This beginner-friendly project is perfect for making unique handmade jewelry you can wear, gift, or adapt into pendants and other fiber art accessories.
Wear It Again: Creative Repair with Decorative Stitches
Isabel Wilder
In this workshop, we’ll repair a pair of pants by adding a gusset to let out the side seams, and then turn the alteration into a design feature! Instead of hiding the repair, we’ll decorate it in a fun, creative way that makes your garment unique.
Honey Folk Mini Button & Loop Pouch
Heidi Iverson
This pattern can be created as a patchwork or made using plain fabric and incorporating an embroidery motif. It’s fully lined and uses simple stitches along with a few skill-building techniques. This project is a quick sew and can be completed in a couple of hours.
A Trio of Woven Paper Note Cards
Helen Hiebert
Explore paper weaving as you create a unique trio of note cards. Cut found or purchased decorative papers into strips, weave them together in three different ways, and frame your weavings or send them to loved ones as gifts.
Garbage Garland and Other Garlands
Deborah Fisher
Learn to make fun and whimsical garlands out of the odds and ends you find around in your studio! Plus, garlands from fabric charm packs, spools of thread, and more!
Textured Snippet Rolls
Brooke Henry
Create a stitched snippet roll brimming with dimension and texture. With just scraps, thread, and simple stitches, you’ll follow your intuition to stitch together a layered piece that feels joyful to make and hold.
The Art of the Tiny Treasure: Create a Stitched Amulet Necklace
Kristin Peterson
Create a scrappy stitched amulet necklace with thoughtful choices in fabric, thread and sari ribbon.
Mini Improv Fiber Art Collage
Shannon Fraser
Explore colour, texture, and composition while embracing imperfection as part of the creative journey. No sewing experience required - just bring your curiosity and a willingness to experiment!
Cyanotype Printing on Fabric
Madge Evers
Magical and simple cyanotypes are a camera-less technique that results in graphic blue and white prints. Developed in 1842, we will use this alternative photographic process together with pressed plants to make beautiful botanical images on fabric.
Mindful Embroidered Mandalas
Donna Davies
Slow down and enjoy the calming rhythm of stitches with this mindful mandala embroidery project, designed to help you relax while creating something beautiful. Personalise it with fabric and threads from your own stash, in colours that make you happy.
Stitched Bird Brooches
Michelle Hamill
Make joyful felt bird brooches from scrap felt, left over thread, and scraps of fabric. I use simple stitches and let the process lead me so the little characters are different every time. Your bird face won’t look like mine, and that is perfect - it’s your stitching, let yourself follow your joy.
Feeling Stabby, Finding Calm: Stitch the Gentle Gourd
Nichole Vogelsinger
Settle in with soft fibers, gentle stitches and a touch of whimsy. This workshop invites you to slow down, enjoy the soothing rhythm of needle felting and bring to life a seasonal-inspired gourd that glows with mindful making.
Hand-Stitched Red Poppies with 3D Elements
Darcy Hunter
Create this lovely floral artwork with 3D petals, using items from your stash! Practice your hand-stitching and embroidery to complete this project.
Paper in Motion: Create a Geometric Mobile
Paula Hartmann
Create your own geometric paper mobile in this beginner-friendly workshop! Using only paper, you’ll craft a diamond-shaped mobile that sways beautifully in the breeze, with endless options to personalize colours and shapes.
Geometric Photo Embroidery
Clarissa Grandi
Learn how to hand-stitch beautiful geometric grid patterns onto your old postcards and photographs, to create personal keepsakes to treasure and meaningful gifts for loved ones.
The Hit and Miss Tradition
Deanne Fitzpatrick
Learn how to hook rugs with acclaimed rug hooker, Deanne Fitzpatrick. In this fun and informative workshop you will be creating sweet "Hit & Miss" coasters.
Animated, Mechanical Cards
Kelli Anderson
Just in time for the holidays, or to attend a local protest! We will make performative and entertaining animated paper cards, with the option of taking it a step farther and scaling them up into an animating sign.
Stitched Creatures
Amanda Trought
From Scraps to treasures, making stitched figures using scrap fabric, beads and slow stitching to embellish on canvas.
Macrame Butterfly Workshop
String Theories Fiber Design
Learn the Clove Hitch and Gathering Knots, then use them in a variety of patterns to create a 3D macrame Butterfly.
Embroidered Jeans
Kasia Jacquot
Learn to easily embroider your jeans and turn them into a luxury fashion garment of your very own.
Playful Studies in Shape and Stitch
Rebekah Johnston
This workshop invites you to explore the formal elements of design through stitch by limiting yourself to a single shape and discovering its many possibilities with fabric and thread. Together we will experiment with fabric manipulation, fill stitches, line, appliqué, and positive and negative space to see how one simple motif can be transformed in creative and playful ways.
Zen Clay and Stitched Mixed Media Mandala
Kira McCoy
Learn how to create your own silkscreen patterned clay tiles, simple painting and stitching on canvas, and create a mixed media piece of art for the wall.
Upcycled Denim Pouch with Sashiko-Inspired Stitching
Kate Ward
Dive into the world of Sashiko-inspired stitching with this project that's practical as well as pretty! We'll create a sweet pouch with pockets on either side, and we'll embellish it with the Ajisai Zashi, or Hydrangea Stitch, scaled to two different sizes to give us surprisingly different results!
Handwoven Charms: Mini Makes for Mindful Moments
Ellie Fisher
Discover the joy of mindful making with this playful tutorial, where you’ll create small woven charms using simple off-loom weaving techniques. These tiny treasures are perfect as keychains, bag decorations, or DIY gifts, and they’re a great way to use up leftover yarns. Quick, creative, and deeply satisfying - handwoven charms make weaving accessible to anyone, anywhere.
Creative Sparks: 5-Minute Art Experiments for Makers
Cynthia Hauk
In this lighthearted session, you’ll explore quick mindful art exercises that blend colour, pattern, and presence to spark creativity, ease stress, and bring more calm and joy to your making. No experience needed - just curiosity and a willingness to play.
Stitching the Sacred: Protective Sigils & Personalized Symbols
Kiala Givehand
In this workshop, we will combine the meditative rhythm of hand-stitching with the timeless power of symbols & sigils. Together, we’ll explore how to translate your personal intentions for protection, peace, clarity, or joy, into stitched designs that become sacred objects that you can carry or display.
5 days. 30 expert artists.
Endless possibilities.
If you’ve been craving a slower, more intentional way of living and making, but didn’t know where to begin, this retreat is for you.
Whether you’re...
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Struggling to find time for your creative practice and ready to finally make space for art that nourishes your soul...
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Longing to deepen your skills and connect with intuitive, slow-making techniques like hand stitching, natural dyeing, or mindful mark-making...
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Tired of rushing through projects and ready to embrace the beauty of imperfection and process over perfection...
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Curious about learning from expert makers who can show you how to bring more intention into your creative life, without overwhelm...
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Craving a deeper connection to your hands, your materials, and the simple joy of making something with love and care...
You’re not alone, and you don’t have to do it all by yourself.
Whatever your reason, it’s time to come back to the heart of making: creating with intention, connecting with like-minded makers, and crafting a life that feels truly yours.
GET YOUR FREE TICKET!
Thank you for your support!
A percentage of the profits from Making Zen are donated to Care International, a global confederation working to fight poverty and social injustice in the world, with a specific focus on the empowerment of women and girls.
