Sunday 15th November 2026
10:00-4:00
Adult workshop
(but GCSE and A-Level students are very welcome to join in. It will be a great skills workshop for those taking creative subjects)
WORKSHOP:
The Christmas Subversive Stitcher – A Festive Day with Holly Searle
After her hugely popular International Women’s Day workshop, Holly, also known as The Subversive Stitcher, is back for Christmas! Join her for a day of creativity, laughter, truth, and connection, with mince pies, mulled wine, and plenty of great conversation.
This workshop takes place in our studio and brings together everything we love: community, conversation, and making something that really means something.
Holly will arrive with her huge stash of rescued vintage tea towels, including Christmas designs, ready for you to turn into your own stitched statement. Choose a festive tea towel to create a Christmas message, thought, or playful protest, or pick another vintage design and make a piece as a gift or for yourself or a friend. You’re also welcome to bring your own if there’s a favourite hiding at home that deserves new life. The festive route is entirely up to you.
The morning will be filled with talk, ideas, and inspiration. Holly will share the stories behind her work and show examples from her extraordinary Subverted Tea Towel Series, pieces that make people stop, smile, and think.
Then, after some reflection and conversation, you’ll begin planning your own piece: your message, thought, or protest, whatever you feel deserves a little soapboxing. Using Holly’s templates and guidance, you’ll start to stitch your statement directly onto your chosen tea towel.
This is embroidery with voice and visibility, saying something in thread that matters to you. Some people choose words that challenge, others words that comfort or make us laugh. Every piece tells a story.
Like so many of the workshops here at Beth Morris Workshops, this one runs a little deeper. There will be moments of thought and plenty of laughter too, in a warm, inclusive space where a group of strangers come together, stitching, chatting, and connecting under Holly’s easy and encouraging guidance.
You’ll leave with your own stitched statement, to keep or give to someone special: a creative act of mending, meaning, and festive joy.
Artist / Maker / Tutor: Holly Searle
Holly Searle, known as The Subversive Stitcher, is an award-winning textile artist from London who uses needle and thread to make people think.
During the 2020 lockdown, she began The Subverted Tea Towel Series - transforming discarded tea towels, those small domestic works of art, into bold canvases for social commentary. Onto these familiar household fabrics, she stitches statements that raise awareness of the issues she believes deserve a platform.
The series now includes over 190 subverted tea towels, exhibited to great acclaim in galleries and exhibitions across the UK.
Holly continues to expand the project and regularly teaches workshops at the Fashion and Textile Museum, sharing her passion for stitch as both a creative and political act.
What is included in the ticket price?
A tea towel but you are welcome to bring your own too.
All equipment and materials that you need for the workshop are included. Some people like to bring extra bits and pieces but the studio is packed with all sorts of inspirational art materials that you may access.
Tea, coffee, mulled and mince pies
Where will the workshops take place?
In Beth’s inspirational studio at Insole Court, Cardiff. CF5 2LN
Sunday 15th November 2026
10:00-4:00
Adult workshop
(but GCSE and A-Level students are very welcome to join in. It will be a great skills workshop for those taking creative subjects)
WORKSHOP:
The Christmas Subversive Stitcher – A Festive Day with Holly Searle
After her hugely popular International Women’s Day workshop, Holly, also known as The Subversive Stitcher, is back for Christmas! Join her for a day of creativity, laughter, truth, and connection, with mince pies, mulled wine, and plenty of great conversation.
This workshop takes place in our studio and brings together everything we love: community, conversation, and making something that really means something.
Holly will arrive with her huge stash of rescued vintage tea towels, including Christmas designs, ready for you to turn into your own stitched statement. Choose a festive tea towel to create a Christmas message, thought, or playful protest, or pick another vintage design and make a piece as a gift or for yourself or a friend. You’re also welcome to bring your own if there’s a favourite hiding at home that deserves new life. The festive route is entirely up to you.
The morning will be filled with talk, ideas, and inspiration. Holly will share the stories behind her work and show examples from her extraordinary Subverted Tea Towel Series, pieces that make people stop, smile, and think.
Then, after some reflection and conversation, you’ll begin planning your own piece: your message, thought, or protest, whatever you feel deserves a little soapboxing. Using Holly’s templates and guidance, you’ll start to stitch your statement directly onto your chosen tea towel.
This is embroidery with voice and visibility, saying something in thread that matters to you. Some people choose words that challenge, others words that comfort or make us laugh. Every piece tells a story.
Like so many of the workshops here at Beth Morris Workshops, this one runs a little deeper. There will be moments of thought and plenty of laughter too, in a warm, inclusive space where a group of strangers come together, stitching, chatting, and connecting under Holly’s easy and encouraging guidance.
You’ll leave with your own stitched statement, to keep or give to someone special: a creative act of mending, meaning, and festive joy.
Artist / Maker / Tutor: Holly Searle
Holly Searle, known as The Subversive Stitcher, is an award-winning textile artist from London who uses needle and thread to make people think.
During the 2020 lockdown, she began The Subverted Tea Towel Series - transforming discarded tea towels, those small domestic works of art, into bold canvases for social commentary. Onto these familiar household fabrics, she stitches statements that raise awareness of the issues she believes deserve a platform.
The series now includes over 190 subverted tea towels, exhibited to great acclaim in galleries and exhibitions across the UK.
Holly continues to expand the project and regularly teaches workshops at the Fashion and Textile Museum, sharing her passion for stitch as both a creative and political act.
What is included in the ticket price?
A tea towel but you are welcome to bring your own too.
All equipment and materials that you need for the workshop are included. Some people like to bring extra bits and pieces but the studio is packed with all sorts of inspirational art materials that you may access.
Tea, coffee, mulled and mince pies
Where will the workshops take place?
In Beth’s inspirational studio at Insole Court, Cardiff. CF5 2LN
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