Tutor: Claire Richards

Date: Friday 11 April 2025

Time: 10.00 – 16.00

Location: Messums Studios, Chilmark SP3 5DU

Cost: £95 per person (includes materials)

Join us for a calm and enjoyable day of crafting, during which you can discover and learn about raffia craft.

In this workshop you will learn about where raffia comes from, and how flexible and forgiving it is as a craft material. Whilst you will work in natural raffia, in this workshop you will also learn about raffia dying. During this workshop you will make your own clutch bag and you will have the opportunity to apply individual decorative motifs to your bag.  This course is intended for the complete beginner.

Once you have familiarised yourself with the plaiting and sewing skills, you will see that there are many options for working with raffia: to making beautiful hats or a wide range of bags.  The tutor will show you samples of different potential raffia projects for you to consider in the future.

What to bring: The workshop will provide all materials and equipment needed to make your clutch bag, but please do bring refreshments and lunch with you for the day.  There will be the opportunity to buy more raffia if you decide to make more bags or other raffia projects, and there will also be a discount code for all students to buy digital patterns for other raffia projects if they wish.

About the tutor: Claire Richards has been working with raffia for nearly 30 years, creating hats, bags, and home accessories.  She is an experienced tutor and teaches at several venues across the South of England, including running residential workshops at West Dean College of Art in Chichester, and Marlborough College Summer School.