Sew Your Story

04/09/2026

Getting ready for the Appliqué Workshop! 🧵✂️🌺

There’s something rather satisfying about getting all the pieces ready before a workshop begins!

I’ve been sorting through my textile storytelling collection and putting together a colourful selection of appliqué pieces for everyone to choose from — flowers, leaves, butterflies, birds and all sorts of wonderful scraps and shapes.

The idea is simple: choose what catches your eye, play with the composition, and create something that feels like yours.

We’ll be working on these plain cotton bags, learning how to position, layer and stitch our appliqué pieces to create a completely individual design.

No two bags will be the same — and that’s exactly the point! ❤️

Getting ready for a lovely session of making, stitching and storytelling.
✨ SAVE THE DATES! ✨
📅 Sunday 27 September
📅 Wednesday 30 September
📅 Sunday 4 October
📅 Wednesday 7 October

01/09/2026

🌺 Busy getting ready for one of my School Holiday workshops at The Old Packhouse Kerikeri!

Your own FRIDA KAHLO Collage (face print 26cm x 18cm)

My Frida resources are a smorgasbord of inspiration — embroideries, flowers, cactus shapes, leaves and all sorts of wonderful textile details. I'm cutting and preparing all the motif fabrics for this collage — and there’s a LOT to play with! Move things around. Try things out. Make choices. See what happens.

You will hand stitch. Machine stitch. Stitch buttons.

Your finished collage can become a feature on a jacket, a cushion cover or a tote bag.

I’m having SO much fun getting this one ready. 🌺🪡

✨ SAVE THE DATES! ✨

📅 Sunday 27 September
📅 Wednesday 30 September
📅 Sunday 4 October
📅 Wednesday 7 October

More details coming soon! ❤️

30/08/2026

23/08/2026

The talented stallholders at the Old Packhouse have got together to form the Packhouse Creative Collective — bringing our different skills, ideas and love of making together to offer a series of school holiday workshops. ❤️

23/08/2026

🌿 SCHOOL HOLIDAY CREATIVITY IS COMING TO THE OLD PACKHOUSE! 🌿

We’re starting to put together something rather special for the September/October school holidays…

The Packhouse Creative Collective is planning a series of creative workshops where you can come along, try something new and make something to take home. ❤️

✨ TENTATIVE DATES — SAVE THE DATES! ✨

📅 SUNDAY 27 SEPTEMBER
📅 WEDNESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER
📅 SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER
📅 WEDNESDAY 7 OCTOBER

We’re looking at all sorts of creative possibilities — from block printing and appliqué to sewing, crochet, textile art and more.

Think:

🧵 Sewing & textiles
🎨 Block printing
🌿 Appliqué & embellishment
🧶 Crochet
🪡 Knitting
✨ Creative upcycling
…and plenty of opportunities to try something completely new!

The talented stallholders at the Old Packhouse have got together to form the Packhouse Creative Collective — bringing our different skills, ideas and love of making together to share with you during the school holidays. ❤️

📍 The Old Packhouse, 505 Kerikeri Road

Please note: these dates are provisional while we confirm availability with our creative practitioners. Workshop details, times and bookings will be announced once everything is locked in.

But for now…

Pop the dates in your calendar and keep an eye out — there’s some lovely creative stuff coming! 🧵🌿✨

16/08/2026

🌿 WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THE PACKHOUSE?

We're starting to gather some of the stories of the Old Packhouse — Then · Now · Next.

And we'd love to hear from the people who have been part of its story.

Maybe you worked there.
Maybe your parents did.
Maybe you bought your first piece of furniture there.
Maybe you remember the fruit trucks.
Maybe you had a business there.
Maybe you met your partner there!
Maybe you simply remember going there with your family, for Mother's Day, for Father's Day...for a catchup with old friends.

You don't have to write a story.

Just pop a little memory in the comments.

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the Packhouse?

A name.
A place.
A smell.
A person.
Something funny.
Something you bought.
Something you made.
Something you remember happening.

Let's see what starts to emerge…please comment here or email: Mary at [email protected]. Nga mihi

21/07/2026

🍕 Can you help Sew Your Story?

Next week we begin our Term programme in three local primary schools, and we're looking for lots of those shallow plastic trays that fruit, mushrooms, tomatoes and other supermarket produce come in.

For our Pizza's-of-Me collage activity, they're absolutely perfect for holding and displaying the hundreds of fabric pieces that students choose from. While we'd much rather avoid plastic where possible, reusing these trays is a great way to give them a second life.

If you have any tucked away that you'd otherwise recycle, we'd love to take them off your hands!

Please drop them into my Kombi Nation stall at the Old Packhouse Market this weekend.

Thank you for helping us inspire creativity in our tamariki. Every tray will be put to good use! 💛✂️🧵

16/07/2026

🌿 What does a Sew Your Story classroom look like?

As I prepare to work alongside schools next term, I thought I'd share a glimpse into the Sew Your Story learning journey.

Every activity has a purpose.

Students don't simply learn to sew. They explore identity, creativity, storytelling, problem-solving and belonging through hands-on experiences that connect with the New Zealand Curriculum and the Key Competencies.

From creating their own Pizza-of-Me, to exploring Te Kore, Te Pō and Te Ao Mārama, learning hand stitching, building Tāne Mahuta, and finally creating their own Taku Kōrero, every step builds confidence, curiosity and connection.

Over the coming weeks I'll introduce each stage of the journey and explain why it's there.

I look forward to working with new schools, teachers and tamariki as we begin another term of creating, stitching and discovering together.

Every child has a story. Every story deserves to be stitched.

15/07/2026

✨ Some garments are more than clothing—they become part of someone's story.

I had the absolute pleasure of creating this coat for Ashleigh, and seeing her wear it with such joy reminds me why I love making one-of-a-kind pieces.

Every coat I create is stitched with care, creativity and the hope that the person wearing it feels completely themselves.

Thank you, Ashleigh, for bringing this jacket to life. You wear it beautifully. 💛

15/07/2026

🌿 We've Moved!

Welcome to the next chapter of Sew Your Story.

As our programmes have grown, we've brought everything together into one official page.

From now on, you'll find all our:
🧵 School programmes
🌿 Community workshops
📚 Teacher resources
🦜 Creative projects...including our Kombi Nation Story Jackets
✨ News and events

on our new page.

👉 Please follow us HERE at our new official page:
Sew Your Story (.nz)

Thank you for being part of our journey. We can't wait to share what's next.

Every stitch tells a story.

— Mary & the Sew Your Story kākāpō 🦜