Slow Fashion August
August 4-10, 2025
MEDOMAK RETREAT CENTER, WASHINGTON, MAINE
with Cal Patch, Bianca Springer & Kristin Arzt
A small group of just thirty-six Makers will spend five full days in exploration of line, color, and stitch at a contemplative pace. Surrounded by the woods, on the edge of a lake, with the rustic beauty and charm of Maine as the backdrop. Small groups, individual pacing, natural inspiration-this will be a week for unwinding and exploring....
• Single cabin, $2,250.
• Double Cabin, $2,050.
• Triple Cabin, $1,850.
For the best experience of all involved, I will continue to engage Covid protocols. While the danger of contracting the virus is less, it still holds risks for many. I will require up-to-date vaccinations for participation, and we will test upon arrival. I will also ask that all Campers take precautions in the week leading up to their visit. More details will be shared once you have registered.
Are you seeking the time and space to slow down and connect with your skills, your agency, your creative practice in community? In these challenging chaotic, isolating digital days, we crave connection and community with other Makers. Maine is a good place to retreat, step back from the daily pace, and spend some time with your peers with needle, thread, dyepots, and cloth. This August, I invite you to join Cal Patch, Bianca Springer, and Kristin Arzt to make that time and space for yourself.
Join Cal, Bianca, Kristin, and I at the Medomak Retreat Center in Washington, ME where you can relax, unwind, and dive into your stitching practice. You will sleep in a modern yet rustic cabin, eat three meals a day with the community, and spend as much time as you like with cloth, needle, and thread. Each day will be spent with Cal, Bianca, or Kristin learning their techniques and tips, practicing new skills or sharpening old ones. In addition there are two days of time for musings, wanderings, exploration, and epiphany, both of the textile and human variety. The emphasis here is on settling into your Making practice and letting the rest of it float away....
~Cal is returning to lead a workshop on hand sewing a garment. Sewing on a machine is quick and practical, but for many it’s difficult to find the dedicated time and space required to make it a regular habit. Moving your sewing practice into the realm of handwork (like knitting, crochet, and embroidery) means you can stitch up garments whenever (and wherever) you have a few spare minutes, or on the couch at night while watching a movie, and carry a project with you so you always have it. Amazingly, you might find you can finish a hand-sewn garment sooner than a machine-sewn one! You will work with a pattern (the supply list will have options) for a simple, boxy top and learn how to sew seams, finish necklines and hem edges with only your hands and a needle and thread. Several methods for each type of seam will be shown, so you may also create a sampler of extra techniques. Both decorative and functional stitching techniques will take your slow-fashion wardrobe to the next level, and add an element of meditative calm to your sewing. On future projects you can use your new skills in combination with machine sewing, or entirely on their own.
~Bianca is returning to share her knowledge of sewing garments with quilts. Join her for an exciting retreat workshop where you'll learn to make the exquisite Tibetan Panel Coat by Folkwear Patterns! In this hands-on class, she'll guide you through every step of the process, helping you create a stunning, one-of-a-kind piece. You can choose to make a color-blocked version or bring a pieced quilt top for a truly one of the kind look. The finished Panel Coat is fully reversible giving you the option of having two wonderful canvases for your wearable art. Whether you're a seasoned sewer or a complete beginner, this workshop is designed to be engaging and educational for all skill levels. You'll walk away with not only a beautiful garment but also the skills and confidence to tackle future projects.
~Kristin returns with a new sidekick this year, her baby! “Together we will explore pattern-making on natural fibers using resists and natural dyes. We will create rainbows with natural dyes, exploring color mixing and chemistry to create limitless hues and values. We will spend time dyeing with natural indigo and resists to create patterns on fabric, and will discuss the chemistry of indigo dyeing and how to care for a natural fructose indigo vat. You will also delve into dyeing with mordant dyes, such as osage, cochineal and madder, in tandem with Shibori resists to create beautiful patterns on cloth. You will learn how to prepare the fabric for dyeing and the different dyeing processes. Discover the wide array of colors, hues, and values these natural dyes can produce together and how they affect different types of fibers and mordants.”
You will spend a day with each teacher, with plenty of time for inspirational wanderings. Two back-to-back, then a break. On the third day we will take a small field trip to the coast and a fabulous local fabric store. Or if you prefer, you can go for a swim, take a hike, do some stitching, some reading, or whatever your heart desires. The last day of instruction on Friday. Then Saturday is entirely for you to do with as you please. Check in with one of the instructors on a technique you need clarification on, take a nap, sew up another muslin, the day is yours!
We will have a clothing swap, so bring any and all wearable items that no longer sing to you, and watch them leave with another, while perhaps bringing something new and thoughtful into your closet. If you don’t have garments to swap, yardage and patterns, yarn, and notions, are always welcome! The swap nights are always tons of fun! We will also have an evening for Garment Stories. Bring a beloved item of clothing that has a story behind it. We will share our stories and our thoughts about the lives of our garments. This evening is always engaging. Our garments hold so many untold stories and memories, it is fascinating to hear them. So much emotion, so much history, culture, identity in our closets. Let’s share our stories.
The primary focus for the week will be on slowing down, taking time, connecting to your practice, the community, and your inner voice. Evenings will be open for more stitching, conversing, knitting, star gazing, cricket concerts, Loon appreciation, and anything else you might like to do in Maine in August....
Cal Patch
Cal has been a maker since she was a Girl Scout in the seventies. She sews, crochets, spins, embroiders, knits, prints, drafts patterns, dyes… hence the name of her label: Hodge Podge. Cal has been teaching textile arts for over 15 years, and loves showing people new skills. She designed clothes for several big names in the fashion industry before leaving to forge her own path as an independent artisan and create one-off handmade pieces. Cal owned a boutique in Manhattan and later opened one of the first indie craft schools in 2002. After seventeen years of designing clothes in New York City, she recently relocated to the Catskills, where she is becoming a crafty farmer. Her book on drafting sewing patterns, Design-It-Yourself Clothes, was published in 2009. Currently she teaches at various shops, studios and retreats around the country and sells her work at craft fairs and online in her Etsy shop. You can see what she's up to at calpatch.com.
Bianca Springer
Bianca Springer is a garment sewist, pattern designer, sewing instructor, experimental quilter and fiber artist. Bianca is a small business owner, the creator of unique sewing pattern weights, hand-embroidery patterns and kits. She is also a contributing writer for Sew News magazine, Creative Machine Embroidery magazine, she shares her talents as a Brand Ambassador for Shannon Fabrics, Baby Lock, Nature’s Fabric and is an Arrow Creator.
Bianca identified a lack of diversity and inclusion in mainstream hand-embroidery books. She is the author of the book, Represent! Embroidery. Stitch 10 Colorful Projects: 100 Designs Featuring a Full Range of Shapes, Skin Tones & Hair Textures. In it, Bianca shows how to add depth, dimension and social commentary to art pieces, bags, garments, and home décor. Bianca loves upcycling and reimagining discarded textiles with fiber and fabric.
She can be found on her website: www.biancaspringer.com
On Instagram: @thanksimadethem
Kristin Arzt
Kristin is a natural dyer, educator, gardener, and designer based in Maryland. She has taught workshops and led retreats all over the country, served on the board of Local Cloth, and been involved in Fibersheds from Northern California, to the Mid-Atlantic, to the Blue Ridge Mountains. By exploring the collision of textiles, plants, and sustainability, her goal is to help make the study of natural dyes accessible to everyone through education and enthusiasm. Kristin is a lifelong learner, a student and teacher of yoga (RYT 200), and is currently enrolled in her third Yoga Teacher Training program, often combining elements from these teachings into her creative workshops.
Registration includes lodging in a cabin (shared, or otherwise), all meals, and all instruction for six days. The cabins are rustic and spare, but modern and comfortable. Please do note that many of the cabins are in the woods, and require an uphill walk. If mobility is an issue for you, please contact me when you register. I will put you in a suitable cabin. We can accommodate most dietary restrictions within reason, just alert us to your needs in advance.
There are ten private cabins available. You can make this choice at registration. However if you do not get a private cabin, I can assure you there is plenty of room in each cabin for two or three adults.
A supply list will be sent out at least a month in advance of your arrival in Maine.
Otherwise, all you have to do is get yourself here, I'll take care of the rest. I will send out recommendations for what to wear and bring in advance. I send very detailed emails about how to get here, what to bring, how to prepare. Read them when they show up, most everything you could need will be in there…
The home made food at camp is fresh, simple, wholesome, and satisfying. Please notify me of food allergies, or if you are Vegetarian (specify if you do/do not eat dairy, eggs, fish, etc…) , but we suggest that unless you have a specific medical condition, you will find plenty to nourish you during your time at camp.
Medomak Retreat Center is in Washington, Maine, about 80 minutes from the Portland airport, 3 hours drive from Boston, 7 hours drive from NYC. Washington is only 30 minutes inland from Camden. The campus has 250 acres of blueberry fields and forest, with trails for hiking, tennis courts, and lakefront where canoes and kayaks are available. The cabins are clean and spare and perfectly comfortable.
After four years of working with Covid as a complication I continue to take it seriously. I require everyone to be vaccinated as recommended by the CDC. This guideline may vary depending on the current political status. I will stay apprised of those recommendations and share them with all who register. Please assume that you will need to have been vaccinated up to the last valid CDC statements.
I will ask all who are traveling to be diligent in their masking protocol. We will test upon arrival. These measures are taken to keep us all safe, and allow us to relax into our Making practice. I will have protocols in place in case of a positive test. That protocol will be shared in advance of gathering.
In order to give you some time to check, and double check, your schedule, and confer with partners, bosses, children, parents, and pets, to make sure this will work for you, I delay the opening of registration. This year registration will open Sunday March 2nd at 3:00pm EST. I will send an email to my newsletter group when registration opens. If you want to be notified when registration is open, you should sign up for the newsletter, spots have gone quickly in the past….. You will need to pay a non-refundable deposit of $400 to register, and then arrangements can be made for how to pay your balance.
[Deposits are non refundable, but registrations are transferable. All efforts will be taken to accommodate Covid changes, but the virus moves in mysterious ways, and is able to out maneuver me. I ask for your patience and forbearance in dealing with these changes.]