Learn the Craft of Handmade Eyewear
Currently on pause
The workshop bench is a little quieter these days.
For the time being, we're dedicating our full attention to designing new custom eyewear for our clients, which means our framemaking workshops are taking a temporary pause.
We've loved sharing traditional framemaking techniques with makers from near and far, and while we don't have any future dates to announce, the door isn't closed forever. We continue to dream about new ways to teach, inspire, and preserve the craft.
If you'd like to be the first to hear about future opportunities, you can join our workshop interest list below.
What We Used to Teach
Over the course of three days, participants learned all the steps necessary to handcraft an acetate frame:
Day 1 - design, cut, and shape the frame front.
Day 2 - by the end of the day, the front is refined and ready for polishing.
Day 3 - work on the temples and final assembly.
Participants watched their ideas turn into actual pieces for their personal eyewear collections and felt an incredible sense of pride modelling handcrafted eyeglasses they had made themselves. Throughout the workshop, they worked through the 23 steps required to handcraft an acetate frame using traditional artisanal methods, including frame design, pattern making, filing, sanding, polishing, and heat-sinking hinges. Handcrafting eyewear is a skill that is rarely practised anymore.
Sara has always loved this quote from an Italian shoemaker: "The love of craft is rarely prioritized over the love of money. It survives, but there are very few shops that do this kind of work anymore. It’s become a lost art because it is difficult to do and can only be done with patience and passion.”
No experience necessary.
All materials, tools, and equipment were provided. (Although after the course, many participants totally wanted to stock up on their own, so we put together a comprehensive tool list to help them continue their framemaking adventures.) The only things they needed to bring were a camera, a frame design idea, and a healthy dose of curiosity!
Meet Sara
Sara is an artist disguised as an optician. She is the designer and maker of her own eyewear collection, MOSHdesigns, and one of a handful of master framemakers in the world that still crafts eyewear the traditional way, by hand. With a mind that never stops creating, Sara loves collaborating with other makers and designers and influencing future generations of makers.
Sara has mastered the art of eyewear design, including 100+ shapes in her MOSHdesigns collection, numerous individual custom pieces for clients all over the world, and feature film and television. She has also developed a system for one-off handcrafted eyewear production allowing for the creation of 700 frames over 15 years.
Workshop Journal
Scroll through our gallery and see what happens when imagination meets acetate. See the inspiring creations from our framemaking workshop - real people dreaming up, designing, and handcrafting their own eyewear. You’ll find bold colours, unexpected shapes, and tons of personality.
