Day 2 | Waldorf Practical Arts Training
Welcome to Day 2 of Waldorf Practical Arts Training module 7, Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Welcome to day two of the Waldorf practical arts training. After our morning lecture, we went straight into hard crafts. Most people had completed their design and we’re ready to start carving. Well, some tools were available for everyone to use other tools were available to buy. I had brought my own tools with me, but also opted to buy the tools that were recommended by the instructor. I was also advised to make everything extremely thick for carving. Fine lines weren’t going to work well so I took a thick color, pencil and outlined my entire design. While this was a good idea, it still wasn’t enough. Things needed to be even thicker than this if I wanted to have the detail that I wanted. Encouraged and ready to go I began Carving the white spaces around the letters and outside the circle. The process is extremely slow. Before you can actually start carving, you have to outline the entire design by tapping it with a sharp flat tool because once you start carving, you won’t be able to see your design because you will carve off The color pencil. Lunch couldn’t come quick enough! While I love working with wood, I wasn’t really feeling the wood carving all that much.
Following lunch, we continued to work on our log cabin quilt. Most people had a clear idea of their design, they were getting the fabrics they needed, and mostly we were set to repetitive work for the next couple of days in order to get the log cabin quilt finished. However, there was still much new learning to be done. The highlight of today, and honestly the entire week, was learning how to use a thimble. I had never learned properly and honestly, it is life-changing if you learned how to use it properly when stitching. For open studio today, we started with our eco printing. Had a variety of fabrics for us to choose from. She encouraged us to use a variety in one project so that we could really see how the Eco printing looked on different materials. I used a small piece of felt, silk and cashmere. I sewed them together so that they could fold in half and have two little pockets. I chose a variety of eucalyptus leaves, laid it on the fabric and wound it up around a plastic pipe. We bound it tightly and put it into water that will simmer and boil for about 24 hours.
These intensive trainings run three times a year: February, April and June. You may join anytime. There are a total of 9 modules (3 year program) with each module including a soft and hard craft.
Participants may also join online but I recommend in person if possible! The energy of working together and being inspired by other students and the feeling of community is unmatched.
Learn more by checking the Waldorf Practical Arts Training. If learning more about the hard and soft crafts taught in a Waldorf school, this program may be right for you!
Check out the other programs offered by WISC to see if there’s a certification that aligns with your goals. Waldorf institute of Southern California
Here are some of the books we covered for this module:
Practical Training in Thought, The Seven Core Principles of Waldorf Education, Balance in Teaching: (CW 302a) (Volume 11) (Foundations of Waldorf Education), Mona Lewis (soft crafts instructor) Sun Sprite Handwork on Instagram.
