Bella Fabrics’ program of classes are taken by dedicated and talented teachers, both local and interstate, each bringing their individual talent and creativity to the classes they take.
Classes cover quilting, dressmaking, appliqué, embroidery, EPP, crochet, to name a few.
All classes include light refreshments. Bring your own lunch or we can place an order for you from a local café.
What’s on in April 2025
Tuesday 1st – Smocking with Ann
Saturday 5th – Patchwork with Christine
Wednesday 9th – Embroidery with Ana
Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday 10th-13th – AQC
Tuesday 15th – Smocking with Ann
EASTER:
Good Friday 18th – closed
Saturday 19th – 10am – 2pm
Sunday 20th – closed
Monday 21st – closed
Tuesday 22nd – Embroidery with Christine
Thursday 24th – Embroidery with Ana
Friday 25th – Anzac Day CLOSED
Saturday 26th – Embroidery with Ana
Sunday 27th – Pincushion workshop with Anna
What’s on in May 2025
Friday 2nd – Lampshade making class
Saturday 3rd – Christine Vlasic Workshop
Tuesday 6th – Smocking with Ann
Wednesday 7th – Susan Smith Workshop
Thursday 8th – Embroidery with Christine
Friday 9th – Smocking with Ann
Saturday 10th – Sunday 11th – Monday 12th
Couture Bead Workshop
Thursday 14th – Embroidery with Ana
Thursday 15th – Luna Lapin Workshop
Friday 16th – Louise Papas sit & sew
Saturday 17th – Pincushion Workshop
Sunday 18th – Susan Smith Workshop
Tuesday 20th – Smocking with Ann
Wednesday 21st – Learn to Love your Overlocker
Thursday 22nd – Embroidery with Ana
Friday 23rd – Smocking with Ann
Saturday 24th – Sunday 25th Couture Bead Workshop
Saturday 31st – Embroidery with Ana
Jenny Bear Workshop
Jenny Bear is a 78 year old hobby quilter who struck it lucky when she was invited to exhibit in Europe at the 2022 Carrefour European Patchwork Meeting in Alsace. Then she was asked to make a book with Quiltmania (Fit for Purpose : Quilts for Warmth and Comfort) that some of you may have. Somewhere in between she had, with her group “The Tuesday Girls” a second exhibition at Carrefour EPM in 2023. And she’s off to Carrefour again in 2025 with a whole new batch of quilty goodness.
Along with her book exhibition, she taught in Nantes in April 2024 and, later that year, in The Netherlands. Her classes in The Netherlands were based on English frame quilts using her interpretation of the Rooster Medallion Quilt circa 1857 by Amelia Brown. As part of these classes, she provided one or two other options to use as an alternative to the complicated “Mr Rooster” central medallion in Amelia Brown’s quilt. One of these was the central “posy” of the Challans Coverlet of 1811.
Jenny will teach “Lincolnshire Posy” This will be a 2 part workshop – Saturday 28th June & Saturday 19th July.
This quilt is Jenny’s “loving evocation” of the famous Challans Coverlet. The original coverlet is believed to have been made by a relatively poor farm girl (possibly Sophia Challans 1792-1865) in a small village in Lincolnshire in 1811. It is now in the collection of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. The Guild has kindly given permission for Jenny to use her “Lincolnshire Posy” pattern for teaching purposes.
Dates:
– Saturday 28th June 2025.
– Saturday 19th July 2025.
Class cost: $170
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Michelle Marvig Workshop
Michelle Marvig has been part of the Australian patchwork industry for 33 years. It was not long after finding patchwork that Michelle started working as a sample quiltmaker for an importer and wholesaler of fabric in Australia. This exposed to her work to the fledgling craft magazine in Australia. The rest is history, as they say. Since that time she has made 100s of quilts, published numerous patterns, written 6 books , designed 6 fabric ranges, hosted overseas quilting tours since 2008 and taught many, many quilt workshops. Circumstance have always changed the techniques used in her quilts. Before starting the overseas tours, most of her quilts were predominately machine made. Foundation paper piecing is one of her favourite techniques, due to the accurate results. However many of her newer quilts are made using templates, as these designs can be machine or hand made while traveling. English paper piecing is another favourite, as it is a very social way to stitch. Regardless of technique, many quilts feature fussy cut motifs, or scrappy fabric choices.
Dates:
– Friday 17th October 2025 – ‘Blue Beasties’ a brand new quilt – requires template & can be made 4 different ways.
– Saturday 18th October 2025 – “A foundation pieced cushion” – 3 cushion’s to choose from – $10 pattern charge for printed foundations
Class cost: $120
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Deborah Dorward Workshop
We are excited to have Deborah teaching at Bella Fabrics. Deborah Dorward, Author of Stitches Of Time published by Quiltmania, has been a quilting for over 30yrs. She made her first quilt in sewing class in High School and felt an instant connection to the craft.
Deborah has been published in many Australian and International magazines and teaches in Australia and Internationally when she can fit it in around her day job of Cabin Crew for an Australian Airline.
She draws inspiration from antique quilts and is especially inspired by Folk Art quilts and Cross Stitch wall hangings. She prefers to work with reproduction fabrics as she enjoys the history and the senses of “being here before” that speaks to her but likes to choose brighter more interesting prints. Hand quilting is a particular passion of hers and she tries to hand quilt all her quilts when possible as she prefers the softness hand quilting gives to a quilt. Deborah lives in Mt Macedon, Victoria in Australia with her family, two dogs and three cats which also inspire and “help” her quilt.
You may work on anything of Deborah’s designs during the workshop. Head to Deborah’s social media instagram @deborahdorward
Class cost: $95
Dates:
– Saturday 22nd March 2025
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Embroidery with Christine
Starting out with Crewel embroidery Christine has since gone on to master numerous traditional embroidery techniques from tutors across the world. Having completed her Certificate in Technical Hand Embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework in London, Christine has since gone on to study historical embroidery at Cambridge University.
“I have learned so much from some excellent tutors before me and I have been encouraged to pass on my knowledge to others.”
Sharing her skills with today’s needleworkers Christine encourages stitchers of all levels to explore and find the hand embroidery techniques that suit them in a welcoming and fun environment. Christine has been teaching at various retail locations, conventions and with the Embroiderers Guild locally and interstate since 2016 and has had numerous projects featured in Inspirations publications.
Class runs from 10am – 3pm. Morning & afternoon tea included.
Dates:
– Tuesday 7th January 2025
– Thursday 13th February 2025
– Thursday 13th March 2025
– Tuesday 22nd April 2025
– Thursday 8th May 2025
– Thursday 12th June 2025
Time: 10am – 3pm
Ticket Price: $85 per person
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Smocking Workshop
We are excited to have Ann Forehan teaching Smocking at Bella Fabrics starting in July. Classes will run from 10am – 3pm & includes morning & afternoon tea. $85.00
I have loved Smocking from childhood when my mother dressed me in her own smocked dresses. As a child I was fascinated with the concept of smocking and its artistic nature. This fascination has continued over many years to the point where I have made smocked dresses for my daughter and granddaughters.
Around 15 years ago I started teaching smocking. As well as teaching traditional smocking, I enjoy designing and making patterns for all age groups with the current trends being a focus. I am looking forward to teaching at Bella Fabrics and sharing my Smocking knowledge with students in the hope that this wonderful skill is continued.
Dates:
– January – Tuesday 21st – Friday 24th 2025
– February – Tuesday 4th – Tuesday 11th – Friday 14th – Friday 28th 2025
– March – Tuesday 4th – Friday 14th – Tuesday 18th – Friday 28th 2025
– April -Tuesday 1st – Friday 11th – Tuesday 15th 2025
– May – Tuesday 6th – Friday 9th – Tuesday 20th – Friday 23rd 2025
– June – Tuesday 3rd – Friday 13th – Tuesday 17th – Friday 27th 2025
Cost: $85
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Embroidery Workshops with Ana Mallah
We are excited to have Ana teaching at Bella Fabrics commencing in July. Ana will be at Bella Fabrics the 1st Thursday of each month and the 4th Wednesday of each month, 10am – 3pm.
‘I have been a full time embroidery teacher and designer for almost 10 years. I am also a regular contributor to publications such as Inspirations magazine. I absolute love everything textiles, threads and flowers and am forever looking for ways to bring these elements together.
I have admired Bella Fabrics since it opened it’s beautiful doors to us and am looking forward to teaching and meeting passionate stitchers there’
Dates:
April – Wednesday 9th – Saturday 12th – Thursday 24th 2025
May: Saturday 31st
June: Saturday 7th
July: Wednesday 9th, Saturday 12th, Thursday 24th
August: Saturday 9th, Wednesday 13th, Thursday 28th
September: Wednesday 10th, Thursday 25th
October: Wednesday 8th, Thursday 23rd
November: Saturday 8th, Wednesday 12th, Saturday 29th
December: Wednesday 10th
Cost: $85
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Margaret Mews workshops
Enjoy a hand stitching class with Margaret as she takes you through her tips to achieve accurate hand piecing and applique. Margaret’s aim is that you will enjoy and embrace hand piecing and hand applique as much as she does. And look at fabric, and use it a little differently than you may have before. Learn the essentials of template use and accurate fabric marking while working on your choice of Margaret’s designs. You’ll learn helpful skills if you have struggled with any of the following … curved piecing, inset seams, smooth applique curves or points in the past, or applique stems. Choose a project from Margaret’s designs, either from her books or patterns; Your fabric requirements will be listed there for each quilt, but for class it is not usually needed to bring all the fabric for the quilt. Under Margaret’s expert guidance, you may wish to do a little shopping to add to what you have.
Dates:
– February Sunday 23rd 2025
– June Sunday 8th 2025
– September Sunday 14th 2025
– November Sunday 23rd 2025
Cost: $90
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Petra Prins – Patchwork: 2 Day Workshop
Bella Fabrics is excited to confirm that Petra and Judith of Petra Pins Patchwork will be conducting a 2 day workshop at Bella Fabrics in February 2025.
BOOKED OUT
Learning To Love Your Overlocker – with Kate Marra
This one-day course, 5-6 hours gives students a greater understanding of their overlocker and allows them to continue using it at home confidently. The kit provided covers a comprehensive 23-page workbook and all fabrics required for the day.
The course covers four thread overlocking, understanding tensions, three thread overlocking, rolled hem, understanding differential feed, techniques for better results when stitching a circle, inside corners, outside corners, working with difficult fabrics and so many applications for rolled hem!
Includes morning & afternoon tea.
Cost: $150
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Learning to Love Your Overlocker – Fabulous Flatlock Extension One
The first extension to the Learning to Love Your Overlocker course covers flatlocking and ladder stitch in depth. The additional pages cover wide and narrow flatlocking and various decorative applications, including ribbon work, decorative thread, beading, lace insertion and creating a blind hem stitch. The second part of the course is constructing a notebook cover using some of the techniques covered in the course. All fabrics provided to complete the workbook and project.
Cost: $150
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Luna Workshop
Learn to make “Luna Lapin” the delightful quite & kind bunny, created by Sarah Peel.
Class cost includes, book, felt, liberty & thread.
Class runs from 10am – 3pm
Includes morning & afternoon tea.
Next scheduled class dates are:
– Saturday 18th January 2025
– Friday 7th March 2025
– Thursday 15th May 2025
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Susan Smith Workshops
Join Susan, a long time quilter who excels in the art of appliqué and hand piecing, to learn these techniques.
Susan has also designed a small collection of prints “Stonleigh” for Dutch Heritage Fabrics, due out early this year.
Class includes morning/afternoon tea.
Dates:
January – Sunday 19th 2025
February – Wednesday 5th – Sunday 16th 2025
March – Wednesday 5th – Sunday 16th 2025
May – Wednesday 7th – Sunday 18th 2025
June – Wednesday 4th – Sunday 15th 2025
Call the shop on 9870 9500 for more details
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Christine Vlasic Workshops
A pile of scrap fabric gives me such a buzz. Giving it a form, deciding which fabric compliments another, interlocking shapes and before you know it there is a block, an idea to take further.
Sewing has been a passion for many years, it brings me joy and it is my pleasure to share my love of fabric and quilt making with students of all abilities.
The opportunity to share my skills with others is an absolute privilege. Hope to see you in class one day!
Workshop cost: $85.00 includes morning/afternoon tea.
Dates:
– February – Saturday 1st 2025
– March – Saturday 1st 2025
– April – Saturday 5th 2025
– May – Saturday 3rd 2025
– June – Saturday 7th 2025
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Judy Newman
Judy has loved needle and thread her whole life.
Judy has been designing quilts and teaching for many years, authored books for Quiltmania and now produce my own fabric ranges for Devonstone Collections.
Her quilts are generally made in soft colours with occasional pops of muted brights, vintage style inspired. Hand piecing, EPP and applique are her preferred methods of patchwork and she loves to assist with colour choices, mixing up scale and density to help create beautiful quilts for her students. Judy loves to hand quilt, the gentle rhythm of the needle through the thread is comforting and slow but gives her time to think about what comes next as her quilts are rarely planned from beginning to end, they evolve with the colours and prints as she uses them.
Includes morning/afternoon tea
Dates:
– February – Sunday 2nd 2025
– March – Sunday 23rd 2025
– June – Sunday 29th 2025
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Lampshade Workshop
Tamica, a mother of two, created Nooshy Design out of necessity. When her daughter was born in 2015, Tamica couldn’t find the perfect lampshade for her bedroom so Tamica designed and made her own and, in the process, experienced the joy of creating something bespoke. This was the beginning of Nooshy Design.
Tamica’s lampshade classes will teach you how to make you very own custom designed 30cm drum lampshade, Or bring along your own lampshade to recover. Tamica will use her creative design skills to take you through the process of making your own lampshade. At the end of the class, you will have created something you have personally hand-made to light up your home.
Tamica’s class is ideal for beginners to advanced – no prior lampshade making experience required.
Workshop includes tuition & kit
Class duration is 10am-12noon
Class cost: 130.00
Dates:
– Saturday 15th March 2025
– Friday 2nd May 2025
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Margaret Mews & Judy Newman Workshop
Join these 2 very talated teachers for a 1-day workshop.
Enjoy a hand stitching class with Margaret as she takes you through her tips to achieve accurate hand piecing and applique. Margaret’s aim is that you will enjoy and embrace hand piecing and hand applique as much as she does. And look at fabric, and use it a little differently than you may have before.Learn the essentials of template use and accurate fabric marking while working on your choice of Margaret’s designs. You’ll learn helpful skills if you have struggled with any of the following … curved piecing, inset seams, smooth applique curves or points in the past, or applique stems.
Judy’s quilts are generally made in soft colours with occasional pops of muted brights, vintage style inspired. Hand piecing, EPP and applique are her preferred methods of patchwork and she loves to assist with colour choices, mixing up scale and density to help create beautiful quilts for her students. Judy loves to hand quilt, the gentle rhythm of the needle through the thread is comforting and slow but gives her time to think about what comes next as her quilts are rarely planned from beginning to end, they evolve with the colours and prints as she uses them.
Includes morning/afternoon tea. Lunch not included, bring your lunch or we can order from a cafe in Mailing Road. Class runs from 10am – 3.30pm (lunch 12.30-1pm)
Class duration is 10am – 3.30pm (lunch 12.30-1pm)
Class cost: 110.00
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Sew.be Workshop
Bec is a modern Australian quilt designer with a growing global following. She is known for her scrappy colourful style and unique fabric combinations. Bec’s patterns are designed for confident beginners and up, and benefit from a scrappy palette drawn from a wide variety of fabrics. Workshop runs from 10am -3.30pm with a 30min lunch break. Class cost $130 includes tuition, morning & afternoon tea.
Class cost: $130.00
Dates:
– March – Saturday 8th – Sunday 9th 2025
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Pincushion Workshop with Anna ‘Lalou and Boo’
Anna is a creative in Melbourne who works out of her home studio making textile-based artworks. You can find her art and follow her creative process on her Instagram account at ‘Lalou and Boo’. While Anna’s creations are predominantly based around the use fabric, she uses a variety of material types, embroidery techniques, embellishing materials and even paint/illustration to create her pieces. Her work is often inspired by nature and the world around her, and embodies a sense of whimsy, magic and a love for the long-lost slower pace of life. With a focus on mindful hand-stitching and a deep love of the creative process, Anna helps students fall in love with the simplicity of pulling needle and thread through fabric and encourages them to bring their own personalisation to their work.
Pincushion Workshop
Come learn to make an exquisite embroidered linen pincushion with Anna from start to finish, using English paper piecing, applique and embroidery. It is a lovely, achievable little project on which to learn some new skills and add a little beauty to your sewing kit.
Class cost includes tuition, morning & afternoon tea. Class runs from 10am – 3pm
Anna will provide a kit $20 payable to Anna on the day. Also required a little bit of stuffing & liberty. Available at Bella Fabrics.
Dates:
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Embroidered Silk Bracelet Workshop
Enjoy a day being surrounded by sumptuous silks, glass beads, vintage treasures and slow stitching as Anna teaches you to make your own divine embroidered bracelet. This project is all about the love of slowing down, hand stitching (including basic applique and embroidery) and being creative as you design your own bracelet and Anna helps you bring it to life.
Class cost includes tuition, morning & afternoon tea. Class runs from 10am – 3pm
Anna has an exquisite collection of dyed silks, old enamel-painted vintage charms, European glass beads, sequins and other embellishing materials which she will bring along for you to select from to make your bracelet. Access to these materials is $35 payable to Anna on the day by cash or card. You will also need to bring your embroidery threads (these are also available at the shop).
Class cost: $85
Dates:
– Saturday 17th May 2025
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
Louise Papas Sit and Sew
In memory of our beautiful friend and teacher Louise Papas.
This class is designed for previous students of Louise and new sewers to join in and carry on the love of quilting that Louise imparted to us all.
Third Friday in each month.
Class cost: $20
Dates:
– Friday 17th January 2025
– Friday 21st February 2025
– Friday 21st March 2025
– Friday 16th May 2025
– Friday 20th June 2025
For more information email us at jeannie@bellafabrics.com.au
