THE PROGRAMME

Women Who Make Artist Showcase

Meet women artists and makers from across Derbyshire and beyond.

More than a market, the Women Who Make Artist Showcase is a space to discover handmade work, meet the women behind it, hear the stories behind the pieces and experience creativity in action.

Browse, connect and perhaps find something special to take home.

The Ripple Effect Installation

Discover a striking wearable textile installation inspired by our oceans and created with more than 100 community contributors.

Made from materials already in circulation, The Ripple Effect explores fast fashion, throwaway culture and our relationship with the natural world – asking what can happen when creativity and community come together to make differently.

The Ethical Atelier

Curated by Abigail Wastie

Discover fashion, accessories and homeware made by women manufacturing in the UK – from independent makers to field-to-factory businesses.

Meet the makers, shop consciously and explore the skills, materials and stories behind what we buy.

Does UK Fashion Manufacturing Have a Future?

An Ethical Atelier Panel

2pm–2.30pm

Led by Abigail Wastie

Join women working across UK fashion manufacturing to explore making onshore, sustaining skills and businesses, and what the future could hold for UK-made fashion.

Does Sexism Still Exist Within UK Fashion Manufacturing?

An Ethical Atelier Panel

3.30pm–4pm

Led by Abigail Wastie

An all-women panel exploring gender, leadership, working culture and women’s experiences within UK fashion manufacturing.

Talks Programme (Add-On Tickets Available)

A programme of talks, readings and conversations bringing together women working across fashion, footwear, design, textiles, heritage and the built environment.

Book in advance to guarantee your seat. There may also be a small number of seats available on the day on a first come, first served basis, with additional space to stand and listen.

10am–10.45am | The Nature of Fashion

Carry Somers

Join Carry Somers, author, changemaker and co-founder of the global Fashion Revolution movement, whose work connects fashion, nature and creativity. Carry founded Pachacuti, the world’s first Fair Trade certified company, and is now an expert consultant for the UN International Trade Centre, alongside her role as Director of League of Artisans.

Drawing on her book The Nature of Fashion, Carry will uncover the fascinating connections between what we wear and the natural world. Journey through the stories of plant fibres and dyes, discover how our clothes connect us to landscapes and ecosystems, and explore how choices made across centuries continue to shape the world around us today.

11am–11.45am | Best Foot Forward

Sasha Archer

Step inside the world of footwear with designer and bespoke shoemaker Sasha Archer, whose practice brings together traditional shoemaking skills, contemporary design and a deep understanding of how shoes are constructed.

What should we really look for when buying shoes? Sasha will share what goes into a well-made pair, what materials and construction can tell us about quality, and practical ways to choose well, care for our footwear and help it last longer.

12pm–12.45pm | Woven to Last

Ruth Faris & Bea Uprichard | Fishbone & Sycamore

Meet Ruth Faris and Bea Uprichard of Fishbone & Sycamore, contemporary weavers keeping specialist textile knowledge and traditional Jacquard weaving skills alive.

Drawing on their experience of weaving silk, Ruth and Bea will take us behind the cloth to explore the time, skill and craftsmanship involved in creating textiles. Discover how understanding how something is made – and the people and processes behind it – can change the way we value, care for and keep what we own.

1pm–1.45pm | Portals to Other Worlds

Anisha Parmar, Khadijah Carberry & Sophie Gresswell

A conversation between Anisha Parmar, Khadijah Carberry and Sophie Gresswell, expanding on conversations that began during the Women Who Make Making as Soft Power webinar in April.

Since then, the three creatives have taken part in an Out of Practice residency together in Nottingham, where threads began to weave between their practices – exploring objects, diaspora, migration and moving through time.

Now, in the setting of Masson Mills, they come together again to share some of these thoughts and explore the ways we move through different worlds.

3pm–3.30pm | The Nature of Fashion

A Reading with Carry Somers

Take a moment to pause and listen as Carry Somers shares selected passages from her book The Nature of Fashion.

Part travelogue, part cultural history, the book journeys across landscapes and centuries, tracing the roots of plant fibres and dyes and the connections between fashion and the natural world.

This intimate reading offers a chance to experience Carry’s writing in her own voice and discover some of the stories, places and ideas woven through the book.

Booking is not required for this reading.

4pm–4.30pm | What If We Built Differently?

Claire Pedley | The Poured Project

What if we could rethink concrete? Discover how The Poured Project combines waste and recycled materials with craftsmanship and innovative design to create beautiful, long-lasting pieces for the spaces we live in.

Booking is not required for this Talk.

Workshops & Activities

Get hands-on and discover creative ways to make, reuse, repair and reimagine.

Most workshops are drop-in throughout the day. Where places are limited and advance booking is required, this is clearly marked.

Make, Shake & Sing! (Add-On Tickets Available)

Sarah Dale | Lullanotes 10am–11am

Make it, shake it, then make some music! Join Sarah Dale from Lullanotes for a playful creative session combining making, music and movement for little ones and their grown-ups.

Start by transforming simple recyclable materials into your own tambourine, then put it to use with songs, rhythm, movement and live music. A joyful opportunity to make together, get moving and enjoy making plenty of noise!

Suitable for children aged 0–5 and their grown-ups. Older siblings are very welcome too.

BOOKABLE

Please book a ticket for everyone attending the session, including adults, babies, children and siblings.

Masson Mill Poetry Circle (Add-On Tickets Available)

Suzanne Helen Reynolds

10.30am–11.30am & 2pm–3pm

Discover the stories held within Masson Mill through words, memory and place. Creative Writing researcher Suzanne Helen Reynolds’ work is deeply inspired by the Derwent Valley, exploring the landscape, heritage and stories that run alongside the river.

In this intimate creative writing circle, Suzanne will invite you to respond to the mill and its surroundings, gathering words, thoughts and observations before weaving them together to create a shared poem inspired by Masson Mill and the Derwent Valley.

You don’t need to think of yourself as a writer – no previous writing experience is needed, just curiosity and a willingness to have a go.

BOOKABLE

Dare to Dream Sewing Bee

Sue Reddish, Alex Murphy & Laura Burill

This drop-in workshop invites you to craft banners, flags and textile pieces that carry your dreams and ideas for the future. Using reclaimed fabrics and found materials, transform everyday textiles into powerful symbols of hope, possibility and change.

Your creation will become part of Dare to Dream, a growing collection of contributions made by communities across Derbyshire. These pieces will be brought together in 2027 as part of a collective celebration, sharing the hopes, ideas and dreams gathered throughout the project.

No experience needed – just imagination and a desire to make something special.

Scrap, Stitch & Mend

Netty Lou | Story of Things

Give scrap fabric a new purpose and discover the creative possibilities of visible mending. Join Netty Lou from Story of Things to make your own colourful fabric patch, using simple hand-stitching techniques inspired by the Japanese traditions of sashiko and boro, where cloth is repaired, reinforced and given new life rather than thrown away.

Choose from different fabrics, colours and threads, learn simple stitches and create a unique patch to take away and use to repair or personalise something of your own.

No sewing experience needed – simply drop in, have a go and discover the joy of making something worth keeping.

Fantasy Dragonflies: Making Magic from Textile Scraps

Tania Holmes

11am–1pm & 2pm–5pm

Drop in and discover how scraps of fabric can be transformed into something magical. Artist and maker Tania Holmes will show you how to turn textile scraps into colourful beads, before adding wings, eyes and decorative details to create your own fantastical dragonfly to take home.

Choose your colours, textures and patterns to make your dragonfly as bright, bold or wonderfully unusual as you like. You’re also welcome to bring along your own small fabric scraps and give them a new life.

Suitable for adults and children aged 7+. All children must be accompanied and supported by an adult. No previous making experience is needed.

Portals to Other Worlds: Workshop (Add-On Tickets Available)

Anisha Parmar, Khadijah Carberry & Sophie Gresswell

2pm–4pm

Create your own portal to another world in this playful and reflective making workshop exploring identity, connection and how we move between past, present and future.

Jewellery designer Anisha Parmar, Generous Waste founder Khadijah Carberry and artist and poet Sophie Gresswell bring together their different creative practices to guide you through the process. Drawing on Anisha’s eye for jewellery and design, Khadijah’s work with sustainable materials and mapping, and Sophie’s love of words and storytelling, you’ll create your own bespoke three-dimensional collage.

Layer materials, maps, jewellery and words to make a portal full of personal meaning – a physical and visual reminder of who you are, the stories you carry and the worlds you move between.

BOOKABLE

Make, Mend & Dabble

Derbyshire Federation of Women’s Institutes

Drop in, pull up a chair and have a go at something crafty with the WI. Discover simple ways to turn everyday and leftover materials into something useful or beautiful, with a changing selection of activities throughout the day.

You might make a fabric flower brooch, transform an old CD into a clever fabric-covered playing card holder, try your hand at macramé, or discover something else to make and take home.

Walks

Coming soon..

Explore & Discover

No booking needed – simply explore throughout the day.

Step inside spaces across Masson Mills, discover its textile heritage, see skills and machinery in action and explore ideas for how we might build and live differently.

The Weaving Shed

10am–5pm

Step inside The Weaving Shed, part of Masson Mills’ historic textile museum, open free to festival visitors for the day.

Discover historic machinery, textile stories and the generations of making that have shaped this remarkable mill.

Weaving in Action

With Amanda Nichol | Throughout the day

Step inside Masson’s textile story through historic machinery and weaving demonstrations, connecting the skills and labour of the mill with how textiles are made and valued today.

Follow the Thread

Ruth Faris & Bea Uprichard | Fishbone & Sycamore | Throughout the day

Meet silk weavers Ruth and Bea for demonstrations of Jacquard weaving and conversations about the process, heritage skills, craftsmanship and why understanding how cloth is made matters.

Explore the Future of Living

Home by Milestone

Step inside Home by Milestone’s Passivhaus Centre of Excellence, set across the historic, hydro-powered Masson Mills.

For one day, explore spaces not usually open to the public and discover sustainable materials, low-energy building solutions and innovative technologies shaping the future of how we build and live

Practical Info

Festival entry is free – register now and be the first to know when additional add-on tickets go live.

• Add-on tickets will be required for some workshops and walks.
• Parking charges apply at Masson Mills.
• Accessibility: Please note: Masson Mills is a historic building. Lift access is available, however some areas may have uneven or sloping floors due to the nature of the site. If you have specific access needs, please get in touch with the organisers ahead of time and we’ll do our best to support you.
• Families, friends, makers and curious visitors are all welcome.

About Women Who Make

Women Who Make celebrates the power of women to make, inspire and transform. This curated seasonal programme of monthly gatherings provides a space for inspiration, learning and mutual support through hybrid talks, walks, and workshops. It explores innovations in making and design, storytelling, art for social impact, and how local heritage influences contemporary making.

Programmed by Local Creative Projects Ltd

About Derbyshire Makes

Derbyshire Makes is a programme of cultural activity highlighting Derbyshire’s creative legacy. It engages new and existing audiences through high-quality creative events – including community-produced projects and artist-led commissions – as part of the Derbyshire Makes Festival and other countywide activities. Funded by Arts Council England’s Place Partnership fund (National Lottery) and Derbyshire County Council, Derbyshire Makes proudly collaborates with over 50 partners.