We are passionate about embroidery and get very excited by every piece that comes into the Studio, whether for Conservation, Restoration or to be a new bespoke piece.

This chasuble came in from a small church in the Midlands, and we were taken aback to see the most amazing medieval embroidery, an example of ‘Opus Anglicanum’, often only seen in exhibitions and museums.

The medieval embroidery formed the front and the back orphrey on a chasuble. The base of the chasuble had deteriorated, meaning the embroidery needed to be transferred onto new fabric, not for the first time in its long life.

The chasuble was deconstructed, and we took each of the orphreys, lightly surface cleaned them, supported and generally tidied to ensure they were in the best condition for the future. The embroidered pieces were in a very good condition with only a few repairs and changes made during its long history.

The most obvious is the addition of a black line of couching around the outside and Jesus’ hair had been painted a different colour. The chasuble was made up with a suitable colour and will continued to be used by the Church for special events and festivals.

Do you have a piece of embroidery you would like restored?

Visit the RSN Embroidery Studio Website  to find out more about our restoration services.

 

We may be in the midst of a mini heatwave with our television screens overtaken by the Paris Olympics, but all is not lost as the RSN launches its new season of embroidery classes to see you through the colder months.

With classes both Online and Onsite starting in September, there is plenty to choose from. So, whether you want to immerse yourself in a longer course or choose one of the many shorter courses there will be something to suit everyone’s preferences.

Our wonderful team of expert Tutors have selected many new kits to encourage and guide you through exploring the art of hand embroidery, and you’ll also see some old favourites returning if you missed them the first time! For those of you choosing to take classes Online, we are delighted to share that from September we will be recording the classes, so if you find yourself wanting to watch back a particular stitch or listen to any Tutor advice to help finish your pieces, now you can!

If you are contemplating joining the Certificate & Diploma course in technical hand embroidery, there are many classes available to help you prepare. If you have a finished piece that you want to frame, take the opportunity to master mounting Online.

Classes are now open for booking so take a look!

Don’t forget you will receive 10% off each class booked when you become an RSN Stitching Friend.

An exhibition of items from the RSN Collection is now open at the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum in Stirling. Scotland. The new exhibition, ‘Embroidered Excellence: Treasures from the RSN Collection’, brings together some of the finest examples of embroidery in the RSN’s large collection.

It encompasses works from all corners of the world, spanning the last 400 years. Objects on show include a pair of Peranakan slippers, a 17th-century continental European chasuble back, and samplers made at the RSN throughout the 20th century. From Scotland to Singapore, each object is a labour of love and a testament to the skill and creativity of centuries of stitchers.

‘Embroidered Excellence’ is free to enter and there is no need to book in advance. The gallery of open Wednesday – Friday at 10am – 5pm, with free parking and disabled access. The exhibition runs until 10 November.

Learn more about the and  RSN’s Collection & Archive here.

Unable to make it to Scotland? Visit our new exhibition ‘Tales of Textiles: The RSN Collection in Focus’ when opens on 25 September at Hampton Court Palace, South West London. Book here.

Are you part of a group that would love to take a hand embroidery class with us?

We offer bespoke group classes for 8 of more students, taught either online, or in one of our beautiful classrooms at Hampton Court Palace, South West London. These events can be organised on a date and at a time to suit you.

The minimum number of students required to create a one-day bespoke class is 8 @ £140pp (£1,120 plus kit costs). We are happy for fewer students to book a bespoke class at the full day rate.

Join us for a day of stitching, taught by one of our expert RSN Tutors, to learn new hand embroidery techniques and have a truly memorable day.

Book a class here

Browse our new September – December Day & Evening classes here

The RSN has an extensive collection of over 5000 embroidery pieces, which we want to share with as many people across the world as possible, which is why we have commenced our Digitisation project, giving you the opportunity to view our Collection digitally. Earlier this year in April we launched our first 100 objects, and, most recently, the 101^st, which is more than 30 pieces of embroidery in one.

Through cataloguing our items, we have discovered that some of our items are even more interesting than we thought. For example, we were given a small Ackworth sampler, that is five years older than the currently earliest known of its type, casting new light on early medallion samplers.

Our Curator, Dr Isabella Rosner, Archivist, Vicky Bevan, and wonderful team of volunteers, have made great headway in their research, but what we have seen is how much time these detailed investigations of pieces take when we have no previous histories

Amongst the RSN’s treasures is the very special Grove Book which you may know a little about if you have joined one of our Online Talks given by RSN Chief Executive, Dr Susan Kay-Williams, but the content of two talks was only a fraction of the items covered in the book.

The Grove Book comprises over 200 textile pieces that were collected by Mrs Georgina Annie Grove in the late 19^th century. Georgina put them all in one large book in 1919 which her husband gave to the RSN following his wife’s death in 1924. There are very few words about any of the pieces which range from the 7^th century AD to the beginning of the 20^th century, gathered from across Europe, North Africa and even some from China. It is going to take a great deal of time to research each of the pieces, which is why we have launched an appeal to help us to continue this work.

Your donations will help us to assess the pieces, undertake the research, photograph all the items, individually and by the page, and to add them to the overall RSN Digitisation catalogue so that everyone can enjoy them. We believe the Grove Book contains the oldest piece in our Collection as well as pieces through to the beginning of the 20^th century, and we would love to be able to find our more information that we can share with the world.

Your help would be greatly appreciated and you can make a donation today through our website: https://royal-needlework.org.uk/get-involved/donations-old/

You can also view our Collection and Archive website here

After 17 years at the RSN, we will be saying goodbye to RSN Chief Executive, Dr Susan Kay-Williams, who will be retiring from her role at the end of August. Susan has been with the RSN since 2007 and has been an integral part of the RSN’s growth and development.  Here, Susan shares some of her highlights:

“Back in 2007 when I first joined the RSN it was a very different organisation.  For a start we only offered the Apprenticeship, the Certificate and a few short courses. Of course, we have always had the Studio and one of the pieces we were working was an interpretation of a work by Basil Alkhazi that was 1.2m square. We only had two areas at Hampton Court Palace; the Studio and apartment 11, and the website was a recent development.

I am very proud of what we have achieved over the past 17 years, as a huge team effort. We introduced the Degree, the Diploma in Technical Hand Embroidery, the Future Tutors programme, expanded the short courses, started the Experience Classes, the schools programme and the US summer school. Then, came lockdown and we pivoted the organisation to teach Online, introduced the Online Talks, Technical Tuesdays and the Online International Summer School. In 2022, we celebrated our 150th anniversary with an exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, and launched RSN Stitch Bank, and, in 2024 the Digitisation Collection & Archive project.

Major RSN Embroidery Studio projects have included work for English Heritage for Dover Castle, Red Carpet Green Dress, Patrick Grant, Nicholas Oakwell Couture, Game of Thrones, and Cornelia Parker for Magna Carta. And perhaps our proudest commissions, the work for the wedding dress of the now Princess of Wales and especially the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla last year.

In that time, we have grown hugely, but still operate with a very small, dedicated team in each area. It has been an enormous privilege to lead the team through all of this, and I very much consider my role to have been a custodian, and now the time has come to pass it on to the next person so the RSN may continue to grow and flourish.”

RSN Chair of Trustees, Pip Wood, says: “Susan has much to be proud of and we thank her for her significant achievements during her 17-year tenure at the RSN.  We hope she enjoys a well-earned retirement.”

The whole team would like to thank Susan for everything she has done over the years in helping to support our mission to preserve the heritage and lead the development of hand embroidery.

Join us for a sunny month of Onsite International Summer School Classes, Collection exhibitions, and more!

 

International Summer School Classes – Hampton Court Palace

Elizabethan Unicorn, Inspired by a 16th-Century Embroidery Pattern Book: Monday 12 – Friday 16 August

Captivating Crewelwork: ‘Inspired by RSN 4 Panel Screen’: Monday 12 – Friday 16 August

ハンプトンコート宮殿で学ぶ　王立刺繍学校　特別日本語ワークショップ：ダーニングサンプラー – Wednesday 14 – Friday 16 August

The Coronation Carriage: Monday 19 – Friday 23 August

Exploring Drawing & Sources of Creative Inspiration: Monday 19 – Friday 23 August

Goldwork Nouveau Leaf: Thursday 22 – Friday 23 August

Embroidered & Embellished Victorian Patchwork: ‘Under the Sea’: Tuesday 27 – Saturday 31 August

 

Events & Exhibitions

‘Embroidered Excellence: Treasures from the RSN Collection’: FREE Entry, Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum, Wednesday 31 July – Sunday 10 November

 

Online Information Sessions & Open Days

BA (Hons) Hand Embroidery Degree: Online, Wednesday 21 August, 2pm

 

Future Dates for you Diary

‘Tales of Textiles: The RSN Collection in Focus’: Hampton Court Palace, 25 September 2024 to June 2025

Decorex Interior Design Show: London Olympia, 6 – 9 October

The Knitting and Stitching Show: Alexandra Palace, London, 10 – 13 October. Join our 90 minute workshop

You are invited to join us and view all the wonderful work from our Future Tutors & Certificate & Diploma Graduates.  The exhibition takes place in our Embroidery Studio at Hampton Court Palace from 3 – 7 July, and is open from 11am – 3pm.  Entry to the exhibition is free.

To visit our exhibition, please arrive via the Palace gardens and through the RSN Shop located on the East Front. If you are visiting the Hampton Court Palace Flower Festival, make sure to pop in and see us for some floral embroidery inspiration. If you also wish to visit inside Hampton Court Palace , a ticket will need to be purchased separately.

Congratulations to all our graduates and we look forward to seeing you at our Awards Ceremony which we will live stream through Instagram on Monday 1 July at 11am UK time. Make sure to follow @royalneedlework on Instagram to tune in. The event will be recorded and shared on the account for anyone who is unable to watch live.

For any queries about the exhibition or Graduate Ceremony, please email [email protected]

 

We run a wide variety of hand embroidery courses from one day classes to full-time professional programmes for anyone looking for a career in hand embroidery.  To find out more, please book onto one of our forthcoming Information Sessions.

To find out more about our Certificate & Diploma in Technical Hand Embroidery, please join us online at 1pm on Monday 22 July. We teach the Certificate & Diploma in the US, in the UK at Hampton Court Palace, in Bristol, Rugby, Durham and Glasgow, as well as in Japan and Australia.  We also teach online.

Book on the C&D Information Session here.

To find out more about the Professional Embroidery Tutor Programme, please join us online at 2pm on Thursday 4 July.  This is a professional course for anyone seeking a career as a professional embroiderer and Tutor.  It is a three-year programme that combines dedicated teaching hours of two days per week with independent portfolio work at home for the remaining week, giving more flexibility to the student.  The course is taught in the unique setting of Hampton Court Palace.

Book on the Professional Embroidery Tutor Programme here.

 

We are delighted to announce that a series of new objects from the RSN’s Collection and Archive are now available to view online.

This set of objects is a 34-part embroidered alphabet, finished by Dr Isabel Elliott in 2007. The suite of embroidered objects is an encyclopaedia of stitches, a teaching aid, and an illustration of one woman’s astonishing embroidery skills.

This embroidered alphabet, given to the RSN in 2019, involves a large box that holds 32 booklets. Every inch of the box is embroidered, including the inside and both sides of its lid. Each of the 32 booklets brings together a letter of the alphabet with an embroidery technique and a slew of motifs that begin with that letter. The vast majority of the motifs are floral and faunal shadow work.

You can view the new objects here

 

Our new exhibition, ‘Tales of Textiles: the RSN Collection in Focus’, opens at Hampton Court Palace in September and bookings are now open.

This exhibition gives the opportunity to learn more about key pieces from the Royal School of Needlework’s Collection & Archive with a focus on English embroidery. Objects on display span three centuries and tell a story of wear and use, protection and care, tradition and innovation, and stitchers domestic and professional.

The exhibition will take place in one of our Embroidery Studios at Hampton Court Palace, South West London, and will run from 25 September 2024 to June 2025.  Bookings start from £25 per person.

Book here

We have just launched another 25 stitches on RSN Stitch Bank to celebrate the Summer Solstice and there are now a total of 425 stitches.

RSN Stitch Bank is the world directory of stitches, and an incredible resource, featuring videos, written instructions, illustrations, and photographs for each stitch. It also includes a history of its use and images of them on items from the RSN Textile Collection.

RSN Stitch Bank is available online via the website rsnstitchbank.org and is a unique resource for all stitchers, teachers, curators, historians, researchers, and students.

View the 25 New Stitches here

Support RSN Stitch Bank

RSN Stitch Bank aims to be a ‘world directory’ of stitch.  You can help us continue to grow this unique resource by Adopting a Stitch.   You can Adopt a Stitch for yourself, a friend, group or in memoriam of a loved one.

You can opt to be the Founding Sponsor for a stitch (£300 one-off donation) or join with others as an Annual Supporter for any stitch you wish (£25/year per stitch). Or you can donate any amount, however small, towards helping us keep the RSN Stitch Bank free for everyone to use.

Adopt a Stitch and Donate to RSN Stitch Bank

Thank you for your support.