Intensive Skill-Based Workshops
These classes are purchased in addition to your base registration. Places are limited. These sessions run at the same time as other content, please check the Programme to understand what content runs simultaneously.
DIY Shoelaces – An Introduction to Tablet Weaving
Teacher: Stella Lange
Tablet weaving dates to at least the 8th century BCE, and this class introduces you to the skill practiced by so many before.
If you’re interested in learning more about weaving but don’t want to invest in a bulky loom, tablet weaving is an ideal thing to try. It’s compact and we supply everything you need for class, you don’t need to show up with a thing.
In this form of weaving –threads are continually twisted around each other – making a hard wearing textile. The shoelaces you make in class will fit a 16 eyelet shoe or boot (but can be made shorter or used for other things if you wish).
You get to keep the supplied equipment so you can continue to tablet weave after class. Tablet weaving is an excellent medium for all kinds of decorative tapes or ribbons.
Students will be able to choose from a range of colour options, and designs. You will be contacted before class to select your colour scheme so that materials can be prepared accordingly.
Cost in addition to your base registration for this class is $95.
Learn to Spindle Spin
Teacher: Frances Stachl
Learn the fundamentals of spinning with this simple ancient tool.
The drop spindle is an inexpensive, compact way to explore spinning your very own yarn.
Once mastered spindling is an enjoyable and portable craft which can enrich your knitting/crochet practice.
In this class you’ll learn about twist, singles, plying and setting yarn.
All materials and tools are supplied for this class. You get to keep your spindle (and your fibre) so you can continue to build your skills at home.
Cost in addition to your base registration for this class is $90.
Harakeke Weaving
Teacher: Amber Bridgman
Join Amber Bridgman, local Kai Tahu Weaver and creative, in an introductory workshop into weaving bracelets made from harakeke. You will learn the cultural aspects of weaving and harvesting Harakeke/ flax.
No previous weaving experience is required. Materials are supplied.
This is an exciting introduction to weaving which will teach the construction and help you lay down your basic flax weaving knowledge. All materials are supplied.
Cost in addition to your base registration for this class is $65.
Tangata whenua who wish to take this class are invited to contact Morag about early enrolment.
Invisible Stocking Stitch Repairs
Teacher: Stella Lange
Sometimes we just want something “quietly” fixed – no decorative patch, nothing to draw attention to the repair, just a clean fix. Invisible stocking stitch mending is a great skill to have in your tool kit for when a knit develops a hole. This skill is perfect for both handknits and mass produced items.
In this class you will learn to replicate knit stitches using a needle and thread, to seamlessly blend new stitches into old fabric. When completed with appropriately matching materials these repairs truly are invisible.
You will supply your own tools and materials for this workshop, but they are things you will very likely already have in your knit kit.
Cost in addition to your base registration for this class is $45.
Open Sessions
These are included in the base registration for Unwind 2026. All delegates can attend these sessions if they wish to.
Strange Fascination: fashion & textile treasures in the Hocken Collection
Speaker: Amanda Mills
There is a high degree of fascination with fashion and textile collections in heritage institutions. They are deeply interesting and hold a power to charm through description, depiction and illustration.
Hocken Collections, in Ōtepoti Dunedin, holds multiple sources and items relating to the fashion, clothing, and the textile trades in both the local Dunedin and wider Aotearoa context. These collections trace fashion, dress and textile culture across two centuries and provide information about what was worn, and often why it was worn. The materials (in both senses of the word) date from the 19th century to contemporary times, and include textiles, artworks, photographs, archives, ephemera, audiovisual items, publications, and musical recordings.
Amanda will talk about the wider collections of fashion, textile and dress materials across Hocken, but will focus on items from two specific collections in Hocken’s archives – the Avice Bowbyes papers (ARC-0335) and the Sargood, Son and Ewen Ltd. Records (ARC-0558). These records hold intriguing items for researching fashion as well as clothing and textile history and marketing, and provide moments of fascination with the meticulous collecting, attention to detail, and inclusion of beautiful, captivating, and sometimes strange items.
Yarn Unravelled: a different kind of string theory
Speaker: Jessica Barder
Throughout her journey with fibrecraft, Jessa has learned – among many, many other disasters *ahem* lessons – that possum fibre is so warm because it is hollow, that a hat made from alpaca is going to grow, and that merino wool is not only a great insulator but can generate heat when it’s damp. Maybe you’ve learned these things too. But have you ever wanted to know why?
Jessa has designed experiments, demonstrations, and games to explore the science in our hands when we work with fibre. She’ll also explore some of the ways these properties that we know and love are being utilised in new technologies.
Attendees must be curious and participation is encouraged but no prior experience and knowledge is necessary (and no, there won’t be any fire, she promised Morag).
Knit to Fit You
Teacher: Morag McKenzie
No one is a standard size, everyone’s shape is unique. As knitters we have the ability to create bespoke garments for our bodies, but simply following a pattern won’t produce a great fit for many of us. In this session we’ll look at how you can modify any pattern to fit you well.
We’ll look at how you determine what size in a pattern is right for every part of your torso and how you can blend multiple sizes and your own customisations to create garments that are literally made for you.
We’ll bust some myths (no, just knitting to your “high bust” will not make a garment fit you perfectly) and learn practical techniques for navigating patterns and making confident decisions for your next garments.
But is it Soft??
Teacher: Amy White
Join in an exploration of softness. There’s a place in every knitter’s kit for all kinds of yarn, for sure. You might not make a baby blanket from a rugged yarn, for example. But how do you think about durability vs softness? How do you think about the different ways you can play with different fibres to introduce layers of softness to your final knitted garment, ensuring a nifty blend of durability and drape? Let’s explore the concept put forward by one of our favourite yarn suppliers and advocates for wool, Portugal’s Rosa Pomar: #softnessisoverrated.
The Tanna Hill Mystery: an accidental true crime discovery
Teacher: Morag McKenzie
Early evening on Tuesday July 7th, 1903, Agnes Campbell sat in her family home doing fancy work. She told her sister she was going to visit a friend at the end of the road and she never returned home. The Wednesday edition of the Evening Star reports that Agnes has drowned in the Leith river. Almost everything about Agnes and her death is reported incorrectly on the 8th. Her death remains tragic but she certainly didn’t drown.
This is a story I stumbled across while researching something completely unrelated. At the time I told the story as I unfolded it to my local knit group.
Together we’ll peek into the past and look at Dunedin at the turn of the 20th century, and learn the sorry tale of a young woman who died long before her time.
This story will not be for everyone. There are no gory images and it will be told with respect, but it does cover upsetting things. If you are sensitive you may not wish to partake.
Though not directly related to fibrecraft, you are encouraged to sit and knit/crochet/sew/spin/etc. and listen to a local tale of a lass whose story is worth telling.
The First Granny Square: an origin story with an NZ connection
Teacher: Ruth Walden
Granny Squares are a staple of crochet, and the classic granny square and its variations are as popular now as they ever were. But what is the history of the Granny Square and how did I contribute to discovering its origins?
Hear the story of how I participated in uncovering brand new textile history, translated a 140 year old crochet pattern into modern terms, provided crocheted pieces that appeared in Piecework magazine, and how this discovery made its way into books, magazines, and social media.
