October 1 – 30, 2026 · Doors open
Thirty techniques in one month, with a regular needle. Decorative threads, beads, sequins and three-dimensional work, the same methods used inside couture fashion houses, taught slowly enough for someone who has never held a needle.
One payment, everything included. Your materials list opens the moment you join.
Doors open · 39 € / $45
One payment. Thirty techniques, the community, the Mystery Box race and the full Virtual Tote Bag. Your materials list opens the moment you join, so everything has time to reach you before October 1.
Pay in euro or in US dollars, the same challenge either way. Prices are shown without VAT.
Before you decide
These are the seven sentences I hear most often from people who want to embroider and have not started yet. Here is what happens to each one in October.
01
Every technique in this challenge is worked with a regular needle. No hook, no atelier, no talent required. Day one starts at absolute zero and moves at the speed of a first-time hand.
02
Every lesson is filmed in HD close-up. You see the angle of the needle, the tension of the thread and the finish of the knot, slowly enough to copy it while you watch.
03
Twenty-two lesson days, one technique a day, in a deliberate order, Monday to Friday. The weekends stay free so you can finish anything you did not get to. Nothing to search for, nothing to choose. You open today and stitch today.
04
One month, one piece, and a room full of people stitching beside you. And if life happens, everything stays open for six months afterwards. Falling behind is allowed here.
05
A full materials list segmented by region, so you buy from a supplier near you and receive everything in time. Plus a 28-page sourcing guide with 32 suppliers worldwide.
06
Thirteen years of couture practice, 1,900 students in 40 countries, a five-star rating, and a real school behind it. Every lesson is filmed close enough to see the twist of the thread.
07
Thirty techniques is not a sampler. It is a working vocabulary: the same one used to embellish couture garments, and the foundation everything else is built on.
What one month gives you
This is the first stitching challenge built entirely on Haute Couture embroidery techniques: decorative threads, beads, sequins and three-dimensional work, the same methods used inside couture fashion houses, taught for someone who has never held a needle.
22
Techniques in the challenge
One technique a day, Monday to Friday, through October. Each one is a complete lesson you can finish in an evening, and the weekends are yours to catch up on anything unfinished.
+8
Techniques with lifetime access
Eight more techniques that never expire. They stay in your library for as long as you want them.
30
Techniques in total
A real working vocabulary of couture embroidery, built one calm evening at a time.
Every challenge lesson stays open for six months after the challenge ends. If you fall behind in October, nothing is lost: you finish in November, or in March. The stitching is meant to be the calm part of your week, not another deadline.
A new technique opens every weekday of October, in order, from the first lesson to the twenty second.
Tap or click any day in the calendar below to read what that lesson covers.
Weekends stay free. No new lesson opens on a Saturday or a Sunday, so you can use them to finish Friday’s technique. The social media task of the day still arrives every day, weekends included.
22 techniques, Monday to Friday, plus 8 bonus lessons from 1 November. No new lesson at the weekend, so you can catch up on Friday’s technique or leave the needle alone.
Join the challengeWhat you will actually learn
From the challenge piece
This embroidery challenge focuses on three-dimensional embroidery techniques that are rich in texture and volume. You will learn different ways to create raised surfaces using threads, beads, and sequins, as well as how to create three-dimensional effects by combining shiny, matte, and textured surfaces.
The contrast between different surfaces and the way light interacts with them gives the embroidery greater depth and dimension.
I also place great emphasis on creating variety with a minimal amount of materials, so you can learn how to embroider an impressive piece even without having a large selection of supplies.
All techniques are adapted for beginners.
Included for every participant
Everyone who takes part receives the full tote bag: two complete courses, the sourcing guides, and five e-books from my own library. It arrives digitally, and it is yours whether or not you finish a single day.
Gift 01 · Full course
A full course on building dimensional embroidered flowers: petals with body, layered texture, and the finishing that makes them look couture rather than craft. Yours to keep.
Gift 02 · Masterclass
Three HD close-up lessons turning ordinary socks into wearable couture with beads, sequins and crystals. Lifetime access.
Gift 03 · 28-page guide
32 trusted suppliers around the world, segmented by region, so you can order from a shop close to home instead of guessing.
Gift 04 · The right names
The correct English names for every material, the terms suppliers use worldwide. Most beginners cannot find what they need because they are searching for the wrong word.
Gift 05 · From my library
The Golden Thread: A Free Guide to Goldwork Embroidery
Gardens: The Art of Silk Flowers in Haute Couture
Sculpting With Leather
Plumasserie: The Living Craft of Featherwork
7 Mistakes That Make Tambour Feel Impossible
The two courses on their own
78 € / $89
Both are included for every challenge participant, along with everything else here.
The price, in the open
Nothing hidden and nothing to work out. One payment covers all thirty techniques, the community, the Mystery Box race and every gift in the Virtual Tote Bag.
Included in the price
Your spot · one payment
39 € / $45
Pay in euro or in US dollars. The same challenge, the same access, either way.
Starts October 11,30 € / $1.50 a day
Across the thirty days of the challenge, one Haute Couture technique a day.
0,18 € / $0.21 a day
Across the whole time you keep the lessons: October, plus six more months of rewatching.
Prices are shown without VAT. Customers in the European Union outside Lithuania will see their own country’s VAT added at checkout. Lithuania, the United Kingdom, the United States and the rest of the world pay exactly the price shown.
Once only
This is the first October Challenge, and this is the first challenge price. It will not come back. The next one will be priced properly, and everyone who joins this time will have paid the least it will ever cost.
The part nobody solves
Most people who want to embroider stop at this exact step. Not because the stitching is hard, but because they cannot work out what to buy or where. That is solved before the challenge begins.
How the lessons are made
Everything is pre-recorded, so nothing depends on your timezone. Open the day, watch, pause, stitch, repeat.
Every stitch filmed from above, at the distance your own eyes would be. Full explanation of each step as it is made, not narrated afterwards.
Every video carries captions, and every spoken word is transcribed as text underneath. Rewatch as many times as you like, and translate the text into your own language in a second.
Patterns and reference sheets you can print at home, so you are not stitching from a screen.
Challenge lessons stay open for six months after October ends. The eight bonus techniques stay with you for life.
Weekdays only, Monday to Friday. Weekends are yours to catch up, or to rest.
Ask under any lesson or in the community. I read and answer every message myself.
The Challengers community
A private community for challenge participants only. Post what you made today, and find people in a dozen timezones doing exactly the same thing at exactly the same time.
Prizes
A gift from KLARA Couture Shop, our official partner and supplier. When the challenge ends, the three participants with the most points each receive a box by post. It does not matter where you live: they ship anywhere in the world.
First place270 €
approx. $315 USD in value
The book
Fabric and tools
Threads
Beads, sequins and crystals
Second place170 €
approx. $198 USD in value
Fabric and tools
Threads
Beads, sequins and crystals
Third place90 €
approx. $105 USD in value
Fabric and tools
Threads
Beads, sequins and crystals
Swipe to see all three
Official partner and supplier
The three Mystery Boxes are a gift from KLARA Couture Shop. They stock the professional embroidery supplies I teach with, Preciosa crystals, Bohin needles, Sajou threads, Miyuki beads, and they ship worldwide.
Visit KLARA Couture ShopTotal value across the three boxes is 530 €, approximately $618 USD. Dollar figures are approximate and depend on the exchange rate on the day. The winners are announced on 3 November, once every point has been counted and checked, and the boxes are sent by KLARA Couture Shop after that.
The last challenge · XX century archives
In the previous challenge, each student chose a historical twentieth-century piece from the Haute Couture archives and recreated its embroidery by hand: Marlene Dietrich 1936, Balenciaga 1955, Louis Feraud, Jean-Louis Scherrer, Schiaparelli, House of Worth, Valentino, Dior, Lanvin, Balmain, Chanel. Their work on the left, the original garment on the right. Almost all of them were beginners.
In their own words
These are students of School of Couture, writing about the courses this challenge is built on.
★★★★★
“I was amazed that starting from absolute zero, you can actually learn in just a few days. I got exactly what I hoped for, and more. A wonderful community throughout the course, a friendly and warm atmosphere.”
EvelineLithuania · Beginners · Level II
★★★★★
“It is truly an honor to be a student of such a qualified teacher. Valerija is so patient and thorough that she will teach even the most inexperienced person, and she will enjoy doing it.”
DaliaLithuania · Beginners · Goldwork
★★★★★
“I found the course very comprehensive, and knowing I could watch the video multiple times was very helpful. The links for buying materials around the world were also very helpful.”
FedericaItaly · Advanced Level II
★★★★★
“I got even more than I came for, not just a wonderful teacher, but a genuinely warm person. There is no stress, no pressure. She could explain things to someone who has never held a needle in their life.”
GretaLithuania · Beginners · Goldwork
★★★★★
“Love it. This course is well explained and easy to follow. Also super creative and inspiring. I am learning so much from Valerija, such a creative designer.”
TaniaCanada · Beginners · Level II
★★★★★
“I was 100% surprised by how easily and clearly completely new, never-before-heard information is delivered. Every little piece comes together into one clear, coherent picture.”
LinaLithuania · Beginners
★★★★★
“So many positive emotions, such a wonderful atmosphere, real professionalism, clarity, and attention to the smallest details. Even the quality of the materials made me feel like I truly mattered.”
ViolettBeginners
★★★★★
“Wonderful course, I am still enjoying it. Valerie answered my questions instantly. Highly recommended.”
KarinArgentina · Advanced Level II
★★★★★
“The courses exceeded all my expectations. Valerija is a true professional in her field, and I know that when I recommend her, I will never have to feel embarrassed about it.”
ChristineBeginners · Advanced Level II
Q&A · Straight from Instagram
Swipe to see more →
@valerijaficofficial
I am showing the whole preparation for the challenge in my stories, the samples, the materials, the mistakes and the fixes. Every week I run a Q&A there and answer everything you ask.
Who is teaching
Founder of School of Couture, the first Haute Couture embroidery school in the Baltic States. Thirteen years with a needle in hand: learning from the masters, competing on international stages, and teaching thousands of students.
My dresses have been worn at the Cannes Film Festival. At the Hand & Lock Prize in London I placed second in the Fashion Open category. I am a Paris-certified couture technologist, and somewhere between teaching and competing I wrote a book, The Business of Creative Arts.
What keeps me at the frame every morning is the moment a student says I did not think I could do this, and then does it anyway. That is the entire reason this challenge exists.
Paris
Certified couture technologist
London
Hand & Lock Prize, 2nd place
Cannes
Dresses worn on the red carpet
Baltic States
Founder of the first Haute Couture embroidery school
Published author
The Business of Creative Arts
13+ years
At the frame, teaching and competing
Why join now
39 € is the price of the first October Challenge, and it will not come back. The next one will be priced properly. Everyone who joins this time pays the least it will ever cost.
Your full materials list, segmented by your region, is waiting inside your course library the moment you are in, together with the 28-page sourcing guide and its 32 suppliers. Join now and everything has time to reach you before October 1.
Starts October 1
The best cozy stitching month of the year. Thirty days, one technique at a time, with the evenings drawing in and something beautiful growing in your hands. If you have never stitched before, this is your opening.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, and that is who it was designed for. Everything is worked with a regular needle, every technique is filmed close-up and explained from the first movement, and the materials list deliberately contains nothing difficult. If you have never stitched before, October is the best possible month to start.
There are no live sessions and no fixed hours. Every lesson is pre-recorded and appears in your account, so you watch whenever it suits you, morning or midnight, in any time zone. A new lesson opens Monday to Friday through October, and everything stays open for six months after the challenge ends.
Nothing is lost. Lessons open Monday to Friday, so the weekends are already there for catching up. And every challenge lesson stays open for six months after the challenge ends, while the eight bonus techniques stay with you for life. Plenty of people finish in November.
Every video has captions, and every spoken word appears as text under the video. You can rewatch as often as you like and translate that text into your own language in a second. Students from 40 countries take these courses.
Two ways. Klaros Shop, our official supplier, is preparing ready made kits for the challenge, with everything you need in one box, shipped worldwide, so you can order once and be done. Or buy on your own: your full materials list, segmented by your region, waits for you inside your course library, together with the 28-page Global Materials Source Guide and its 32 suppliers. Join early and there is time to order from a shop close to you before October 1. Nothing on the list is rare, and I give you a variation for anything you cannot find.
One technique a day, and each lesson is short enough to finish in an evening. This is meant to be the calm part of your week, not another deadline.
Everything is photographed and listed on this page now. The three boxes go to the participants with the most points at the end of the challenge, announced on 3 November, worth 270 €, 170 € and 90 €. They are a gift from KLARA Couture Shop, our official partner, and they ship anywhere in the world.
Your login details arrive by email within a few minutes. Your library holds the October Challenge 2026 course with the materials list and the sourcing guide, the two gift courses, the guides and the five e-books, and the Challengers community. The first technique opens on October 1.
October 1 – 30, 2026
One payment, 39 € / $45, and everything is included: thirty techniques, the community, the Mystery Box race and the Virtual Tote Bag. The first technique opens on October 1.
Prices are shown without VAT. Your login details arrive by email within a few minutes.
Get started today before this once in a lifetime opportunity expires.