Saturday with Heidi Higgins: People are looking for a mindful activity to get them off their phones
Fashion designer and educator Heidi Higgins is hosting a series of exclusive sewing retreats this spring at the five-star Cashel Palace Hotel
I’ll be up at around 7.30am. Matilda, nine, Jasper, five, and Marni, four, will be up early. I just finished college before Christmas so I am enjoying having my weekends back again.
I started my teacher training part-time in September 2024 — completing the Graduate Diploma in Adult and Further Education in Mary Immaculate College at the end of last year. I have a new career, and a new lease of life, at 40.
I teach on the Fashion Design Course in Portarlington with the Laois and Offaly ETB. I teach pattern making, garment construction, fashion industry and design studies.
It’ll be waffles or pancakes for breakfast and taking it nice and easy. Because my kids are so small they don’t do GAA or anything at the weekend, so we always have a plan for a visit or a playdate.
Their school friends will come over or my own school friends will come over with their kids. If I’m doing a sewing workshop I’ll head off early in the morning to set up the room with the equipment and sewing machines before my guests arrive at around 10am.
If I’m teaching a sewing workshop I could have total beginners or people with some experience. If they’re beginners, the morning will be spent familiarising them with the sewing machine, learning how to do the basics… we’ll break for a lovely lunch and then we will start on their project in the afternoon.
If I have an intermediate group we’ll spend the morning cutting out the garment that they want to make and in the afternoon we’ll start working on it — it just depends on the level the people are at.
It’s important that people feel like they’re making good progress and even if they’ve just made something simple that they can see the fruits of their labour. I sometimes have younger people such as TY students, but in general, my students tend to be anywhere from 25 to 80.
I find people are really into crafting at the moment — people are looking for a mindful activity and something to get them off their phones. There are so many talented people out there — some of the Ukrainian women I’ve met recently have incredible skills.
If I’m at home, we love to entertain on a Saturday so we’ll be making the food, setting the table really nicely for lunch — the girls love helping me with that.
If I’m teaching the sewing class we’ll break for lunch in the venue. If I’m at home, I’ll do a big pot of something to suit everyone as people will pop in at whatever time suits them. I might make a curry or cold salads so that visitors have fresh food when they arrive.
I try to make the afternoon parent-friendly — my house is a bit like a hotel, we love to see people and are delighted to have the opportunity to meet friends – both mine and the kids’. We make a party about everything, an event out of anything, even the dog’s birthday, to make Saturday a fun day at home.
If I’ve been teaching the sewing class I’ll arrive home at around 5pm. The kids will help me unload the car — they’re well used to it at this stage and they know that once the car is unloaded then Mammy’s home and we can play Uno or whatever they want to do.
The kids are all different ages so we’ll watch a movie that they all like. It won’t be quiet movie watching — they’ll be moving around, singing all the songs, making popcorn…
It might be 9.30 or 10pm before the kids are in bed. Myself and my husband might watch something on Netflix. At the moment we’re watching The Lincoln Lawyer. I might sneak in an episode of Emily in Paris, Motherland, or Amandaland the odd time too.
It’s always midnight before I get to bed. I have a pile of books at my bedside but I never seem to get to any of them. I studied so much before Christmas that I need a break from reading right now. I wouldn’t say that I ‘journal’ but I usually take some time to write my to-do list for the next day. I’m an organiser for sure. I find that getting my thoughts out of my head and onto paper helps me to sleep better at the end of the day.
Fashion designer and educator Heidi Higgins is hosting a series of exclusive sewing retreats this spring at the five-star Cashel Palace Hotel. Running half-day hand-sewing retreats starting from €100, to full-day immersive sewing experiences priced at €250, the retreats cater to all skill levels.
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