‘Hand Embroidery: Skills and Studies’ is an exciting new course which will run from September 2024 at RSN Durham. The course has been developed by RSN Tutor Tracy Franklin. Learning will be based on skills – exploring, developing and sampling ideas, and studies – examining and researching hand embroidery.

The course will be modular, 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.

The structure of each module will follow a similar path and will include learning traditional methods and techniques and experimenting with new approaches.

Students will have time to explore the stitch/technique in detail considering line, texture, colour, tone (value), shape, space, and form, as appropriate.

Students will be encouraged to think about concepts such as contrast, proportion, direction, scale, rhythm, repetition etc.

An important part of each module will be investigating contemporary and historic embroideries, both domestic and international.

The outcome for each student will be a body of personal work in the form of samples, traditional and contemporary, and research. Students will be encouraged to share their explorations, images and text, within the group and to contribute their work to a collection of stitch which will grow over time.

Each module will be complete in itself and consist of six sessions (10am to 4pm) running over a term.  The dates for the first term are: 5, 12, 19, 26 September and 3, 10 October.

Students will be expected to complete all work from each session. Modules may be taken in any order.  None are compulsory. The cost will be £750 per module, payable in advance.

The first modules will be onsite courses at RN Durham. An online option will follow.

Get in Touch

Get in touch with us to register your interest or find out more about our course!