Thirty Haute Couture techniques, one regular needle, and one short lesson every weekday, taught slowly enough even if you have never embroidered before.
Many of them had never embroidered before. Some kept the blues, others chose their own colours and made the design entirely theirs. Every piece below was finished during the October challenge.
“Have loved this challenge so much! Thanks Valeria for fantastic instructions and videos. It’s the best online course I have ever taken! It’s my first time at almost all these techniques, what a fun experience! While not perfect I am so proud of the end result. I couldn’t wait to finish work every day so I could get to the project and it also helped me slow down and take my time.”
Julie · October 2026“I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge, as it had kept me on task for the month of October. Also my first hand at a Haute Couture design! I had so much fun wondering how each bead, each sequin and stitch would work together to make up this flower design. For a first timer, I’m just thrilled! Thank you for the amazing challenge and the opportunity to make it. Your tutorials were impeccable.”
Susan · October 2026“I started as a complete beginner and learned so much more than just embroidery. Between work, moving, and everyday chaos, stitching became my little moment of peace.”
Diana · New Jersey, USA · October 2026Swipe to see more
22 in the challenge and 8 bonus, every one of them worked with a regular needle.
One a day, Monday to Friday, each a complete lesson you can finish in an evening.
They open as a separate course when the challenge ends and never expire.
Fall behind and nothing is lost: every challenge lesson stays open long after it ends.
22 techniques, Monday to Friday, plus 8 bonus lessons after the challenge. No new lesson at the weekend, so you can catch up on Friday’s technique or leave the needle alone. The social media task of the day still arrives every day, weekends included.
Join the challenge
22 challenge lessons+8 bonus techniques=30 Haute Couture techniques
They open as a separate course once the challenge is finished, and they stay with you for life. They take the finished embroidery further, onto a decorative cushion.
Full lesson · Leaf in Doubled Sequins
This is Leaf in Doubled Sequins, the sixth lesson of the challenge, exactly as students receive it. Nothing cut and nothing sped up, so you can see how close the camera sits. Every one of the thirty techniques is filmed this way, with captions and a full transcript under each video.
Captions on every video, the full transcript underneath, and printable patterns, so nothing depends on your English or your time zone.
One technique, one lesson day, and these are the comments that came in afterwards. Two of the three had been making French knots for years before this.
“That is the best way I have ever seen explaining how to do a French knot. Normally I have trouble making these. Thank you so much for this tutorial.”
Wendy · Victoria, Australia“I have been doing french and colonial knots for ages and I really like this method. It keeps the tension on the knot and the slide down is so smooth. Thanks for sharing this.”
Daryl · New York, USA“This is a great tutorial for French knots. I wish someone had explained it to me this way years ago. It would have saved me a lot of frustration.”
Ruth
French knots stitched by the group on the day the lesson opened.
Not included: the materials themselves. You buy them as the ready-made challenge kit from KLARA Couture Shop (€28, shipped worldwide) or from a supplier near you, and your list tells you exactly what to buy and how much.
A private group for participants only, where people in a dozen time zones post what they stitched today. Every post earns points, and the three highest totals win a Mystery Box.
First place €270, second €170, third €90, a gift from KLARA Couture Shop, shipped anywhere in the world. The photo shows a box from the previous challenge.
The Mystery Boxes are a gift from KLARA Couture Shop, the official supplier of the challenge. They prepare ready-made kits made for the challenge participants and ship them worldwide, and they stock the professional embroidery supplies I teach with, Preciosa crystals, Bohin needles, Sajou threads and Miyuki beads.
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 a few days after the last lesson, once every point has been counted and checked, and the boxes are sent by KLARA Couture Shop after that.
From KLARA Couture Shop, our official supplier, with everything in the right quantities, shipped worldwide. Only for challenge participants: the link to order it is in your Materials List, which you can download the moment you join.
So you buy from a shop near you and receive everything before the first lesson, with alternatives for anything you cannot find and what changes if you use them.
Not in the kit: the hoop, the hoop holder and the marking pen. The hoop and the pen can be added to the same order.
Delivery: 1 to 3 working days to the Baltic countries, 5 to 10 to the rest of Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, and 5 to 15 to the rest of the world.
A 133 page technical reference written for this project: every technique step by step, with the schemes and photographs next to the text, the mistakes to watch for, and a page for your own notes after each one. The second part takes you through building a project of your own in twenty three chapters.
All five files come in one download. Optional, €9.99 or $11.99, offered when you join.
Swipe to see more
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.
“30 days ago I did not think my hoop would look like this. I did not think I had the skills to do it. But I did.”
Vanessa · Illinois, USA“I’ve really enjoyed getting up in the morning and watching the video for that day’s stitching. My advice would be: don’t hesitate, jump in.”
Vicki · United Kingdom“You might discover something you never expected, as I just did.”
Lan · Sint Maarten“I’m not gonna say it’s super easy, but it’s not nearly as hard as I thought it’d be.”
Diana · New Jersey, USA“If you’re thinking about joining the next edition of this challenge, I highly encourage you to do so.”
Vanna · Italy“If you are trying to learn hand embroidery with the needle, I would highly recommend Valeria to you.”
Parminder · Alberta, Canada“I am so happy. All those hours of work have come together, and the result is just incredible.”
Manon · FranceSpoken in French, translated“The challenge is over, and I really enjoyed it. If you want to try something new and learn something new, I sincerely recommend this course.”
Daria · DenmarkSpoken in Ukrainian, translated“I am not only taking away a finished piece, but new tools, inspiration and so much desire to keep experimenting.”
Mariane · PanamaSpoken in Spanish, translated“Valeria as a teacher was very patient and generously shared everything she knows about these techniques. I highly recommend this challenge, and I have definitely joined it again.”
Shabnam · United KingdomSwipe to see more
Swipe to see more
“Wonderful experience. I learned so much. … It really is quite lovely and sparkly!”
Daryl · New York, USA · October 2026“What an amazing journey we have been on. I’ve enjoyed each and every stitch and cannot wait for our next adventure!”
Jill · Texas, USA · October 2026“Every single day, I embroidered a little piece, and now I have this beautiful finished embroidery that will definitely find its new home on a decorative pillow.”
katiaspotify666 · Kazakhstan · October 2026“Finished. What a fantastic course. Thank you for your expertise.”
Wendy · Victoria, Australia · October 2026“Finished! It’s far from perfect but I’m proud of my work.”
Katherine · Tennessee, USA · October 2026“Aaaand it’s DONE!!! I already want to start another, this was so enjoyable and I want to practice all the techniques.”
Anna · Washington, USA · October 2026Swipe to see more
“I never thought I will be able to keep up with everything every day but here we are!”
Noemi · United Kingdom“I’ve connected with so many fellow embroiderers along the way. Sending a big hug from warm and sunny Panama.”
Mariane · Panama“I enjoyed and learned a lot everyday!!! I will sign for more classes too!!!”
Gabriela · New Brunswick, Canada
My stories follow the challenge as it runs, the work the group posts and the questions that come up along the way. If you want to see what a month of this actually looks like before you decide, it is all there.
Everyone on the waitlist joins at €39 or $45, and that is the lowest the challenge will ever be. The full price will be €59 or $69, so the list is worth being on before the doors open.
As soon as you join, START HERE and Welcome and Materials are waiting in your library, so you can find your way around, meet the group and prepare calmly before the first lesson on 28 January.
Your full materials list, segmented by your region, opens the moment you join the challenge, together with the 28-page sourcing guide and its 32 suppliers. The challenge starts on 28 January, which leaves time for everything to reach you before the first lesson.
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, a challenge month is the best possible time 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 the challenge month, and everything stays open for six months after it 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 the month afterwards.
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 60 countries take these courses.
No, and it is worth saying plainly, because it is the one thing people sometimes assume. The price covers the lessons, the guides, the community and everything in the Virtual Tote Bag. The materials you buy yourself, either as the ready-made challenge kit from KLARA Couture Shop or from a supplier near you, and what the challenge gives you is the exact list with quantities, segmented by the country you live in, so there is nothing left to guess and nothing rare to hunt for.
Two ways. KLARA Couture Shop, our official supplier, prepares ready-made kits made for the challenge participants, 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 now and you will have time to order from a shop close to you before the first lesson. 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.
The boxes shown on this page are the ones from the previous challenge, worth €270, €170 and €90, photographed so you can see what goes into one. The next challenge will have its own boxes. They go to the three participants with the most points at the end of the challenge. They are a gift from KLARA Couture Shop, our official partner, and they ship anywhere in the world.
No, it is optional. It costs €9.99 or $11.99 and is offered when you join, for those who like to keep the techniques on paper beside them while they work.
A hoop, a hoop holder and a marking pen. They are not in the kit, and the hoop and the pen can be added to the same order.
Delivery takes 1 to 3 working days to the Baltic countries, 5 to 10 to the rest of Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, and 5 to 15 to the rest of the world. The kit is only for challenge participants, and the link to order it is in your Materials List.
Every post in the private Challengers group earns points, and the three highest totals win. The winners are announced a few days after the last lesson, once every point has been counted and checked, and the boxes are sent by KLARA Couture Shop after that.
Right after payment you land on a page that shows you, step by step, how to open your library, and the same steps arrive by email. Log in at www.valerijafic.com/library with the email address you used at checkout, open Winter Embroidery Challenge 2027 and begin with START HERE. Your materials list and printable files are already there, and the first lesson opens on 28 January.
“These little daily moments have become such a special part of my routine, and I’m really going to miss them!” Manon, France
