THURSDAY MORNING ZUMBINI

Let your little ones have fun getting active in these new zumbini sessions with Charley.

Zumbini combines music, dance and educational tools for children aged 0 to 4 years.

PER CHILD £6.00

Bookings should be made in advance using the link below:

INSPIRATION AND RECREATION: SEWING 17C STYLE CLOTHES

A talk from Caroline Vincent

Caroline Vincent joined the Sealed Knot as a student and met lovely people and had great fun, but from the start she felt the kit she wore could be improved.

Since then, she has spent time researching, ,visiting museums, going to lectures and reading books to learn how to draft patterns and sew 17th century style clothes. It has sent her down many rabbit holes of exploration and in this fascinating talk she will show you what she has learnt with examples of what she has created.

Part of Visit Worcestershire’s ‘Sew Civil War’ project.

ADULTS £7.00

Bookings should be made in advance using the link below:

HERITAGE OPEN DAY

A day to celebrate our local heritage, supported by local community groups. Amongst the wide range of local activities we will have:

• A range of iconic motorbikes from the Royal Enfield Owners Club.
• Meticulously built model boats from the Little Radford Model Boat Club.
• Live music from Indigo Arts, our local community charity supporting young people, with a preview of ‘The Eye of the Needle’ musical.
• AIR (Arts in Redditch), a charitable organisation promoting and supporting the arts, will be on-side with local artists and information on art in the town.
• Free entry to the current exhibition in the museum gallery.
• Free entry into the museum – the only existing water powered scouring mill.
• Tours by experienced volunteer guides of the Needle Museum and the Bordesley Abbey ruins.
• And more…

Refreshments and light lunches will be available from the Mill View Coffee Bar.

ADMISSION FREE
Includes entry into the museum

COMMONWEALTH LACE

A talk from Mary Coleman

What lace did the Puritans wear between the Stuart reigns? A fascinating talk illustrated with examples of lace from the Lace Guild Museum Collection.

This talk is presented by Mary Coleman, Honorary Assistant Curator from The Lace Guild Museum.

Part of Visit Worcestershire’s ‘Sew Civil War’ project.

ADULTS £7.00

Bookings should be made in advance using the link below:

PORTRAITS, PURITANS AND PETTICOATS

A talk from Stuart Orme

Fashion in the mid-1600s. A talk by Stuart Orme, Curator of the Oliver Cromwell Museum.

The mid-1600s saw changes in fashion, forced by not only by continental influences but the impact of the Civil Wars and the Republic. What were these changes and how did people of this period dress? Did all Puritans wear black and Cavaliers wear lace? What do the portraits of the period tell us and in what way are they misleading?

Part of Visit Worcestershire’s ‘Sew Civil War’ project.

ADULTS £7.00

Bookings should be made in advance using the link below:

INSPIRED BY 17th CENTURY CASKET EMBROIDERY WORKSHOP

A workshop with Heather Lewis

As part of research for a book, Heather studied historical embroidered caskets from the V & A. The embroidery in this workshop was designed alongside a casket she made for the book and features scrolling stems of couched gold thread, a three-dimensional needlelace leaf, silk shaded strawberry and embellished with gold spangles.

Part of Visit Worcestershire’s ‘Sew Civil War’ project.

ADULTS £80.00 (including £30 class kit)

Bookings should be made in advance using the link below:

EYE OF A NEEDLE: THE MUSICAL

Presented by Indigo Arts

The outstanding IndigoCo return to Forge Mill bringing their critically acclaimed musical for Redditch, back to its roots.

Eye of a Needle breathes life into the history of the town and its people, through one family’s tale of love, life and death. Prepare to take an emotional and thought-provoking journey, travelling through time from the days when wolves howled outside Bordesley Abbey, through the years of industrialisation, to the present day.

Indigo are creating a theatre within a Marquee for this production.

Refreshments will be available from the Forge Mill Coffee Bar.

Performances on:

• Friday 18 September 2026, at 7.30pm
• Saturday 19 September 2026, at 7.30pm
• Sunday 20 September 2026, at 6.00pm

ADULTS £15.00, CHILDREN £12.00

Bookings should be made in advance using the link below:

TEXTILE WORKSHOP: STITCH-SCAPES

Join Liske for a short collage and stitch workshop. Dip into our hand dyed & printed fabrics to create your own landscape or seascape. We will then enjoy some slow stitching to add details and character to your piece.

Finished landscape will be approx 12cm square and can be mounted onto a wooden block.

A textile workshop inspired by our Wandering Threads Exhibition.

PER PERSON £22.00

Bookings should be made in advance using the link below:

TEXTILE WORKSHOP: LAYERED LANDSCAPE – PRINT AND STITCH

Enjoy a taste of working in mixed media, as you create a textile layered landscape with Ruth. Begin by adding a flourish of print to your pre-painted fabric,  creating a background texture of grasses. Then embellish  the foreground area further, with hand embroidery stitches representing grasses and flowers.

You may wish to complete your Artwork at home and display it in the mini 11cm hoop supplied.

A textile workshop inspired by our Wandering Threads Exhibition.

PER PERSON £22.00

Bookings should be made in advance using the link below:

BLACKWORK EMBROIDERY WORKSHOP

A workshop with Leon Conrad

Ups and Downs: Reversible ‘Spanish Stitch’ embroidery based on Civil War period samplers.

Learn to stitch like it’s 1640: where every ending is a new beginning, and the path you map out reveals a masterpiece.

Part of Visit Worcestershire’s ‘Sew Civil War’ project.

Workshop Information Sheet

ADULTS £65.00

Bookings should be made in advance using the link below:

GOLDWORK EMBROIDERY WORKSHOP

A workshop with Leon Conrad

A Gorgeous Glimpse of Gold. Bring more bling and work more ‘wow’ into your needlework as you engage with the magnificence, glamour, and magic of embroidering with gold thread, just as stitchers did in the 16th and 17th Centuries.

Part of Visit Worcestershire’s ‘Sew Civil War’ project.

Workshop Information Sheet

ADULTS £30.00

Bookings should be made in advance using the link below:

A VEIL OF MYSTERY

A talk from Leon Conrad

English 16th and 17th Century Embroidered and Woven Textile Bookbindings.

This engaging talk reveals the often hidden and secret stories behind richly decorated textile bookbindings produced in England in the 16th and 17th centuries. Are the flowers, figures, and fastenings purely decorative — or do they hint at something more? Come and decide for yourself!

Part of Visit Worcestershire’s ‘Sew Civil War’ project.

ADULTS £7.00

Bookings should be made in advance using the link below:

TEXTILE WORKSHOP: TIDELINE MINI EMBROIDERY

Capture the essence of the coast as you create a stitched doodle inspired by the Tideline with Ruth. Begin by stitching shells onto a fabric background (Use those provided or bring some of your own) Be guided as you create hand embroidered patterns and textures in the background space, to capture the essence of time by the sea. You may wish to complete the artwork at home and display it in the mini 11cm embroidery hoop supplied.

All materials provided (bring your own shells if you have some special ones that you would like to use).

A textile workshop inspired by our Wandering Threads Exhibition.

PER PERSON £22.00

Bookings should be made in advance using the link below: