2277 Arts & Crafts courses

During this 12 week course you will have the opportunity to work on your own project ideas to explore your different media choices.

Woodcarving courses

Mix your Own Palette and create a set of coasters & a decorative tray while enjoying delicious pizza and Italian craft beers!

Weaving with a frame loom and a wide range of textured yarns and fabrics you can create a wall hanging in just three hours. Pick your favourite colours and textures from our extensive range of fibres and create something beautiful for your home

Working bone is a skill that was fundamental in our journey towards making evermore effective and reliable tools. Not only that, but making bone tools allowed our hunter gatherer ancestors to share a deeper connection with, and understanding of, the animals that they were so dependent upon. Bone is a versatile material that can be used to make all manner of tools and craft items ranging from simple designs to very intricate. The use of bone allowed us to create more effective clothing utilising tools such as needles and pins. In a recent find, 500,000 year old bone tools were found in Britain, highlighting just how far back in time they stretch. During this one day course you will learn techniques on how to work bone using other natural materials such as flint and abrasive stones, as well as selecting specific bones to create different tools. The day will start by discussing some of the points above and looking at a selection of bone tools such as: Needles, Awls, Harpoons, Spear tips and Arrow heads. After that it will be time for you to warm up those fingers and start shaping some bone! About us and the venue: Jack Raven Bushcraft was founded in 2011 and we've been delivering bushcraft, craft and foraging courses since then from our 30 acre private ancient woodland on the Kent Downs in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Courses in the summer are held outdoors in our woodland camp complete with covered work areas, an outdoor kitchen and a composting loo. Courses in the winter are held in our workshop in a converted barn. What's included in the price? We include all tools, equipment and materials. The kettle is always on for tea and coffee. Cancellation policy Strict - Cancellation and a full refund can be obtained up to 8 weeks before the course starts

Fish and small game made up an important part of our hunter gatherer ancestors diet, meaning that hand knitted net making was a crucial skill to master. A net is an openwork fabric in which threads are fused, looped or knotted at their intersections at regular intervals and have long been used for fishing and trapping animals, as hammocks, or simply as a means of carrying things around. So we’ve put together this net making course to show you how to make your own net from entirely natural materials so that you can go away and make your own net for a variety of situations. You’ll start the day by looking at natural cordage as you’ll need cordage to make your net! We’ll discuss various plants and trees that can be used to make cordages, such as nettles, brambles, lime bast and the inner bark of sweet chestnut. With the materials prepared, we’ll show you how to make a simple 2 ply cord and then, How to plait, braid or ply them. From there you’ll move on to net making itself and will cover: The various netting tools available and different materials they can be made from, How to begin a net, How to change the size and shape of your net, How to finish off your net, How to join nets together to make a bigger one. By the end of this net making course you will have the skills and knowledge to make your own nets from scratch, either for fishing or trapping small game, or even to make your very own net bag! Jack Raven Bushcraft was founded in 2011 and we've been delivering bushcraft, craft and foraging courses since then from our 30 acre private ancient woodland on the Kent Downs in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Courses in the summer are held outdoors in our woodland camp complete with covered work areas, an outdoor kitchen and a composting loo. Courses in the winter are held in our workshop in a converted barn. What's included in the price? We'll supply all tools and materials for the course. We'll make sure the kettle is on the go and supply tea, coffee and biscuits. Cancellation policy Strict - Cancellation and a full refund can be obtained up to 8 weeks before the course starts

Get to know your sewing machine and make projects to practise basic sewing skills including French seams, top stitching, zips and buttonholes

Take your sewing skills to new heights with 'Sew Beyond Basics.' Enhance projects from our beginners' course, mastering zips and stabilising fabrics. Join us for creative stitching exploration!

BYO materials, canvas, drinks from home and join us for a fun evening painting together and chatting with local artists and art enthusiasts. All is welcome w...

If you’re a beginner bag maker, this Retreat is perfect for you. A whole weekend to immerse yourself in fabrics, stabiliser, professional techniques and tips to boost your confidence and your skills. Hopefully, there’ll be a lot of chat and laughter too! **This retreat is a little different from many others in that making a bag isn’t the point of the weekend, although you will indeed make one. The focus is on learning new transferable techniques and skills that you will be able to use on so many bags you make in the future. We have our own ‘Retreat Suite’ of rooms, including a spacious, light and airy sewing room which is equipped with a display screen so everyone can easily see demonstrations from a working viewpoint. We also have our own bathroom and kitchen facilities. If you wish, you are free to continue work after dinner and until as late (or early!) as you like. You will need to bring your own sewing machine, fabric scissors and any other favourite sewing tools, but everything else is provided. Come and join us in the exclusive Facebook group Bag Makers Retreat at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bagmakersretreat/ for all the latest retreat info, chat, gossip and more, plus a chance to meet other like-minded folks.  If you have dietary requirements, please tell me before you book, so I can be sure we can meet your needs. All meal main courses are included in the retreat fee, as are Saturday and Sunday lunches and breakfasts. Starters, desserts and drinks with meals are not included but the meals are so huge you probably won’t want starters and desserts anyway!! Tea and coffee is available whenever you need, but you do have to make it yourself!  If you’d like to stay an extra night or two, maybe to arrive on Thursday or leave on Monday if you have a long drive, let me know and I’ll check availability with our host. If you’d prefer to travel by train, we are happy to ferry you to and from the station, just ask. Please aim to arrive no later than 2pm as we have a lot of pattern cutting and fabric choosing to get through on Friday! Friday The fun starts here as you arrive at your weekend home-from-home – a beautifully refurbished, 4-star 18th century coaching inn with all the comforts you would expect. You’ll have time to settle into your own delightfully comfortable en-suite room which has all the anticipated little luxuries, before an introductory get-together with me and your companions in the sewing room at 2pm. You’ll be given your own copy of the bag pattern, which is very beginner- and domestic machine-friendly but which will incorporate a lot of features and techniques that are also in much more complex designs, making this an excellent springboard to any bag you want to make. Then you can wallow in the plentiful stash of fabrics to choose from, including some of my exclusive feature panel prints which aren’t available anywhere else. All the materials, interfacing, stabiliser, threads and bag hardware you need are supplied. As soon as you’re ready, you can start preparing and cutting out your pattern and some of the bag pieces so we can hit the ground running in the morning. After a superbly-cooked and substantial evening meal at around 6pm or so, you are welcome to continue working in the sewing room or to simply relax and chat there before bed. Saturday After an excellent breakfast, we can really start work adding to and adapting your bag pattern. You’ll work at your own pace from around 9am with no pressure – I want your weekend to be fun and not stressful! We will walk through the techniques together and I will be there the whole time to answer questions and troubleshoot any tricky bits. You’ll also have the chance to try sewing with faux leather , if you haven’t already, and we’ll explore ways and techniques to use and apply rivets.  Refreshments are freely available all day and you can take a break whenever you wish. A light lunch (with homemade cake!!) is also provided and we’ll have a short break in the middle of the day. The rest of the day will be similar to Friday – sewing, dinner at 6ish and more sewing if you wish to before bed. Do feel free to have a walk or just sit outside for a breather if the weather is kind. Sunday How can it be Sunday already?? Breakfast over, we’ll get back to work. You will need to allow a few minutes to pack and check out of your room, as it has to be made ready for Monday’s guests. Apart from that, it’s uninterrupted sewing (with refreshments and lunch breaks!) until your bag is finished. We’ll be heading off for lunch at 12.30pm or so. We have the sewing room for the rest of the day. If you don’t quite get done, there’s absolutely no need to worry as you’ll easily be able to complete your bag at home. If you finish earlier feel free to head home whenever you’re ready. Amongst loads of other hints and tips, you’ll learn – Interfacings – what to use and not to use Using stabilisers – which is best and why How to create a zipped pocket the pro way Adding a recessed zipper main closure to almost any bag Installing hardware Incorporating a built-in key fob Installing a rectangular base Sewing the bag together and topstitching A sneaky way of getting your bag right-sides-out without ugly seams! An easy way to add a zipper pull without tools Working with different types of rivet machine Faux leather on a domestic machine You’ll have handouts on all the techniques to take home. And I hope you have a lot of fun and make new friends while you learn!!  I never abandon my students at the end of the course so if you get stuck on anything at home, you are welcome to give me a shout on Messenger and we’ll sort out your problem together. The not-so-small print Book your place using the simple booking system below – just click on your choice of dates and go from there. The full price is £395.00. The deposit of £60 is non-refundable if you cancel but can, however, be credited towards a future retreat booked within the next 6 months. It is completely refundable if I or the venue cancel. The booking page only shows the Friday, but the course is running until Sunday. The balance of £335.00 is payable by approx 6 weeks before the retreat date and payment instructions will be sent to you in good time. Cancellations 4 weeks or less before the retreat date can only be refunded if someone on the waiting list can come instead. *Don’t worry that your booking confirmation may be headed Unicorn Studios – it’s just the site that I’ve run my booking system from for years… it’s not a scam!! *