Six chic craft retreats around the world
Ceramic throwing, indigo dyeing, ajrakh block printing and more — from Rye to Yunnan
Casa Julfa, France
In the medieval town of Montmorillon, central France, Casa Julfa is a centuries-old house decorated with frescoes and antique Armenian rugs. Owner Corinne Aivazian, an artist whose work has been commissioned by the British Ceramics Biennial, started offering creative workshops here nearly a decade ago. “At that time, it was difficult to fill four places; now they book up months in advance,” she says.
Participants are a mixed, international crowd; a recent sewing retreat brought together a lawyer, UN worker, nurse and ceramicist to rework vintage pieces. At the end of October, Aivazian and residency curator Blue Firth will lead a session of wild clay foraging and moonlit wood firing (€2,495), while next year sculptor Re Jin Lee will teach the making of Korean moon jars (€2,995). Group stays include home-cooked meals of local produce, antiquing trips to nearby brocantes, wild swimming and a visit to the thermal spa at La Roche-Posay. casajulfa.org
Thread Caravan, various locations
Operating in different global locations, from Japan to Guatemala, Thread Caravan builds excursions around artisans. A five-day trip to Oaxaca ($3,200), running in November and December, includes a natural-dye workshop by an all-women artisan co-operative in Teotitlán del Valle, and a basket-weaving session using locally sourced carrizo reeds.
Guests will stay at Grana, an 18th-century home turned boutique hotel. Meanwhile, in January 2027, an eight-day expedition to India’s Gujarat region invites guests to try their hand at spinning, weaving, bell forging and embroidery, working with heirloom kala cotton and the ajrakh technique of block printing. threadcaravan.com
De Haan Gallery Studio, Mallorca
Maria De Haan has been teaching ceramics in Mallorcafor almost a decade. Last year, she opened De Haan Gallery Studio in the hilltop village of Deià, hosting pottery courses looking out across the Tramuntana mountains. “I wanted to move away from the idea of ceramics being taught in a functional, industrial workshop,” says De Haan, who worked with local design studio Terra Coll to create a calm, considered space with hand-carved stone sinks and reclaimed timber shelves.
Ceramicists from around the world are invited to run specialist workshops. In September, Roz Wallis, founder of Chiswickpots in West London, teaches a four-day beginners’ course on wheel throwing (€960), while next June, Mexican potter Lucia Ocejo demonstrates how to make tableware (€1,200). Accommodation and food are organised separately by guests.
dehaangallerystudio.com
dehaangallerystudio.com
Puyu Retreat, Yunnan, China
“Craft is how a place explains itself,” says Rania Zheng, co-founder of China’s wellness-focused travel company Puyu. In the Yunnan village of Shaxi, along the ancient Tea Horse Road, the Maker retreat ($2,320) is a six-day immersion into traditional indigo-dyeing. “It felt like the truest way into the local Bai culture and the overall feel of the valley,” adds Zheng.
Classes are led by local artisans alongside daily baduanjin sessions, guided foraging walks and cooking classes. There are three remaining 2026 trips scheduled – in September, October and November – with two further editions planned for 2027. puyuretreat.com
Domaine de Boisbuchet, France
For more than 30 years, Domaine de Boisbuchet, a 150-hectare estate in the French Charente countryside that has been reinvented as a research centre for design and architecture, has run an ambitious season of summer workshops. Tutors have included Shigeru Ban, Tom Dixon and Ron Arad.
This year’s programme includes Le Papier Monumental, a course in creating large-scale paper installations with Aline Houdé-Diebolt (23-29 August), and Wearing Landscape, an exploration of fashion and fibres with Emma Bruschi (30 August-5 September). From €1,090, including tuition, board and materials. boisbuchet.org
Merchant & Mills, East Sussex
A “wonderland of cloth and inspiration” is how Carolyn Denham describes Merchant & Mills, the fabric shop she co-founded in 2010 in the East Sussex town of Rye. In the studio above the boutique, she organises around 30 sewing retreats a year (from £1,700), each limited to just six places and spanning six nights. Students of all levels choose a Merchant & Mills pattern (from the relaxed Wednesday trousers to the workwear-inspired Arbor shirt) and fabric (such as striped Japanese linen or Indian handwoven gingham), then get to work under the guidance of two in-house tutors.
Accommodation is just a few minutes away at The Grove, a townhouse Denham bought and renovated in 2020, its rooms now dressed in the shop’s fabrics and antique textiles. The next batch of 2027 dates will drop later this month – and places sell out swiftly. merchantandmills.
