Sonia had often thought of changing her career path towards working in the creative world, and it was after taking some day classes at the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) that she discovered the Future Tutors Programme (FTP) and realised that this was the opportunity she had been looking for.

During her 3 years on the FTP she embraced the diversity of embroidery techniques, explored colour, texture, and design, and developed her own style of embroidered abstracts. She graduated from the Future Tutors programme in 2022.

Since graduating Sonia has set up exhibitions, delivered learning curve classes, and demonstrated fine hand embroidery at the Knitting at Stitching Shows in London and Harrogate, at the Fashion and Textile Museum and at The Sunbury Embroidery Gallery. She has taught RSN Day Classes at Hampton Court Palace as well as at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland, and on the Certificate & Diploma Programme including the Summer Intensive courses. She has also assisted on the International Summer School at Hampton Court Palace and she has run family drop-in sessions at the Fashion and Textile Museum, the Guildhall Art Gallery and at Hillsborough Castle. Sonia’s work has been included in RSN exhibitions at Hampton Court Palace and the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery, and her work was chosen for the Broderers’ Exhibition in 2022.

Sonia is a keen textiles recycler and embraces repairing, reusing and remaking. She volunteers at her local Repair Café as a textile’s repairer, fixing items where possible, and teaching clients how to repair their own garments. She loves to experiment, investigating how traditional techniques can be used in new ways and she is looking forward to developing this further and to encouraging her students to try new approaches.

In 2023, Sonia 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.