LISBON +
THE ALENTEJO
Modern Weaving + Fiber Art
with Maryanne Moodie
Tuesday, October 28 to Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Travel to Portugal with renowned artist and author, Maryanne Moodie. Together, we’ll explore the vivid and thriving textile scene in Lisbon, then retreat to the idyllic countryside of the Alentejo Coast where we’ll dive into the world of weaving and fiber art.
While in Lisbon, we’ll spend a full-day exploring Lisbon’s contemporary textile and fiber art scene. With the help of a local guide, we’ll visit off-the-beaten path galleries, studios, and artist residences. These experiences will show us how Lisbon has become instrumental to the global textile scene and help us gather inspiration and materials for our multi-day, hands-on workshop with Maryanne. We’ll also spend a bit of time time visiting some of the vintage shops in Lisbon—one of Maryanne’s favorite hobbies—where we’ll talk about how we can use vintage textiles in our weavings and gather some fun finds to use in our rag-rug weaving project.
After enjoying the urban scene in Lisbon, we’ll transition to a rural retreat, where we’ll spend four days weaving and creating our own fiber art pieces with Maryanne. To kick things off, Maryanne will dedicate a full day to teaching us the core weaving techniques. Then, we’ll spend time taking the techniques we learned and applying them to our own, unique projects. Maryanne will spend time discussing her approach to composition and how she uses intuition as her guide. She’ll also teach the fundamentals of color theory and how to apply these fundamentals to our own projects. On our final day together, Maryanne will share one of her favorite weaving techniques—how to create a rag rug from a mix of modern fibers and vintage textiles.
This workshop is open to all skill levels. Trip Itinerary, Details + Important Trip Notes below.
DATES
Tuesday, October 28 to Tuesday, November 4, 2025
8 Days, 7 Nights
PRICE
Twin Shared Room $4,895 USD
Private Room $5,695 USD
Full Rooming + Pricing Details Below
TRIP HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
Four-day modern weaving and fiber art workshop with Maryanne Moodie, learning the core fundamentals of weaving, color theory, composition. In this workshop you’ll focus on creating three projects—a sampler where to help you learn the core weaving techniques; an original weaving, based on your own design; and a rag-rug weaving using a mix of new and vintage fibers and textiles.
Maryanne Moodie large, custom-designed wooden loom and tool kit, made from sustainable wood, to use during the workshop and for you to take home with you so you can continue creating your own weaving projects.
A selection of beautiful yarns and fibers in various colors and textures.
Full-day tour of contemporary textile scene in Lisbon to gather inspiration and learn about some of today’s emerging artists.
Half-day tour of some of Lisbon’s vintage shops, gathering vintage textiles to use in our weaving projects.
Two nights at urban boutique accommodations in Lisbon + five nights rural boutique accommodations in the Alentejo.
Chef-prepared meals.
Dedicated Ace Camps Travel Host, with you throughout the trip.
Travel + Learn with Maryanne Moodie
Maryanne is a fiber-obsessed artist, maker, and author from Melbourne, Australia. She is best known for applying unexpected color combinations to her nostalgic designs. She is inspired by the intricacies of vintage textiles, traditional costuming, modern art, and the natural world.
Maryanne’s work has been featured in New York Magazine, Anthology, O Magazine, Grazia, Interwoven, and online on Design*Sponge and The Design Files. A finalist in the Martha Stewart American Made Awards in both 2014 and 2015, sells her work on Etsy and through online shops and boutiques around the country. Maryanne is also the best-selling author of two best-selling books about modern weaving—On the Loom: A Modern Weaver’s Guide and Modern Weaving: Where Color Meets Loom.
Maryanne divides her time between designing incredible, large-scale woven fiber art pieces for clients and collectors all over the world and teaching sold-out workshops globally. As part of her teaching practice, Maryanne has meticulously developed her own brand of sustainable, hand made looms and carefully curates fiber kits that reflect her love of color and texture.
You can follow Maryanne @maryannemoodie on instagram.
Day by Day Itinerary
Nota Bene: this is a prospective itinerary. It is subject to modest modifications, dependent on local weather, new opportunities, and the desires of the group.
Day 1
Tuesday, October 28, 2025: Arrival Day
Welcome to Lisbon! Make your way to our hotel in the Príncipe Real neighborhood of Lisbon. Please plan to arrive at the hotel no later that 4pm so you have time to get checked in and settled before dinner.
If you can, we encourage you to arrive early, as the neighborhood is filled with incredible boutiques and restaurants.
This evening we have a casual welcome dinner so you can meet Maryanne and the rest of our group.
Meals included: Dinner
Day 2
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Today is a special treat—a full day, guided tour of the Lisbon contemporary textile scene. Our local guide, who is an expert in art history and and is an active part of Lisbon’s thriving arts community, will take us to galleries, artist studios, and artist residences.
With the guidance and expertise of our guide, as well as Maryanne’s unique perspective as a practicing artist, we’ll talk about what makes the artistic community in Lisbon so vibrant while visiting a variety of both emerging and well-known artists who specialize in different textile arts. We’ll also have a group lunch at the infamous LX Factory, including time to wander the eclectic shops.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 3
Thursday, October 30, 2025
This morning we’ll spend time learning about another aspect of Lisbon’s thriving creative scene—vintage shopping. With the help of a local guide, we’ll explore a few of Lisbon’s vintage shops so we can gather unique textiles to use for our rag-rug weaving project with Maryanne.
Later this afternoon, we’ll head to our rural retreat—a boutique hotel surrounded by nature and beautiful scenery. This incredible property, which will be our home away from home for the remainder of our trip, is bursting with color thanks to owner Alfredo Moreira da Silva’s abstract paintings and his wife Mónica’s incredible eye for architecture and interior design.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4
Friday, October 31, 2025
Today we have a full-day, hands-on workshop with Maryanne, where we’ll learn the fundamentals techniques of weaving. We’ll start by learning how to warp our loom, including how to make sure we have the right tension and pressure. We’ll also talk about the main tools we’ll be using in our weaving, such as shuttles, needles, forks and combs, and swords.
Then, we’ll move onto learning a variety of weaving stitches, such as Soumak, Twinning, Tabby, Looped Tabby, Bubbling, Piecing the yarn, Rya Knots, and Dovetail. We’ll also talk about techniques for finishing your weaving, including how to weave in your tails and ends, as well as how to successfully remove your weaving from the loom.
At the end of the day, you’ll have a sampler piece that showcases the main techniques you need to start creating your own, custom weaving.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5
Saturday, November 1, 2025
Today is the first day of a two-day workshop where we’ll work closely with Maryanne to design and create our own unique wall hanging, combining the key techniques we learned in yesterday’s workshop, as well as Maryanne’s unique approach to color and composition.
We’ll start the day off with a session on color theory—one of the most important aspects of what makes Maryanne’s work and approach unique. Maryanne will use a variety of hands-on exercises and prompts to teach the basics of color theory, including an overview of primary, secondary, and tertiary colors; how to use a color wheel to create complementary, analogous, and triadic color palettes; and how to use color effectively to evoke an emotional conversation with the viewer.
Then, Maryanne will share insights into her design process and how it has evolved since becoming a full-time artist. She will guide us through various hands-on exercises to help us understand effective composition, how to channel our memories and emotions to inspire our work, how to use a focal point to draw in the viewer, and how to use our intuition to create movement. By the end of the day, you’ll have a series of color palettes and compositions to use as a starting point for your wall hanging.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6
Saturday, November 2, 2025
Today is the second day of our two-day workshop where we’ll take the color palettes and compositions we worked on yesterday and use them to create our own woven wall hanging.
Maryanne will start by sharing techniques for translating your design from paper to the loom, how to balance staying true to your design, while also allowing intuition to guide you throughout the creation process.
Throughout the day, Maryanne will also demo some more advanced techniques, including how to create circles and squares, triangles, dovetail joins, negative space, and windows.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 7
Monday, November 3, 2025
Today is our final workshop day with Maryanne where we’ll turn our attention to our vintage textiles and learn how to create a rag-rug wall hanging. We’ll start by learning how to tear our vintage textiles into a variety of strips. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of using our strips to warp our loom, then we’ll spend the rest of the day weaving our rag-rug wall hanging.
Later this afternoon we’ll have a mini gallery showcase to share and celebrate our work and achievements from the past few days together.
Tonight we’ll gather as a group for a final group dinner to celebrate our time together.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 8
Tuesday, November 4, 2024: Departure Day
This morning we pack our bags and say our farewells. After breakfast at the hotel, our transport will take us to the Lisbon airport. Please arrange your flights for late afternoon.
Thank you for joining us on this incredible and often unexpected journey to Lisbon and the Alentejo region of Portugal!
Meals included: Breakfast
Where We’re Staying
In Lisbon. we’ll be staying at a 19th century townhouse that is loaded with charm, lovingly restored, overlooking a quiet historical praça. Specifically designed to feel like a home, it invites guests to become part of the thriving Lisbon creative scene. It features a spectacular fountain, palms and centenarian banyan trees, and it’s located in the Prínciple Real, one of our favorite neighborhoods in Lisbon that features a wide array of colorful boutiques and yummy restaurants.
In the Alentejo, we’ll be staying at a rural boutique hotel, surrounded by stunning scenery and close to the spectacular Atlantic coastline. The hotel bursts with color, thanks the vivid paintings by owner and abstract painter Alfredo Moreira da Silva, combined with red, pink and orange doors, chairs, sofas, cushions, and handmade quilts.
ROOMING OPTIONS
Please read below carefully and make your rooming selection on the booking page
Group Size: Minimum 8 guests and maximum 12 guests. All Prices are in USD.
OPTION 1 - SHARED ROOM
The fee for this trip is $4,895 per person, paid in two separate installments.
Your stay will include:
-2 nights in Lisbon urban boutique hotel in a twin room with an ensuite bathroom, shared with one other guest (each guest has their own twin bed).
-5 nights in Alentejo rural boutique hotel in a twin room with en suite bathroom, shared with one other guest (each guest has their own twin bed).
Initial Payment due immediately: $1,995
Final Payment due May 28, 2025: $2,900
OPTION 2 - PRIVATE ROOM
The fee for this trip is $5,695 per person, paid in two separate installments.
Your stay will include:
-2 nights in Lisbon boutique hotel in a private room with a double bed and an en suite bathroom.
-5 nights in Alentejo rural boutique hotel in a private room with a double bed and an en suite bathroom.
Initial Payment due immediately: $1,995
Final Payment due May 28, 2025: $3,700
Important Trip Notes + Details
Accessibility
Please note this tour includes walking tours where the ground may be uneven such as cobblestones, gravel, or unpaved roads. You may also be on your feet for a couple of hours at a time during workshops. You should be comfortable walking or standing for long periods.
Culinary Notes
Portugal has a rich culinary culture. While we will try our best to manage allergies, we cannot accommodate vegan, gluten-free, egg-free, or dairy-free options and some severe allergies.
If you have any allergies or dietary restrictions, you will need to submit those on your booking request form. We cannot accommodate any allergies or dietary restrictions if you do not advise us when you submit your initial booking request.
Please contact us before booking if you have any questions.
Supplies
Most supplies for the workshop will be provided, including a large, custom-designed Maryanne Moodie wooden loom, wooden tool kit, and a selection of yarns and fibers. You will need to bring a good-quality sketchbook, pencils or pens for drawing and taking notes, and the vintage textiles you want to incorporate into your rag rug weaving. Closer to your departure date, we’ll send a reminder and additional details for what you need to bring with you.
Who is this Trip for?
This trip is for the open minded and patient traveler. You should be eager to learn and work hands-on with a local community of skilled artisans and be curious about regional culture and cuisine.
This is an immersive adventure and best suited for those who enjoy traveling as a part of a small group.
Travel Health
Consult a doctor, nurse or health care provider, or travel health clinic as soon as we confirm your booking on the Trip so you know what may be required, based on your individual circumstances. If you have any health concerns you should contact your health care provider for advice prior to booking this Ace Camps Travel trip.
Trip Start + End Locations
This trip starts and finishes in Lisbon, Portugal. Drop off on the last day will be the Lisbon Airport.
Humberto Delgado Airport, also known simply as Lisbon Airport, is an international airport located 7 km northeast from the city centre of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. The airport is the main international gateway to Portugal with many direct flights from all over North America + Europe.
Weather
Late October and Early November is a nice time of year to visit Portugal, it’s fall and the temperatures are cooling down from the warm summer months. Daytimes temperatures usually range from 60°F to 70°F (15°C to 22°C, and nighttime temperatures cool 45 to 50°F (8°C to 12°C), which means you should pack layered clothes for your stay, including warm layers for cool nights, as well as a jacket and umbrella in case of showers.
Included in this Trip
Four-day modern weaving and fiber art workshop with Maryanne Moodie, learning the core fundamentals of weaving, color theory, composition.
Maryanne Moodie large, custom-designed wooden loom and wooden tool kit.
A selection of beautiful yarns and fibers.
Full-day tour of contemporary textile scene in Lisbon to gather inspiration and learn about some of today’s emerging artists.
Half-day tour of some of Lisbon’s vintage shops, gathering vintage textiles to use in our weaving projects.
Two nights at urban boutique accommodations in Lisbon + five nights rural boutique accommodations in the Alentejo.
Seven breakfasts, six lunches, and six dinners.
Transport to all activities, including return transport from Lisbon to the Alentejo
Dedicated Ace Camps Travel Host, with you throughout the trip.
Ace Camps Travel Host
An Ace Camps Travel Host will be with you throughout your trip, dedicated to ensuring you have the best possible experience. Your Host is there for any questions or concerns, to look out for the health and safety of the group and to help resolve any issues that might arise. The Ace Camps Travel Host is not a local guide but will work with our local partners to ensure the right combination of pace, information, and duration. Our local partners are deeply knowledgable in the culture and customs of the area and will be there to share their knowledge and passion with the group.
Not Included in this Trip
International roundtrip airfare; required Travel Insurance; airport transfer on Day 1; alcoholic drinks; activities, food, and beverages not included in the trip itinerary; hotel incidentals, including room service, spa services, laundry service, and hotel bar tabs; expenses during free time; a few workshop supplies we’ll ask you bring closer to departure date.
Travel Arrangements
Ace Camps Travel will email you when it is time to make your travel arrangements. This email will be sent approximately 90 prior to your trip start date unless you book within 90 before the start of the trip. We will also send you an Ace Camps Travel preparation document prior to your trip. It will include a detailed itinerary, arrival and departure information, a suggested packing list, useful country information and more.
Questions + FAQ’s
If you have any questions about this Ace Camps Travel trip, please feel free to contact us.
You can also read our FAQ’s here.
Travel Insurance
As stated in our Terms and Conditions, we require all guests to have Travel Insurance that at minimum covers both medical emergencies and trip cancellations. Cancellations 180 days or fewer prior to the trip start date will incur a cancellation fee equal to 100% of the price for the trip. There are no exceptions to this cancellation policy which is one of the many reasons we require all guests have Travel Insurance.
For full details on our Travel Insurance requirements, visit our FAQ’s and review our Terms and Conditions.
Health + Safety
Our goal is for each of our guests to enjoy the amazing trip we’ve put together. To ensure that happens, we put the health and safety of the group as our top priority. Individual guests are responsible for ensuring they meet all destination and layover country requirements and laws including various Covid-19 related requirements, providing proof of vaccination, testing before or after entry, masking, etc.
During our trip, if you feel unwell, exhibit signs of, or test positive for an illness, you should be prepared to follow the advice of local health authorities as well as the Ace Camps Travel Host to ensure the health and safety of the entire group. Depending on the severity of your symptoms and/or viral nature of your illness there may be a need to mask, distance, self isolate, or remove yourself completely from the trip which will be determined by the Ace Camps Travel Host with the best interests of the group health and safety as the main priority. This is one of the many reasons we require all guests to have Travel Insurance.
For full details on our Health and Safety Policies, visit our FAQ’s and review our Terms and Conditions.
Cancellation Policy
If you choose to cancel your trip for any reason, you must do so via email to hello@acecampstravel.com. If we receive written notice 181 or more days prior to the Trip start date, we will refund your initial payment, less a $1,000 cancellation fee. If we receive written notice 180 days or fewer prior to the Trip start date you will incur a cancellation fee equal to 100% of the price for the Trip. There are no exceptions to this cancellation policy, including for reasons related to weather, terrorism, civil strife, pandemics, illness, personal, family or medical emergencies, or any other circumstances beyond our control. For this and other reasons, we require you to purchase Travel Insurance.
Be sure to read our Terms and Conditions for full details on Booking and Payment, Cancellation by You and Trip Changes and Cancellations.