Abigail Carter

Abigail’s passion lies in introducing as many people as possible to embroidery and widening participation in this beautiful craft with such a long heritage. Abigail graduated with Distinction from the Royal School of Needlework in 2023, receiving the Broderers’ Prize for top student. She was also awarded a scholarship by the Radcliffe Trust through the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust in 2021. Her work has been exhibited at the Guildhall Art Gallery as part of the Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers’ 400th anniversary celebrations. She was also part of the team that worked on the anointing screen for the King’s Coronation in 2023.

Alexandra Makin

After completing the RSN apprenticeship in 1998, Alexandra gained a BA Honours degree in Archaeology and then a PGCE, specialising in textiles. In 2017, Alexandra received a PhD with her thesis ‘Embroidery and its Context in the early medieval British Isles and Ireland (AD 450-1100). Alexandra was, until recently, a research associate at the University of Glasgow and National Museums Scotland, analysing the embroidery and textiles found in the Galloway Hoard. She is now a Third Century Fellow at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her publications include the book, The Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World: the sacred and secular power of embroidery, and articles and book chapters analysing the technical attributes of embroideries, how they were made and their meaning and use within early medieval societies. Alexandra regularly teaches workshops and gives lectures and talks of different aspects of early medieval embroidery. She also produces kits and disseminates her experimental research, re-creating early medieval embroideries, through her YouTube channel.

Amanda Rymel

Graduating from the RSN’s Future Tutors Programme in 2022, Amanda has a Degree in Two-Dimensional Design and worked as a graphic designer ever since.

Amanda wanted to bring her love of design, stitching, and teaching together and so a second career as a teacher of Hand Embroidery began.

As well as teaching Day Classes and on the Certificate & Diploma Summer Intensive and Summer School, Amanda has also taught for the RSN at the Guildhall, St Albans Cathedral, the Knitting & Stitching Show and London’s Fashion and Textile Museum. She also enjoys assisting on other tutors classes.

Amanda is passionate about how embroidery can benefit people’s wellbeing and is looking forward to meeting and enthusing many adults and children’s stitching journeys.

In 2023, Amanda was honoured to be part of the Embroidery Studio team at the Royal School of Needlework who worked on the Anointing Screen for the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

Angela Bishop

Since graduating in 2016, Angela has taught day classes and certificate and diploma modules at Rugby, Hampton Court Palace, Williamsburg and the inaugural C&D Intensive in Brisbane in July 2024. She was one of the tutors who piloted online C&D modules during Covid and now primarily teaches this way for all time zones. Angela filmed the RSN self paced online class for Appliquè 2022.

Her work has been exhibited at venues in the UK and Australia, including the RSN 150th Exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum, and the inaugural exhibition at the Bankside Gallery London for the Worshipful Company of Broderers where she is a Liveryman.

She was also honoured to be a part of the team producing the anointing screen for the Coronation of HM Charles III in 2023.

With an earlier career in event management, Angela has organised and hosted her own embroidery retreats in unique venues around the UK. Her first book ‘Figurework Embroidery’ was published in 2020.

Anita Harrison

Anita graduated from the 3 year RSN Future Tutor Programme in July 2020.

Alongside her Future Tutor studies, she worked on the hand-embroidered textile for The Duchess of Cambridge’s ‘Back to Nature’ garden at the RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival, and the Salvage Hunters, The Restorers Bon Marché chair.

Anita’s work has been exhibited on the RSN stand at The Knitting & Stitching Shows, at RSN exhibitions at Hampton Court Palace and at the Worshipful Company of Broderers’ Exhibition in 2022.

Although Anita loves all forms of embroidery, she particularly enjoys Jacobean, Raised Embroidery, Whitework, Canvaswork and Appliqué.

In 2023, Anita was honoured to be part of the Embroidery Studio team at the Royal School of Needlework who worked on the Anointing Screen for the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

Anita enjoys teaching in person and online, and teaches on the RSN’s Certificate & Diploma course, Day Classes and International Summer School.

Auburn Lucas

Auburn is an embroidery artist, teacher and author, who has spent the past 10 years learning, practicing and teaching the art of hand embroidery. Her embroidery career started when she gained a place on the Future Tutor Programme at the RSN, where she graduated in 2017 with distinction and a number of awards including a QEST scholarship. On graduating Auburn was employed in the RSN’s commercial studio, and as a tutor, has had the honour to teach on a number of programmes from day classes to the certificate and diploma course. She has also had the opportunity to teach at a number of locations in the UK and abroad as well as online. Auburn has spent the past few years writing a book on Whitework embroidery which was published in 2023 with The Crowood Press. Auburn has mainly been focusing on teaching and writing her book. She now looks forward to developing her embroidery style and specialities further, whilst working towards building on her career as a freelance embroiderer.

Chrissie Juno Mann

Based in the heart of the New Forest, Chrissie Juno Mann has been stitching since childhood. She holds an MA in Conservation & Restoration of the Decorative Arts and trained at the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) as a specialist in the historical art of hand embroidery, graduating with Distinction. Chrissie now works regularly for the RSN, while also running her own embroidery business, Cloud Juno, and freelancing as a tutor, offering online classes that connect her with a global community of embroiderers.

In addition to creating her own designs for kits, Chrissie has published several well-received blackwork pattern books, available in both digital and hardcopy formats across various countries. As an artist, she strives for technical excellence and artistic depth, blending traditional techniques with contemporary themes in her embroidery.

Deborah Wilding

After graduating from the RSN FTP with distinction in 2015, teaching the RSN C&D course, as well as on the Day Class programme, Deborah is mainly based at our Bristol Satellite. She also teaches for the RSN across the UK and internationally.

Deborah also teaches freelance for organisations such as holiday companies, private social groups and other education organisations both in the UK and abroad.

In 2021 Deborah was awarded a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust grant to study for an MPhil with the Kings Foundation School of Traditional Arts. The MPhil uses artistic practise as research looking at the influence of geometry in embroidery design. This research has lead to a working knowledge and use of natural dyes materials.

In 2022 Deborah became a livery man of the Worshipful company of Broderers due to her work in the field of technical hand embroidery.

In 2023, Deborah was honoured to be part of the Embroidery Studio team at the Royal School of Needlework who worked on a number of items for the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla, including The Queen’s Robe of Estate, the Anointing Screen, Chairs of State and the Stole Royal.

Debra Jackson

After completing her Apprenticeship in 1981, Debra has taught a variety of techniques for the RSN and across Norfolk and Essex, and enjoys giving talks to local groups about the RSN. She was part of the team that facilitated the RSN’s move from Princes Gate to Hampton Court Palace in 1987, where she became the coordinator of the Apprenticeship program and worked in the Studio on a wide range of commissions, including several embroidered gifts for the Royal Family.

More recently, Debra has continued her work with the RSN as a tutor, verifier, and assessor.

In 2023, she was honoured to be part of the Embroidery Studio team at the Royal School of Needlework, working on several items for the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

Debra co-authored the Royal School of Needlework Embroidery Techniques book by Batsford. She takes great pleasure in the fine attention to detail that embroidery requires and enjoys sharing her knowledge as an assessor and verifier for the current Future Tutors Programme (FTP) and Certificate & Diploma (C&D) courses.

Emma Broughton

Emma Broughton graduated from the RSN (2009) before going on to complete a degree at The University of the Creative Arts (2012). Her embroidery journey began when she joined and completed the RSN three-year apprenticeship, gaining expert knowledge in many fields of hand embroidery. During her degree she went on to gain specialist knowledge of fabric dyeing and screen printing using traditional methods including shibori.

Emma published her first book on ‘Embroidered Boxes: Techniques and Projects’ book in April 2019.

My passion is creating unique designs for embroidered boxes and offering online embroidery kits and classes worldwide in the form of both in person, online and on demand courses under the name Fairy Wren Embroidery. While most of her kits and classes are designed around natural forms, in 2023 Emma was awarded a Developing your Creative Practice Grant by the Arts Council England to fund a Blackwork Portrait project which is now the focus of her artistic practice.