With a focus on sustainable fashion, and nod to heritage techniques indigenous to Monaghan, including hand-weaving and lace-making, choose from a creative slow sewing retreat led by Gaye Moore, a graduate of Limerick Art & Design with an impressive career spanning decades as a bridal designer, stylist and fashion buyer.  And Escape to Style with leading style consultant, Maria Macklin, which will teach you how to streamline your wardrobe and develop your personal style blueprint.

The RE:STYLE Sewing Retreat takes place at the Doohamlet Community Centre over two days, 8^th and 9^th March 2025. Two days of immersive workshops and experience cost €595pp, with accommodation packages available. The itinerary includes personalised sewing tuition, a tour of Liz Christy’s hand-weaving studio in nearby Annyalla, and dinner/afternoon tea at the idyllic Castle Leslie Estate.

Choose from one, two and three-day itineraries for Escape to Style. The basic package includes a colour consultation with Maria, essentials make-up kit, a mini style consultation with overnight accommodation, dinner, breakfast and lunch. The full, three-day package includes a dinner at the award-winning Courthouse Restaurant in Carrickmacross, visit to Liz Christy’s studio a full style consultation and personal 1-2-1 shopping, with a focus on local Monaghan boutiques and charity shops. Prices start from €1,395 per person, with a choice of available dates.

Monaghan has a long association with textile production and heritage crafts, home to Carrickmacross and Clones Lace, two distinctive styles of international repute. Meanwhile, out at Swallow Studios, traditional techniques such as hand-weaving and batik and silk-painting are enjoying a revival at the hands of artists Liz Christy and Louise Loughman. Convert Textiles, just outside Carrickmacross, specialises in upcycling fabric otherwise destined for landfill, with sewist/business owner Hannah McMahon creating everything from eye pillows and Christmas decorations to headbands and snoods.