Textile festival returns to Farsley's Sunny Bank Mills

Sunny Bank Mills in Farsley is once again opening the doors of its iconic 1912 Mill for the third annual Threads Textile Festival over the weekend of Saturday 17th – Sunday 18th May, 2025.

Threads Textile Festival will feature a Market with over 50 independent businesses and textile makers on each of the two days, selling everything from quality fabric and haberdashery supplies, wool and yarn, textile kits, clothing, homewares and more. Meet and talk to makers, artists and suppliers from all over the UK and buy direct from them.

There is also an additional free exhibition area at the top of the 1912 Mill, with exhibitors including Alwoodley Quilters, The Northern Society of Costume and Textiles, Bradford College, Malcolm the Weaver and Saba Siddiqui’s interactive installation Defiance My Way which won the People’s Choice Award for the 2024 FUAM Graduate Art Prize. Alongside all of this are free family-friendly drop-in workshops, no booking required.
As well as the Market and free exhibition area, a series of textile related pre-bookable talks and workshops are taking place across the Mills.

The Threads Festival talks programme has an international flavour and roams the world from The Caribbean, to France, The Netherlands and the UK.

Learn about Caribbean craft from Dr Rose Sinclair as she explores the history of crokus bags, their many uses, and their significance within Caribbean culture. Find out about the intriguing history of luxury textiles from textile artist, researcher and teacher Rebecca Devaney. Meet the Dutch and Yorkshire artists from Loops textile exhibition for a unique insight into their process, the chance to ask questions and have a go at making a loop. Discover textile stories from The Quilters’ Guild’s Collection from the Quilt Collection’s curator Heather Audin.

Throughout the weekend, there’s an extensive workshop programme with something for everyone whether you are a beginner, somewhere in the middle or at an advanced level.

Join designer and maker Aidan Liggins and create a block printed lampshade. A fan of rustic mark making? Victoria Merness creates expressive monoprint textile samples. Mills’ resident weaving teacher Agnis Smallwood is offering 3 workshops - a short intro to weaving on a traditional dobby loom; a relaxed and experimental weaving workshop using a postcard to weave, stitch and create onto; a fun session creating a pair of potholders, coffee mug rugs or plant pot mats.

Rebekah Johnston is teaching her straightforward method for needle turn applique; Ria Mathieson of Slow Hands Creative, on screen printing and stitching a wall hanging; Jo Wanner of Tråd Collective on how to repair beloved clothing with a range of sewing techniques; learn the art of wet felting with talented artist Henry Morris; textile artist and researcher Rebecca Devaney shows how to translate text onto fabric using stitch; Pattern Play is a hands-on, high-energy workshop where creativity takes shape, led by designer and senior lecturer Julie Hughes; experiment and explore how to create abstract fibre sculptures with Loops artist Jane Claire Wilson; stitch your own decorative toadstool with fabrics naturally dyed by Kayleigh Davis from Ocre Natural Dye Studio.

Dr Sarah Gaunt, Threads Textile Festival director, said: “This is our third year of holding a textile festival at Sunny Bank Mills. Threads highlights just how enthusiastic people are about textiles whether that’s shopping for textiles, learning and developing skills or listening to expert speakers. We have programmed this year’s Festival to include something for everyone, whether you are studying textiles or have been sewing your whole life.

Everyone who attends the Festival really appreciates the historic Mills’ setting and the care we take in delivering the Threads experience. We pride ourselves on our attention to detail and that we go the extra mile to ensure that everyone has a fantastic time. Our visitor numbers increase every year which is testament to Threads’ popularity.”

She continued: “It’s not all just happening in the 1912 Mill either. Threads is a site-wide experience! This year our Museum & Archive is presenting a temporary exhibition, Tailored, looking at the skills of tailoring and the diversity of design and construction. It’s a very apt and relevant historical link to the original worsted cloth produced at the Mills.

Excitingly, our Gallery has its first ever international exhibition, Loops. Visiting artists from The Netherlands are collaborating with Yorkshire artists in a large-scale installation. This is a unique exhibition and not to be missed.

Threads promises to be a weekend overflowing with textile experiences so come along and get involved.”

The Sunny Bank Mills Art Gallery, shop and tearoom will also be open where exhibition Loops is a large-scale collaborative artwork by 6 talented artists, 3 from the Netherlands and 3 from Yorkshire, centred around the theme of cycles, circles and continuums. Many months in the making and many miles apart, this is a truly unique celebration of international collaboration and the lasting allure of textiles. In the textile Museum & Archive, temporary exhibition Tailored features work and objects highlighting the skills of tailoring.