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12 September 2026

Textilliebe Festival brings DIY textile skills to Vienna

Hands sewing olive-green fabric beside a paper pattern and sewing tools.
Quick Read

• Premiere: The first Textilliebe Festival takes place on 3–4 October 2026 in the MuseumsQuartier Wien.
• DIY focus: Fabrics, yarns, sewing, knitting, crochet, patterns and practical textile know-how are at the centre.
• Two sisters: Caroline Seda brings fashion and pattern-making expertise; Stephanie Seda contributes event-management experience.
• A gap in Vienna: The festival was developed partly in response to the Schneiderei-Markt taking a break in 2026.
• More than shopping: Workshops and opportunities to exchange skills make the event relevant for beginners as well as experienced makers.

Fashion.at recently spoke with Caroline Seda about the first Textilliebe Festival, which will take place on 3 and 4 October 2026 in the Arena21 and Ovalhalle of Vienna's MuseumsQuartier. The new event brings together textile materials, pattern-making and DIY knowledge at a time when practical skills are again becoming part of the wider discussion about making, repairing and reusing clothes.

From pattern design to event planning

Caroline Seda comes from the fashion and garment-construction side of the project. She studied at the Kolleg Herbststraße in Vienna and later developed her own pattern label, Sew It Yourself Pattern. Her work combines pattern design with an interest in teaching people how to make their own clothes. Workshops and encounters with the sewing community are part of that work.

Her sister Stephanie Seda comes from the event sector. She has many years of experience planning and producing events. Their division of expertise is therefore fairly straightforward: Caroline contributes textile and sewing knowledge, while Stephanie handles the organisational side. The combination is particularly relevant for a festival whose subject is both specialist and community-oriented.

A new textile event after a familiar market pauses

One reason for the new festival is practical. The established Schneiderei-Markt is taking a break in 2026 before returning in 2027. The market had become a meeting point for fabrics, sewing supplies, wool, tools, workshops and textile makers. The Textilliebe Festival is not simply a replacement, but it addresses some of the same demand for a physical meeting place around textile making.

The choice of the MuseumsQuartier also places the event in a part of Vienna already associated with fashion and design. Just two weeks earlier, from 14 to 19 September, the MuseumsQuartier will host VIENNA FASHION WEEK.26 in Halle E+G. The Textilliebe Festival shifts the emphasis from finished fashion collections to the knowledge, materials and techniques behind making clothes and textile objects.

DIY as a way to fill knowledge gaps

The festival's DIY focus is particularly interesting for people who like the idea of making things themselves but lack some of the practical knowledge. Sewing a garment, choosing a suitable fabric, understanding a pattern or repairing a damaged piece can require skills that are not automatically acquired anymore.

Workshops and specialist exhibitors can therefore serve a function beyond inspiration: they provide access to tools, materials and knowledge. Among the programme announced so far are textile workshops, while a knitting and craft meeting is also planned around the festival.

Who is exhibiting?

The organisers are introducing exhibitors progressively through the festival's social-media channels Instagram and Facebook. The names already presented include:

• Stoffwerkstatt Graz – a broad selection of natural fabrics, including Öko-Tex-certified materials as well as some organic and GOTS-certified fabrics, from linen and hemp to wool, jersey and canvas.
• Mealana – the family-run specialist shop from Wiener Neustadt brings yarns and wool from more than 20 manufacturers, together with buttons and other accessories.
• STELLA Individual Pieces – crochet and macramé yarns, bast, paper yarns, fabrics and accessories such as bag handles and labels, alongside advice for crocheters.
• Kastl + Reiter – a family business with more than 60 years of experience in sewing machines, offering sales, advice, servicing and repairs for machines from various manufacturers.
• Austrian Noble Art – textile designs based on paintings and drawings, produced as natural-fibre fabrics including linen, wool and cotton, with GOTS-certified production in Austria.
• Wolle & More by Andrea – hand-dyed wool in more than 45 qualities, coloured according to the maker's own ideas or individual customer wishes.
• Sew It Yourself Pattern – Caroline Seda's pattern label, offering sewing patterns and workshops aimed particularly at people making their first garments.
• Sofesch Vienna – a focus on professional sewing knowledge, especially fit, construction and the techniques needed to produce well-fitting garments.
• Stofflibelle – fabrics and sewing patterns selected by Claudia Meller-Kessler, including labels from small design studios in England, France and Scandinavia.
• Vintage East Tyrol – upcycled and redesigned clothing made largely from discarded garments, combining traditional elements from East Tyrol with contemporary designs.
• we love handmade – the Vienna creative studio contributes four textile workshops covering embroidery, punch needle, visible mending and decorating clothes with embroidery, as well as craft kits and supplies.
• Anja Lampert – embroidery, sewing, quilting, bobbin-lace and sashiko threads, needles, tools and selected fabrics, with an emphasis on tested materials.
• Natalie Pedetti Prack – a Vienna-based textile designer and women's tailor creating individual patterns for fashion, interiors, textiles and paper and turning them into handmade fabrics and products.
• Kreativshop Heide Wech – the long-established shop in Brunn am Gebirge offers fabrics, sewing supplies, patterns, embroidery threads and wool for sewing, patchwork, embroidery and knitting.

The list is still being expanded, so it should be read as a snapshot of exhibitors announced so far rather than a final catalogue.

Giving textile skills another life

The idea behind Textilliebe is ultimately less about producing something perfect than about becoming more capable of working with textiles. For a beginner, that might mean learning how to handle a sewing machine or read a pattern. For an experienced maker, it could mean finding a new material or technique.

And there is an especially practical side to this: sometimes DIY does not have to mean making a new garment at all. It can simply mean giving a favourite piece of clothing another lease of life – by mending it, patching it, altering it or adding a new detail. In that sense, textile skills can help clothes stay in use a little longer.


Image: Hands stitch olive-green fabric on a sewing table with pattern papers, thread spools, pins, scissors and a measuring tape. © Fashion.at, AI-generated