This module reframes drawing and the sketchbook. You’ll let go of the idea that you “can’t draw” and begin using your sketchbook as a place to think, notice, and develop ideas. Cas shows how drawing can be simple, flexible, and closely linked to stitch. You’ll work across different surfaces and learn approaches that support observation and idea development.

Includes:

• Using sketchbooks as a thinking tool
• Continuous line drawing and texture
• Working imperfectly and with intention

Here, you build on what you already notice. A simple, repeatable sketch practice helps ideas grow and gives your work direction. Through guided exercises, you’ll explore tone, colour, and layering, and see how drawing naturally connects to later work with cloth and paper.

Includes:

• Observation and isolation techniques
• Tone and colour relationships
• Drawing combined with collage
• Early stages of layering

Bring drawing and stitch together. Explore why they work so well side by side and how stitch can become another way of drawing. Cas introduces machine exercises that build confidence with motion stitch and construction seams, alongside practical guidance on papers and materials that support this way of working.

Includes:

• Sewing machine basics for mark-making
• Stitching on paper
• Straight stitch seams, folds, and form
• Free-motion stitch in sketchbooks

Using what’s around you, you’ll begin printing on cloth and paper. These approachable methods help you build a personal collection of textured materials you can return to throughout the course. Cas shares simple techniques that transform everyday materials into rich, expressive surfaces.

Includes:

• Relief printing on cloth and paper
• Printing with botanicals
• Working with ink, paint, and dye
• Building a personal material library

Now it’s time to look again at what you’ve made. You’ll explore how printed and painted materials sit together and how small changes affect the whole. This module encourages curiosity and openness as you test layouts, colours, and combinations, preparing dry samples for the next stage.

Includes:

• Visualising and testing ideas
• Exploring colour palettes
• Auditioning material layouts
• Developing textile collage

Here you’ll work with Cas’s wet appliqué method. By temporarily bonding cloth, you can stitch freely and respond more instinctively to your materials. This approach supports movement, confidence, and fluid decision-making as your layers come together.

Includes:

• Understanding cellulose adhesives
• Preparing materials for wet appliqué
• Lamination and layering methods
• Stitching without pins

 In this module, stitching brings everything together. Working into your layered pieces, you’ll see how surface, material, and stitch interact. Cas encourages a flexible way of working - moving things around, revisiting ideas, and continuing to discover what the work needs.

Includes:

• Stitching into dried, pre-pasted pieces
• Straight and free-motion machine stitch
• Relationships between materials
• Extending and reworking ideas

The final module slows things down. You’ll explore hand stitch as a way of marking, reflecting, and responding - just as important as machine stitch. Through small sampler pieces, you’ll work with texture and thread, using stitch to reassess your work and enjoy the process of making with intention.

Includes:

• Hand stitch as mark-making
• Using thread for colour and texture
• Slow stitch sampler exercises
• Finishing and presenting your work