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.

 

 

We are excited to launch a new RSN course, exclusive to RSN Durham that is now available to book!

‘Hand Embroidery: Skills and Studies’ is a new course, developed by RSN Tutor Tracy Franklin.  It will run from September 2024 at RSN Durham.

The course will be based on learning new skills, exploring, developing and sampling ideas, and examining and researching hand embroidery. Tracy will teach the course in modules, taking a different theme each time such as a specific stitch or an element of a technique. Initial themes will be Knot, Trellis, Canvas, Couching and Shading.

Students will have time to explore the stitch and technique in detail considering line, texture, colour, tone, shape, space, and form, as appropriate. Modules are not compulsory and can be booked separately as you go.

Places for this course are limited. For full information and registration details please click here

 

International Summer School Classes

It’s not too late to book your class and Join us Online, or Onsite at Hampton Court Palace or Durham for an unforgettable summer of stitch.

Online

Silk Shaded Peacock: Weekly, from Wednesday 3 July – Wednesday 24 July

Tudor Sweete Bag: 15, 18, 22 & 25 July

Shadow Work: ‘Lily of the Valley’: Weekly, from Friday 19 June – Friday 9 August

Goldwork Nouveau Leaf: Saturday 27 June – Saturday 17 August

 

Hampton Court Palace

Darning Sampler: Wednesday 17 – Friday 19 July

Shadow Work: ‘Lily of the Valley: Tuesday 23 – Wednesday 24 July

Hampton Court The Tudor Palace: Thursday 25 – Sunday 28 June

Silk & Gold: ‘Ely Knot: Monday 29 June – Thursday 1 August

 

Durham

Creative Goldwork – ‘Breaking the Rules’: Monday 15 – Friday 19 July

 

Embroidery Exhibitions

Future Tutors and Certificate & Diploma Graduate Exhibition: Hampton Court Palace, 3 – 7 July, 11am – 3pm

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

 

Course Information Days

Professional Embroidery Tutor Programme Online Information Session – Thursday 4 July, 2pm

Certificate & Diploma Online Information Session – Monday 22 July, 1pm

RSN Future Tutors Graduate Exhibition

Congratulations to our Future Tutors, Sue Kim and Kristina Clarke, who will graduate from the programme on Monday 1 July.

Sue and Kristina’s work will be on display at the Future Tutors Graduate Show from Wednesday 3 to Sunday 7 July, from 11am to 3pm, in the RSN Embroidery Studio; the work will be displayed alongside the RSN Certificate & Diploma in Technical Hand Embroidery Graduates’ work.

You can enter the exhibition  free of charge via the Palace gardens and through the RSN Shop located on the East Front Gardens. If you wish to tour the Palace during your visit, a ticket will need to be purchased separately.

You can watch the Graduation Ceremony and Awards by tuning in to our Instagram Livestream at 11am on Monday 1 July to see Sue and Kristina graduate.  Make sure to follow @royalneedlework on Instagram to watch live!

We are very proud of our Future Tutors on their graduation, and excited to see what they go on to achieve next!

Follow Sue Kim on Instagram

Follow Kristina Clarke on Instagram

If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a Professional Embroidery Tutor,  join our next Online Information Session on Thursday 4 July at 2pm (UK time).

Certificate & Diploma in Technical Hand Embroidery Graduate Exhibition

We would like to congratulate all of our Certificate & Diploma students who are graduating this summer!

To celebrate their beautiful work, we are thrilled to be holding an exhibition with a curated selection of their work, from Wednesday 3 to Sunday 7 July at Hampton Court Palace, 11am to 3pm.  RSN Future Tutor Graduates, Kristina Clarke and Sue Kim, will also show their work.

You can enter the exhibition  free of charge via the Palace gardens and through the RSN Shop located on the East Front Gardens. If you wish to tour the Palace during your visit, a ticket will need to be purchased separately.

If you are unable to attend, we will be live streaming the Graduate Ceremony and Awards through Instagram on Monday 1 July at 11am UK time.  Make sure to follow @royalneedlework on Instagram so that you can watch the ceremony live!

We teach the Certificate & Diploma in Technical Hand Embroidery course (C&D) Onsite in Bristol, Rugby, Durham and Glasgow, internationally in Japan and North America, and at our base at Hampton Court Palace, South West London.

We also teach Online, so students can learn from anywhere around the world, making friends with like-minded people who live on the other side of the world!  It is the most flexible course you will find – you can start your RSN Certificate journey at any time during the academic year, choosing when to take your classes.

If you are interested in joining the Certificate & Diploma, attend our next Online Information Session on Monday 22 July.  Book onto the info session here.

 

RSN Scotland invites you to a Stitch Social at the Glasgow Art Club on Saturday 22 June, 10am to 4pm.

Join the Royal School of Needlework Glasgow branch for a Stitch Social day of embroidery at the Glasgow Art Club, where the RSN teaches hand embroidery in Scotland.

This is a free drop in event so come with your friends or on your own, for five minutes or all day!  You can bring along any embroidery work with you, join others on a project at the venue, or simply socialise with fellow stitchers.

On the day, Stitch Social visitors will be invited to add more stitching to the ‘Processions’ banner which was created by RSN Scotland students for the march in 2018, in Edinburgh.  Processions was a mass participation artwork that took place across several British cities, celebrating 100 years of when British women won the vote.  Tens of thousands of women marched “forming a living portrait of women in the 21st century and a visual expression of equality, strength and cultural representation”.  Those marching wore the purple, green and white colours of the suffragette movement, with many holding banners which they had created, including RSN Scotland.

We first started teaching Day Classes at the Glasgow Art Club in 2011 followed by the RSN Certificate & Diploma in Technical Hand Embroidery in 2012.  RSN Scotland is keen to promote and extend the art of hand embroidery, which has long been key to Scottish culture and trade and welcomes students from all over Scotland.

The Glasgow Art Club, founded in 1867, is a private members club for artists and non-artists interested in the creation and enjoyment of art – all illustrative arts, sculptures, poetry, prose, plays, music, song, choreography and dance.  The Club’s mission is to advance, promote and encourage the arts in all forms.  Each year, it has a range of exhibitions, events and concerts open to the public for their enjoyment, such as RSN Scotland’s Stitch Social.

Entry to the event is free, just ring the Glasgow Art Club doorbell on arrival; refreshments will be available for purchase at the venue.

Please share the invite with friends and family – everyone is welcome.

This will be a wonderful social event with RSN Scotland and we really look forward to seeing you there!

We would like to share more of our Third Year Degree students’ Major Projects, which will be on display at Graduate Fashion Week and New Designers in London this month!

Missed last month’s Third Year students’ Major Projects? See them here.

Amy Turner

Morbidly curious, jarringly beautiful, fantastical and theatrical.

The hand embroidery of Amy Turner captures the fragility of health and exploration of the grotesque through her use of beautiful and delicate materials. Amy takes inspiration from history; it has proved to be a key influence for most of her work.

‘Pestilence’ explores disease and the physical effects it has on the human body. Amy’s collection shows gradual decay.

Follow Amy on Instagram

 

Cecily Winter

Using ideas of memory and narrative, Cecily Winter aims for her work to evoke an emotional response in the viewer. She combines her hand embroidery skills with up-cycled garments to create personal pieces inspired by familial themes.

‘Forget me not’, her recent body of work, is a celebration in memory of her late grandma and grandfather. A pair of garments representing these two important family members, are hand embroidered with motifs and found objects that reflect her memories.

Follow Cecily on Instagram

 

Christina Chung

Christina Chung uses the experiences of her training in both hand embroidery and landscape architecture as constant inspiration. By exploring the uniqueness and commonality of both fields, her works includes three-dimensional and structural designs with the use of both traditional and innovative embroidery techniques and materials.

‘The Botanic City’ explores how landscape architecture can provide a sustainable living environment and promote biodiversity within the city; provide a balance of nature and the modern world. This collection demonstrates the collaboration of textiles and architecture though different elements of the city, which are interpreted in structural and detailed embroidery designs.

Follow Christina on Instagram

 

Connie Williams

Connie Williams is a hand embroidery artist based in London whose work explores how experiences of life can be captured emotively through needlework. By delving into themes such as Surrealism and Impressionism, Connie aims to create timeless haute-couture designs that resonate with people at a deeply emotional level, regardless of age or background.

‘Dreams in Nature’ is Connie’s latest collection and is an ode to some of the core memories she has with her closest family members. The collection explores how sourcing materials found in nature, and embroidering them in intricately traditional techniques can present everyday experiences in a fantasy-like manner.

Follow Connie on Instagram

 

Isabella Rabasse

Isabella Rabasse is a hand embroidery practitioner based in London. Her main inspiration comes from nature, particularly florals and organic structures. Using a variety of different embellishments, including beads, sequins and unusual found objects she translates natural imagery into hand embroidery.

‘Geodes,’ explores these fascinating natural forms transforming their textures and shapes into hand embroidered designs for menswear. Isabella firmly believes that decorative embroidery for men should equal the status and beauty of that in womenswear.

Follow Isabella on Instagram

 

Megan Ellis

The world can often feel overwhelming due to constant interactions with people and objects that make up daily life. Megan Ellis uses a contemporary and naïve twist on hand embroidery to help her process and translate these and all their complexities into self-expressive artworks.

‘The Everyday’ is a collection based on personal experiences that encourage the viewer to think and talk about how they interact with the world around them.

Follow Megan on Instagram

 

Megan Neville

Combining her hand embroidery skills with colour, texture and the use of unconventional materials, Megan Neville creates work about uneasy topics in her life such as type one diabetes. Her aim is to bring awareness of these to a greater audience.

‘Ordinary Oddness’ is a collection of accessible bags designed for those with diabetes to carry equipment. They are fun, colourful and celebrate the everydayness of the condition.

Follow Megan on Instagram

 

Millie Darnell-Hayes

Taking inspiration from organic forms and textures, Millie Darnell-Hayes uses hand embroidery to identify specific details and stories inspired by nature and wild spaces. A childhood surrounded by art and nature motivated her to combine the two, which are explored through costume, led by her passion for performance.

Combining her passions, her latest work is ‘Mischievous Deceptions – Reimagining Shakespeare’s Puck’. Puck’s costume references contemporary fashion, embellished with her interpretation of details found in woodlands through stitch.

Follow Millie on Instagram

 

Molly Murfin

Embroidery artist and nature enthusiast, Molly Murfin takes her inspiration from the patterns found in her surrounding environment. Landscapes, natural forms, and colours inspire her artistic interpretations of the everyday world. Her work is playful and experimental as she redesigns the traditional techniques of embroidery.

‘Reflections’ is a collection of fashion pieces inspired by floral patterns seen through a kaleidoscope. Fabric manipulation and raised work techniques are used to create these symmetrical designs, which bring balance to an unbalanced world.

Follow Molly on Instagram

 

Rebecca Rowan

Rebecca Rowan’s hand embroidery is driven by her insatiable curiosity and love of research. Colour and sculptural qualities are vitally important to convey narrative and expression.

‘Pure Opulence’ is a personal response to when Rebecca allowed herself the precious commodity of time during her experience at the Royal School of Needlework.

The use of midnight blue enhances the richness of her work and showcases its sculptural qualities. Inspiration is drawn from 18th century decorative design detail, Fabergé eggs and Rebecca’s love of flora.

Follow Rebecca on Instagram

 

 

Rosie Sykes

Drawing with thread is at the heart of Rosie Sykes’ hand embroidery practice and her work is rooted in drawing and illustration. She is compelled by narrative; creating a web that ties together all aspects of her current process of devising a story and character for each project.

‘Camera Obscura’ depicts the extended life of a woman, whose degraded mental capacity is depicted through hand embroidered imagery of vintage cameras, telling a story of immortality, madness, and obsession. Captivated by narrative, Rosie depicts this story using vintage garments and artifacts, enhancing them through hand embroidered motifs.

Follow Rosie on Instagram

 

Sophia Radovic-Sclater

Cultural identity holds immense significance for Sophia Radovic-Sclater, prompting her to infuse her collections with elements of her own identity. Drawing inspiration from her Spanish heritage and the environments that shaped her upbringing, Sophia reflects on how these influences have shaped her as a practitioner.

‘Mon Soleil Nostalgia’ is a series of three embroidered fans inspired by nostalgic memories of family parties and dressed up glamour growing up in Andalucian culture. Sophia delves into themes of diversity, cultural identity, and appreciation in her visual storytelling, yet the core essence of this narrative revolves around the cherished nostalgia of bygone memories.

Follow Sophia on Instagram

 

Sophie Dinning

Sophie Dinning uses hand embroidery to create work utilising skilled techniques but with confident colour choices and an experimental approach particularly in three-dimensional embellishment. Her pieces are contemporary but showcasing an acute attention to detail.

‘Apricity’ (a word used to describe that feeling of the warmth of the Sun in Winter), is a collection of textile jewellery pieces based on the concept of lockets, taking visual inspiration from wrought iron and autumnal imagery. The pieces are hand embroidered, primarily using goldwork and raised work techniques.

Follow Sophie on Instagram

 

Interested in seeing the beautiful students’ work in person? Come along to Graduate Fashion Week and New Designers in June to see the Major Projects in details, and to chat to our Degree Students about their work.

Follow the RSN Degree on Instagram

We are thrilled to be exhibiting the wonderful work of our BA (Hons) Third Year Hand Embroidery Degree students this year at Graduate Fashion Week, at the Truman Brewery, and New Designers, at the Business Design Centre.

Come and find us to chat with our students, get a close up view of their work and have a go at stitching on one of our frames!

Stitch a Star at New Designers

Stitch a Star for 2024! Thread your needle and join the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) Graduates of 2024 to embroider around a communal hand embroidery frame. Come and find us adjacent to our graduate show stand T32, in the Textile Zone.

The RSN’s mission is to ensure the future of hand embroidery, so why not pick up some top tips from our Stars of 2024.

The Worshipful Company of Broderers, a City of London Livery Company, takes great pleasure in supporting this exciting community event.

Reserve your space on the workshop here

Book tickets

Graduate Fashion Week, Truman Brewery, London, 10 – 13 June

New Designers, Business Design Centre, London, 26 – 29 June

If you are unable to visit to visit the Degree Shows, get a glimpse of the students’ work here and here, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

Find out more about our BA (Hons) Hand Embroidery programme validated by Kingston University here

We are very proud to have Sue Kim who is in her final year of our Future Tutor Programme.

Read on to hear more about Sue’s experience over the last three years on the programme:

“Three years ago, I was incredibly excited to begin the RSN Future Tutor’s Programme, marking a significant turning point in my life. Coming from South Korea in 2002, and having lived within the Korean community bubble for a long time, this was a substantial change, and I was both anticipating and preparing for it.

Over the past three years at the RSN, I have had an invaluable and enjoyable experience, thanks to the support of my colleagues and teachers. Embroidery had always been a serious hobby for me, but the comprehensive and professional training I received here elevated my skills to a new level. With guidance from the course Tutors, I have gained the skills and confidence needed to become a professional embroiderer. I had the privilege of learning essential techniques from the best teachers, participating in various events, and assisting other Tutors to prepare myself for the future.

The RSN has provided me with the opportunity to fully immerse myself in embroidery, offering art classes, business skills, various masterclasses, and more. I was also personally honoured and proud to contribute to the embroidery for His Majesty King Charles III’s Coronation.

This unique education is unparalleled, and I am incredibly fortunate and grateful to have had this opportunity. With just one month until graduation, I am now planning exciting projects that I couldn’t have imagined three years ago. After graduation, I intend to work on a variety of projects as a professional and qualified Tutor, sharing the pure joy of the beautiful craft of embroidery with others.’

We will be broadcasting the Future Tutor’s Graduation Ceremony ‘Live’ on Instagram on 1 July, which will be alongside our Certificate & Diploma Graduation Ceremony, so make sure to follow  @royalneedlework to watch.

If you are interested in learning where a career in hand embroidery can lead you, read about the Professional Embroidery Tutor programme here.