Alexandra Makin completed the RSN Apprenticeship with a first class qualification in 1998.

Since then, Alex gained a BA Honours in Archaeology from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2002) and a PhD from the University of Manchester (2016). The focus of her PhD thesis was Embroidery and its Context in the British Isles and Ireland during the Early Medieval Period (450-1100 CE), which was published as The Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World: The Sacred and Secular Power of Embroidery in 2019. She has published widely on different aspects of early medieval embroidery and textiles, including technical and Object Biographies of surviving pieces, and their place and meaning within early medieval societies. Between 2021 and 2024 Alex was a Research Assistant on the AHRC funded ‘Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard’ project, jointly run by National Museums Scotland and the University of Glasgow. Her role was to analyse technical details and research wider social aspects of the textiles found within the Hoard. Alex also undertakes consultancy work for archaeological units, analysing and reporting on embroidery, textiles and leather.

Alexandra is a member of the Bayeux Research Group for the Bayeux Tapestry, which is organised and run by the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux and the Monuments Historiques Department, Paris.  She has analysed this world-famous hanging from a technical and makers’ perspective, publishing her results in a number of books. This work has also led to Alex appearing in television and on radio documentaries and to be interviewed by international radio and TV news outlets. She also advises writers and researchers.

As a qualified teacher (PGCE) with 9 years’ experience as a teacher and Head of Design Technology at a school for young people with special educational needs, Alexandra was consistently graded outstanding by Ofsted. She has continued to teach both adults and children embroidery through face-to-face and online workshops run by various groups and institutions. Alex also gives talks and presentations about her research to a wide range of audiences across the world.

Alexandra’s focus on early medieval embroidery has led her to design, make and sell embroidery kits using motifs from the period, authentic materials and handmade needles based on finds from early medieval contexts. She also undertakes experimental archaeological projects re-creating embroideries from the period in order to learn about working methods, the technical properties of materials and how early medieval embroiderers thought and engaged with their work.

Alexandra is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Society of Antiquaries London.