![\"Fashion](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5231425_4_articleinline_Heidi_Higgins_Sewing_Retreat_Profile_photo.jpg\" "\\"Fashion")
Fashion designer Heidi Higgins runs sewing retreats for all levels in Laois.<\/p>\nI was a tangled ball of nerves as I approached my very first sewing class. I have used a sewing machine before, but it was years ago, and I am a bit rusty.<\/p>\n
Today I am joining a class at Glounthaune Community Centre, Cork, run by Joanna O\u2019Dowd. We would be making a zippered make-up bag, a relatively simple project but with some technical elements, including inserting a zip and adding interfacing to add stiffness to the fabric.<\/p>\n
A quiet revolution seems to be happening in the world of crafting. A growing interest among Gen Z is helping, with sewing tips videos on TikTok attracting millions of views and sewing classes in the US selling out quickly. The New York Times summed up the change recently, stating that sewing has \u201cbecome cool again\u201d.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s evidence that this interest is growing in Ireland, too. Sewing classes are popping up all over Irish social media. And classes like O\u2019Dowd\u2019s fill up fast.<\/p>\n
The renewed interest in sewing appears to span all age groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Mondays, I run a beginner\u2019s class, and I notice the mixture of generations at this class,\u201d says O\u2019Dowd. \u201cJust this week, there was a young woman with her mom, there were a couple of women in their early 30s, and there was a mix of other age groups.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Glounthaune class I attend is for those who have used a sewing machine before, and the age range is also varied. I settle down as O\u2019Dowd sets me up at my machine.<\/p>\n
Within minutes, it\u2019s as if I\u2019ve been part of the group for weeks. We chat about fabric choices, sewing techniques, garments we\u2019ve made, and as it\u2019s Ireland, I realise that I went to secondary school with the woman sitting across from me \u2014 we haven\u2019t seen each other in 35 years.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a relaxed vibe in the room, fostered by O\u2019Dowd, who is welcoming, knowledgeable, encouraging and funny. She\u2019s been running classes for over five years and has formed solid connections in that time. Prices for her classes vary. Mine, which lasted three hours and included all materials, cost \u20ac40. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat connects us is the sewing. I don\u2019t know if you are a solicitor or a stay-at-home mom. In the class, you\u2019re removed from all of the stresses and parts of life that exhaust us. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe one common denominator between all of us is sewing, and we\u2019re stripped of anything else. None of those other things matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Dowd, who also runs monthly sewing get-togethers for those who attend or have attended her classes, called Sewcials \u2013 a nominal fee covers insurance costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea behind sewcial is that they are for people who don\u2019t need my classes anymore but just want to hang out. It is as much about sharing skills as it is just hanging out together, because sewing can be a little bit solitary.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Dowd\u2019s social life is stitched into her work. She has formed a close-knit group of friends born out of her classes and sewcials.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a group of friends that I made within my classes. We have become close friends. A group of about 10 of us go on sewing retreats twice a year. We rent an Airbnb somewhere in the country, we just eat, drink wine, and sew for three days straight, and it\u2019s so wholesome. It\u2019s incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Embracing vulnerability<\/p>\n
Fashion designer Heidi Higgins has also created a thriving sewing community around her. She currently teaches a full QQI Level 5 fashion design course in the Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board. Once some students finish her course, they like to continue sewing.<\/p>\n
Fashion designer Heidi Higgins runs sewing retreats for all levels in Laois.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I set up a sewing community. Some meet in Portlaoise or Stradbally Library once a week. And then once a month, I host a sewing retreat for that sewing community, and we all meet up, and we do a sewing project. I have people ringing from all over the country looking to join us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like O\u2019Dowd, she notes that those coming along to the sewing meet-ups or retreats are looking to meet like-minded people, to switch off, and learn a new skill.<\/p>\n
Of course, learning a new skill isn\u2019t always easy, and often you\u2019ll need to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. But O\u2019Dowd sees this learning curve as a good thing. \u201cWhen you come to learn a new skill, you have to be a little bit vulnerable and give yourself permission to be spectacularly bad at something because you have to do that to get better. That vulnerability, I think, makes the connections in these groups a little bit more intimate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The social aspect<\/p>\n
In O\u2019Dowd\u2019s class, as I relearn how to use a sewing machine, that intimacy isn\u2019t long in forming. The conversations start with fabric choices and sewing tips, and naturally evolve to family life, perimenopause, getting older, all wrapped up with the humour you often find when groups of like-minded women come together.<\/p>\n
For O\u2019Dowd, community or connection is central to her classes, not a by-product. \u201cThere are a lot of dangers in our lives in 2026. But for me, the kind of thing that creeps very much into my ‘back garden’ is this disconnection that we have as a species, and people are lonely.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to a 2022 EU survey<\/a>, is most prevalent in Ireland, with more than one in five respondents reporting feeling lonely. A 2024 Harvard report<\/a> found that social connections can help people live longer and healthier lives. It points to creative clubs in particular as a way to address social disconnection.<\/p>\n Today, the internet means we can do many things from the comfort of our own home \u2014 we can shop for groceries, exercise, and learn a new skill.<\/p>\n But O\u2019Dowd, noting that during the covid pandemic we experienced an extreme case of home-based living, believes \u201cpeople are getting a little tired of the comfort of their own homes\u201d.<\/p>\n The pandemic also reminded us that our need to socialise is fundamental.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s one thing I never considered when I started these classes,\u201d says O\u2019Dowd. \u201cI just wanted to share this beautiful skill that I have, this gorgeous hobby that I have. I never planned to build this community. I never planned for so many friendships that I have built.\u201d<\/p>\n Higgins agrees that in-person connections are important. \u201cPhysical meet-ups have to happen. Having a WhatsApp group is lovely, but after a while, you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, there\u2019s another video coming through, so what\u2019. But meeting in person is different. When I meet the girls now, we\u2019ll all be wearing something that we made. And we\u2019re all so proud of ourselves and each other.\u201d<\/p>\n I understand that feeling of pride. At the end of my sewing class, I\u2019ve produced a fully lined, zipped makeup bag. It\u2019s not perfect by any means, but I\u2019m so proud of it. Just two hours ago, this bag was a collection of fabric, zips and thread. Now it\u2019s a functional item that I have made.<\/p>\n As we finish up the class, we congratulate each other on our makes \u2014 the feel-good factor leaving the classroom is palpable.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you complete something that you have created with your own two hands from nothing but a flat piece of fabric, you are getting the same dopamine release as you do when you work out,\u201d says O\u2019Dowd. \u201cThat sense of achievement is wonderful, and it\u2019s very primal as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was a tangled ball of nerves as I approached my very first sewing class. I have used…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[26054,38459,500,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-628126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-health-life","tag-health-mind","tag-september-reset","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Weekend](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5231428_4_articleinline_Heidi_Higgins_Weekend_Sewing_workshop_in_OLD_SCHOOL_LIVING_TIPPERARY.jpg\" "\\"Weekend")
Weekend workshops are an ideal way to connect with new people.<\/p>\n