September marks the beginning of the RSN’s programme to catalogue and digitise its extensive collection and archive. The RSN has in its collection textiles spanning multiple continents and more than a thousand years. Its archive includes important documents from its founding in 1872 to today. Together, the collection and archive include many thousands of items.

The digitisation project is being led by the Royal School of Needlework’s Curator, Isabella Rosner, and its Archivist, Emily Mitchell. The pair will photograph the RSN’s holdings and thoroughly catalogue each item. Catalogue entries will then go online so that the public can virtually access items like past RSN registers and collection items ranging from seventeenth-century embroidered panels to embroidery worked at the RSN’s Training School. The majority of objects in the RSN’s collection and archive have never been shared publicly or studied in depth.

The digitisation project will begin with 100 items chosen by the RSN Staff, Studio, and Tutors. These items represent the breadth of the RSN’s collection and archive and will be available on the collection website by the end of 2023. Items will continue to be added to the website regularly for the next few years. Keep an eye out for new website entries and monthly blog posts about items we’re cataloguing!

We are looking for a small number of On-site and Virtual volunteers to help us with our digitisation. If you are interested in getting involved, please see our vacancies here. Our call for volunteers closes on Monday 25 September 25, 2023. Make sure to follow our new Royal Needlework Collection Instagram, where we will be posting photos of the digitisation process, and we look forward to sharing the RSN’s collection and archive with the world!