Activity
In this three-part workshop, students will design and construct a soft, hand-sewn fabric book that holds stories, secrets, and small treasures. Through layers of cloth, batting, and thread, participants will explore how textile techniques can bring a book to life — with pages that fold, pockets that hide, and figures that seem to move and emerge from the surface.
Class One
In this class students will learn how to create and bind a fabric book of several layers of fabric and batting, that will allow them to configure a variety of pocket formats with which our hand-made textile figures will interact.
Class Two
Using our finished book we will create a series of pockets using the book layering. We will work in creating pockets using strategic extractions, additions and cuts from our pages, to configure a playful and interactive page by page experience .
Class Three
In this class, students will explore three versions on how to create two dimensional figures using batting, embroidery and reverse applique interventions.
No previous experience is necessary.
Dates
Thursdays, January 15th, 22nd, and 29th 2026
Time
12 pm – 2:30 pm ET
Location
Zoom, a link will be sent to participants
the day before class.
Cost
$225
CLASS MATERIALS
- 2 Extra long pins
- Pins
- Assortment of embroidery and sewing needles
- Pearl cotton embroidery thread or floss. Your choice of color.
- Assortment of sewing threads and floss.
- One piece of 36 x 15 in medium weight plain cotton fabric. You can precut 4 pieces of 9 x 15 in ahead of time.
- One piece of 36 x 14 in medium weight plain cotton fabric. You can precut 4 pieces of 9 x 14 in ahead of time.
- Fabric marking tools (such as a fabric pencil or Frixion marker)
- Ruler
- Fabric scissors or rotary cutter and exacto knife
- Cardstock cutout (7 x 13 in)
- Colorful Fabric scraps of at least of 7 x 7 in
- Iron and ironing mat (optional)
- One piece of Batting of 13 x 14 in or one precut piece of 7 x 13 in and another of 7 x 12 in.
- 2 pieces of 7 x 7 in cotton fabric (2 different colors)
- Simple Image/design of your choice of 4 x 4 in approximately. (Preferably with straight lines/curves and not too many elements) Example: simple plant or butterfly )
- Carbon paper
OUR TEACHER
María José Durán is a Chilean Fulbright alumni, visual artist, textile researcher, and art teacher with an MFA from the School of Visual Arts. She explores embroidery and natural dyes on fabrics to create landscapes and fabric books of poetic, playful and painterly sensibility that reflect on the natural world. She has guided community and female collective projects funded by Fondart and the FNDR funds in Chile as well as projects funded by private local and foreign commissions. Her researched-based embroidery workshops aim to rescue women’s memories around local ecosystems, rural living and traditions. Her work has been exhibited at museums and galleries in the US, Colombia, Canada and Chile and it has been published in magazines and film. Her textile work is part of private collections in New York, Miami, Vancouver, Berlin, Beirut, Mexico City and Santiago.