Hippystitch

New Fabric Necklaces Arrive at cambridge contemporary crafts

2026-03-28T20:45:00.001+00:00

Hippystitch Fabric Necklaces

A whole new batch of Hippystitch fabric necklaces have now arrived at cambridge contemporary crafts (ccc) in Bene't Street, Cambridge. There are lots of luscious Liberty prints in soft Tana Lawn cotton...

Hippystitch Fabric Necklaces

There's quite a colourful selection so you should be able to find one that's perfect for a present or a treat for yourself...

Hippystitch Fabric Necklaces

As well as jewellery, ccc have ceramics, prints and paper, sculptures, glass, textiles and cards. Find them at 5 Bene't Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QN. Definitely worth a visit.

York Makers Winter Fair - Saturday 22 November 2025

2025-11-12T08:56:00.002+00:00

York Makers Winter Fair - Hippystitch
(Flyer Design - Lucy Monkman)

It's almost that time of year again when the York Makers Winter Fair puts in an appearance to make your Christmas shopping easy. Pop the date in your diary - Saturday 22 November 2025 at Clements Hall, Nunthorpe Road, York, YO23 1BW from 10am to 4pm. Expect to find me there along with other stallholders who will be selling candles, terrazzo homeware, textiles and clothing, leather goods, prints and cards, paintings, stained glass, wooden items, felted creations, paper and book art, ceramics and jewellery of all sorts. This year we have the added bonus of a cafe run by Planet Food. It'll be a great event to start your Christmas shopping or to treat yourself.

Colourful Hippystitch Button Brooches

I love searching out interesting fabric and buttons and turning them into jewellery. So, as well as my fabric necklaces and button bracelets (see top image), I shall have lots of new brooches. Some are colourful (above) or vintage & modern...

Hippystitch Vintage & Modern Button Brooches

Some have a Christmas theme...

Hippystitch Ceramic Holly Button Brooches

Some are wooden...

Hippystitch Wooden Button Brooches

Some use old coins no longer in use...

Hippystitch Vintage Coin Brooches

Some are unusual shapes...

Hippystitch Button Brooches

and there'll be more besides. So do come along, I'm sure you'll find something to tempt you! Also if you pop over to the York Makers page on Instagram you can enter the competition to win a £30 voucher to spend at the fair. Check it out here. You have until 6pm on Monday 17 November 2025 to enter..

Looking forward to seeing you!

New Hippystitch Brooches Head to The Ropewalk, Barton upon Humber

2025-11-11T11:30:00.002+00:00

Hippystitch Vintage Coin Brooches

A host of new Hippystitch brooches are winging their way to the Craft Gallery at The Ropewalk in Barton upon Humber. There are both vintage and modern offerings. Expect to find coin and domino brooches...

Vintage Domino Brooches

and vintage button brooches with lots of mother of pearl buttons...

Hippystitch Vintage Button Brooches

But also colourful tagua nut and ceramic button brooches...

Tagua Nut & Ceramic Button Brooches

and large button brooches...

Hippystitch Large Button Brooches

and more.

Why not take a trip there? It has exhibitions on in its galleries as well as its super Craft Gallery Shop. There's also The Ropewalk Museum and a coffee shop, not to mention some nice walks nearby. It's well worth a visit - go see!

Small Treasures Christmas Exhibition at Gallery 33, Scarborough

2025-11-04T19:46:00.002+00:00

The Small Treasures Christmas Exhibition opens in Scarborough on Friday 7 November 2025 at Gallery 33 and continues in the run up to Christmas.

Hippystitch Fabric Necklaces

I shall have a selection of items in the exhibition. Expect to see some colourful and some Christmassy things...

Festive Holly Brooches

Gallery 33 is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11.30am to 3.30pm at 33 Newborough, Scarborough. It is easy to find as it is on the main street a bit beyond M&S.

Colourful Button Brooches

You'll find some super things there - hope you get a chance to go. Why not combine your visit with a swim in the sea, a trip to the Stephen Joseph Theatre (SJT) or coffee/lunch at Greensmith Coffee. Also, it's an easy journey by train from York.

Upcycling Coffee, Coffee Packaging & Coffee Pods

2025-10-21T13:02:00.000+01:00

Hippystitch Coffee Themed Notebooks

Over the summer (July, August & September) I led a series of Stitch Clubs at York Embroiderers and Stitchers (YES). YES are a are a friendly group of stitch and textile enthusiasts of all levels of ability and experience and I am a member.

The Stitch Clubs were initially inspired by some work I did in the YES Travelling Book. The Travelling Book is a book that members of the group add to every month with samples of whatever work they choose. It may be examples of stitched work but it could be mixed media work or something else. For my pages, I decided I would go with the theme of "using the unusual" and to narrow that down a bit I chose coffee as a linking factor. I used colourful coffee packaging, used coffee pods, and leftover coffee as paint. You can read about it here. This inspired me to run a stitch club on a similar theme.

We started off using coffee painting, coffee packaging and stitch to create some notebooks...

Coffee Painting

It was great to watch everyone's progress and different designs...

Stitch Club Participants' Work
(Top from left - Jane, Jill. Middle - Tina, Eileen, Maggie. Bottom - Pauline, Liz B, Elaine)

And to see some of the ingenious completed outcomes...

Judith's Notebook Complete with Pocket

More Completed Notebooks (Liz(L),(C - clockwise from top left) Marina, Andrea, Jill, Michele, Elaine(R))

After we'd finished making notebooks we moved on to a stitch coffee pod flower collage...

Hippystitch Coffee Pod Flower Collages

which involved a bit of practising cutting, hammering and squishing to get coffee pods into the desired shapes...

Diane, Jill and Andrea's Stitched Coffee Pod Collages

and resulted in some fab collages and some new ideas for flowers and embellishments. All in all - great fun!

Andy Goldsworthy Fifty Years - Edinburgh

2025-10-13T12:47:00.002+01:00

Andy Goldsworthy - Wool Runner

Andy Goldsworthy Fifty Years is currently showing at the National Gallery (Royal Scottish Academy) in Edinburgh. Goldsworthy is a land artist, known for working with natural materials. Much of his work that you may be familiar with takes the form of outdoor installations. The exhibits made especially for this exhibition are in response to the Royal Scottish Academy building. Overall there's lots to see - 3D installations, 2D & 3D artwork, photos, film and it's all fascinating. I'd say it's a "must see" if you can make it. Of everything, it was the large scale installations that I liked best. Here's a flavour...

When you arrive you are greeted by Wool Runner (see above) which is a series of fleeces showing the farmers' colour coded markings, that are attached to sheep netting with thorns.

Andy Goldsworthy - Fence

At the top of the stairs is Fence, made of rusty barbed wire, stretched between two of the buildings columns. The columns are protected by a layer of rope that is wrapped round them. Goldsworthy comments about the fences/barriers/obstacles that he encounters in his work, and how he hopes to find a way through.

Andy Goldsworthy - Fence (detail)

In this area are two sheep paintings. A mineral block (sheep food) was placed in a field of sheep on a canvas. The weather, number of sheep and how often they visited the food source all affected the outcome. The white central circle is where the mineral block was placed and later removed...

Andy Goldsworthy - Sheep Painting

Andy Goldsworthy - Sheep Painting (detail)

In an adjacent room is Skylight, made from bullrushes, collected from Dumfries and Galloway where Goldsworthy is based, and also from Angus. The seed heads have been removed and the thinner end of one is inserted into the thicker end of another to make this floor to ceiling installation around a central skylight.

Andy Goldsworthy - Skylight

Gravestones is seen as a partner piece to Skylight. Gravestones being from the earth and Skylight reaching for the light. The stones are collected from graveyards across Dumfries and Galloway and are those that are displaced when graves are dug. A larger Gravestones project is planned and there are maps showing where all the stones have come from....

Andy Goldsworthy - Gravestones

Blank flags were dyed with the reddest earth from each of the 50 American states, originally for an installation at the Rockefeller Centre in New York. You can see them displayed here. We are told that Goldsworthy hoped that the connection of flag and land would offer connection rather than division and a different sort of defence of the land (environmetal rather than fighting).

Andy Goldsworthy - Flags

Oak Passage has been constructed from fallen branches and serves as a reminder that the oak floor was once a tree. At the far end is Dock Drawing and at the other end a swirl of ferns pinned on with thorns...

Andy Goldsworthy - Oak Passage
(Dock Drawing on the far wall)

Andy Goldsworthy - Ferns and Thorns

Red Wall was made by plastering sieved, dried, crushed, clay rich earth, dug from the Lowther Hills in Dumfriesshire, mixed with water onto a backing that fits the wall space. As it dried it has cracked and as the exhibition progresses chunks may fall off. Its redness comes from its high iron content. Goldsworthy reminds us that our blood also has a high iron content and suggests that this commonality binds us to the earth...

Andy Goldsworthy - Red Wall

Andy Goldsworthy - Red Wall (detail)

I found the Hare Blood Snow paintings(?) rather gruesome. Goldsworthy hit a hare, while driving and took it home, disemboweled it, filled it with snow, hung it up and then as the snow melted it dripped blood onto paper below.

Andy Goldsworthy - Hare Blood Snow (detail)

Keep your eyes peeled as you wander round so you don't miss anything...

Andy Goldsworthy - Barbed Wire Ball

There are also lots of varied photographs...

Andy Goldsworthy - Black Sand, Morecambe Bay, Lancashire (detail)

Andy Goldsworthy - Iron. Rising out of the ground in the valley below. Collected and painted onto a dead hawthorn tree.

And don't miss this one as you're leaving...

Andy Goldsworthy - Work Gloves

On until 2 November 2025, this exhibition is well worth a visit. The Royal Scottish Academy has a cafe and is a short walk from Waverley station.

The Welsh Quilt Centre, Lampeter

2025-10-05T19:06:00.002+01:00

Flannel Patchwork, Four Bow Ties
Ceredigion, circa 1880

On a recent holiday to Tenby, I took a side trip to Lampeter to see The Welsh Quilt Centre. The exhibition, entitled "As Time Goes By", showcases the ingenuity of Welsh quiltmakers. These women worked in a cottage industry that lasted almost one and a half centuries and, at the Welsh Quilt Centre, are finally getting recognition for their art.

Treorchy Quilt (on bed) - Late 19th/Early 20th Century, Red Crosses Quilt (above bed) - Rhayader, Powys, circa 1890

The Welsh Quilt Centre opened in 2009 and was the brainchild of Jen Jones who has collected Welsh Quilts and textiles for over 40 years. It has been integral to the saving and preservation of this element of Welsh heritage. Housed in Lampeter's former town hall, with a cafe next door, the Centre aims to promote and celebrate the art of the Welsh Quilt, alongside the contemporary works of local and international artists.

Log Cabin Quilt (on bed) - late 19th Century, Butterfly Quilt (above bed) - circa 1880, Victorian Patchwork (far wall)

Log Cabin Quilt - detail

Here are some that caught my eye and I liked the room mock ups.

Country Patchwork Quilt
Llangain, Llansteffan - Victorian

There is also a gallery shop stocking vintage and modern textiles and if this doesn't provide what you're looking for you can head out to Llanybydder to Jen Jones Welsh Quilts and Blankets Cottage Shop. Here you can find a vast array of Welsh quilts, blankets, shawls, antiques and more.

Pink Satin Cotton Quilt, flounced (on bed) - Carmarthenshire, early 20th Century, Llandeilo Fans Satin Cotton Quilt (on wall to left) - early 20th Century, Pale Pink Wholecloth Quilt (on wall to right) - Welsh Valleys, circa 1930

Pale Pink Wholecloth Quilt - detail

Whilst I prefer patchwork to wholecloth quilts, I couldn't help but admire the skill and workmanship that had gone into hand quilting all these pieces and there were many more on show than I have pictured.

Cefyn Burgess - Thomas Jones Presbyterian Chapel Nongsawlia

In Gallery 2, Cefyn Burgess was exhibiting his machine embroidered pieces "In The Khasi Hills" which looks at the history of the Welsh in the Khasi Hills in north east India and also the Khasi people.

Cefyn Burgess - Townscape Shillong (354)

If you're in the area go take a look. On until 22 Saturday November 2025.

Textures & Patterns - Part 1

2025-09-23T16:55:00.003+01:00


Metal covering

It's amazing how many different textures & patterns surround us. Here are some examples from just one day. I wonder where this inspiration will lead me...

Messy Floor

Lorry Deck

Lorry Roofs

Metal Cables

Seat Slats

Wall

Stairs

Table Top

Floor Covering

Ash Tray

Creatures of the Deep - Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough - July 2025

2025-09-07T12:23:00.001+01:00

Julie Bailey, Wendy Galloway & Nikki White & Blueberry Academy

I didn't have time to write about this exhibition at the Old Parcels Office Artspace when it was on but it was such a colourful, joyful exhibition I thought you might like a look even though you can't go and see it. Creatures of the Deep was created by six community groups paired with local artists. Many were inspired by a visit to SEA LIFE Scarborough.

Inspired by the seabed and coral reefs, and a trip to Sea Life Scarborough, Julie Bailey, Wendy Galloway & Nikki White & Blueberry Academy made an undersea landscape full of texture and colour using recycled materials (see above). The Blueberry Academy provides support for young people and adults with learming differences.

Caroline (Bobby) Hick & SPARKS PROJECT

Caroline Hick worked with 3 groups (Eastfield Crafters, Barrowcliff Social & SAGE) from the SPARK (Solving Problems And Real Kickstart Solutions) PROJECT inspired by the lifecycle of jellyfish...

Caroline (Bobby) Hick & SPARKS PROJECT

Charlotte Hill & Cross Lane Hospital

Charlotte Hill worked with staff and patients at Cross Lane Hospital to create creatures of the deep using waste materials. Cross Lane Hospital provides mental health care...

Charlotte Hill & Cross Lane Hospital

Simon Doughty worked with people at the Rainbow Centre which provides support to people who are homeless, vulnerable or in crisis. They chose to create an octopus which doesn't show up on radar and is thus "invisible" which is how the people at the centre think they are perceived by others...

Simon Doughty & the Rainbow Centre

Carol Eves worked with the refugee community to create a shoal of fish from textile waste. Some participants were very accomplished at sewing and others were novices. Participants were encouraged to design their own fish, some incorporated symbols or techniques from their homeland...

Carol Eves & SHOAL

Dan Parker worked with the Gallows Close Youth Group. After a trip to SEA LIFE Scarborough they decided to work in small groups to create their favourite sea creatures...

Dan Parker & Gallows Close Youth Group

There's often something interesting going on at the Old Parcels Office Scarborough. Check it out!

Textiles: The Art of Mankind at the Fashion & Textile Museum, London

2025-08-31T16:24:00.001+01:00

Wodaabe Artisans - Young Woman's Wrapped Skirt (detail)

The main exhibition on at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London is Textiles: The Art of Mankind. This exhibition celebrates the ancient relationship between textiles, people and the environment. Amazing textile techniques that have been developed across the world are illustrated. It shows skills handed down through generations, and illustrates people's thoughts and histories. It is organised through themes of materials, identity, collaboration, and sustainability. Here is just a flavour of the items on display.

The Wodaabe skirt above is embroidered in chain stitch in patterns meaningful to these migratory people.

Tuvalu - Pandanus Skirt for the traditional Te Fatele song/dance

This skirt from Tuvalu, a pacific Polynesian island, is coloured using natural dyes including bark juice, burnt nut soot and turmeric root.

Grace "Molly" Crowfoot - Peruvian Backstrap Loom Model

The above piece of double weave cloth was made by Crowfoot in the 1920s to understand ancient textile techniques. Crowfoot could be described as a English textile archeologist.

French Basketmaker - Nest Basket

Inspired by birds' nests, this basket by a French basketmaker, uses twigs, branches, wire and nails.

Chinese Artisans - Baby's Tiger Hat

Made in the early 1900s, this tiger hat has moveable tassels that would move with the baby's head.

Sara Impey - Why Stitch?

Sara Impey's piece Why Stitch makes an argument for the importance of textiles. One of the quotes stitched on this, which resonates with me - "Anyone who loves textiles, touches them. It is an instinct" - Jessica Hemmings 2012. That's just so true - they are so tactile. Sara's artwork is made from calico fabric with free-motion machine-stitching and machine-quilting with polyester thread.

Bogolanfini Cloth

Bogolanfini cloths are worn by hunters as camouflage, for status and as ritual protection or by women as they reach adulthood or after childbirth. Traditionally these cloths were woven by men on narrow looms and dyed by women.

Tadek Beutlich - Figures in Cocoons 2

Made from PVA soaked cotton wool, modelled over a woven structure of esparto grass, this piece features helpless people, and is supposed to reflect the trauma of war.

Jo Ann C Stabb - Swan Song - My last academic plan ever

This wearable art coat is made from appliqued recycled industrial silk scraps with dollar signs hand embroidered round the bottom to signify "the bottom line". The inside is stamped with the different stages of the academic planning process.

English Artisan - Sweet Bag

This drawstring bag is an example of goldwork from the mid 16th Century and has intertwined hearts on the front, a symbol of love and devotion.

Rajasthan Dyer - Just dyed cotton cloth

This cloth from India is an example of tie dyeing from the 1980s, that has been dipped several times. The patterns are supposed to evoke the waves formed by winds blowing across the desert sands.

Lynne Setterington - Been Shopping

Reflecting on our preoccupation with retail therapy, Setterington has created this piece from Suffolk puffs made from plastic carrier bags that reflect her own retail preferences. More of Lynn Setterington's work is on display in the Connecting Threads exhibition in the Museum's Fashion Studio and is really interesting. For more on that click here.

Both exhibitions are on until Sunday 7 September 2025. There is no cafe in the Fashion and Textile Museum but there are plenty close by and the Museum does have a shop. London Bridge station is a short walk away.

Connecting Threads - Lynn Setterington at the Fashion & Textile Museum, London

2025-08-25T09:48:00.002+01:00

Lynn Setterington - Respect + Protect - 2009

On a recent trip to London I went to the Fashion & Textile Museum to see Lynn Setterington's Connecting Threads exhibition in the Museum's Fashion Studio. Lynn is a socially engaged textile artist who has worked with many different communities to co-create textile pieces that bear a message. Here's a flavour of Connecting Threads.

The picture above is the result of an Arts & Science partnership project with Professor of Microbiology at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), Joanna Verran. Working with different communities across Manchester, they produced this quilt for World Aids Day in 2009. Paricipants added red cross stitches to this piece which acts as a reminder that the virus continues to affect people's lives.

This is one of Setterington's early embroideries, rooted in place and representative of everyday life...

Lynn Setterington - Leeds Market - 1984
Hand & Machine Embroidery

A number of Lynn's textile projects have been influenced by the signature quilt or cloth. These items date back to the first half of the 19th century in the USA and initially bore the names of families and friends. Later, the signature quilt/cloth was used as a means of fundraising for good causes or particular projects. People paid to sign their name on cloth which was then embroidered creating a finished piece bearing embroidered supporters' signatures.

"Remembering Emily" was made to commemorate Emily Wilding Davison, a suffragette who was accidentally killed by the King's horse at the Epsom Derby, whilst trying to make her protest. One hundred years later, Setterington got staff and students at MMU to embroider their names on cotton fabric which were later machine stitched together into a 10m long banner...

Lynn Setterington - Remembering Emily - 2013

In "Signature Bags", these bags bear the names of members of Katab, a group of textile artisans, in Ahmedabad, India. Made from khadi cloth, these bags, by bearing names, acknowledge the makers whose skills and work so often go unidentified...

Lynn Setterington - Signature Bags - 2011

"Threads of Identity" was made to commemorate the death of Ahmed Iqbal Ullah, a young boy killed in 1986 as a result of a racially motivated crime at a school in south Manchester. Working with 16 boys from Burnage Academy, Setterington got them to collect the names of 10 people important in their lives and to embroider these names on white cotton handkerchiefs within the letters spelling Burnage Academy 4 Boys. These were then stitched together using a faggoting machine to create the wall hanging, shown below, that has been on display at the school ever since...

Lynn Setterington - Threads of Identity - 2016

This piece, made by Setterington, draws attention to the Construction industry which has the highest suicide rate of any sector...

Lynn Setterington - Pearly King of Eccles

The "World Wellbeing Map" is a comment on climate change. Made by over 100 people learning English at Oldham Library and MMU students, it highlights rising sea temperatures. Made by hand, it upcycles products from the construction industry - thread from discarded debris netting stitched into rendering mesh...

Lynn Setterington - World Wellbeing Map - 2024

Setterington has also used the Suffolk Puff or YoYo (American) in many of her pieces. These are gathered circles of fabric that make a decorative rosette. Below is "House" made from debris netting gathered up into Suffolk puffs and stitched together, commenting on the housing crisis, lack of affordable homes and poor mental health of construction workers...

Lynn Setterington - House (detail) - 2024

Made during the Covid Crisis, "Living with Loss", apes historic samplers but with a modern twist by repurposing materials from the construction industry. The loss of a loved one is something we all have to face at some time in our lives. The unfinished nature of the piece is purposeful...

Lynn Setterington - Living with Loss - 2020

This is a really interesting exhibition and there are also some short films about some of the projects exhibited here but also about a project, Sew Near - Sew Far (2017), developed with the Bronte Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire. Here the pseudonymous male signatures of the Bronte sisters (Acton, Currer and Ellis Bell), found at the museum, were writ large on Haworth Moor where it could be read by walkers on the Bronte Way. The signatures were made from debris netting which themselves contained the stitched signatures of participants in the project. These signatures were stitched into the debris netting with a wool and string mix.

This exhibition is on until Sunday 7 September 2025 in the Museum's Fashion Studio, which is sometimes closed for special events and workshops, so please check ahead if you want to be sure of access. There is also a Connecting Threads book by Setterington, on sale in the museum shop, which is an interesting read.

Textiles: The Art of Mankind is in the main gallery - blogpost coming soon.

There is no cafe in the Fashion and Textile Museum but there are plenty close by and the Museum does have a shop. The Museum is a short walk from London Bridge station.

Stitch by Stitch - Willow Gallery Oswestry

2025-08-10T18:12:00.001+01:00

Perspicere - Head in the Clouds

Stitch by Stitch is an exhibition, curated by textile artists Alison Holt and Suzette Smart, at the Willow Gallery in Oswestry. It showcases the wide ranging nature of textile art of both established and emerging artists. It is a really fascinating exhibition with both traditional and modern elements. There were too many fabulous exhibits so show them all, so here is just a small selection...

Perspicere's piece above is made from sewing thread wrapped round nails on canvas. It needs to be viewed from a distance - up close it is just a mass of threads - incredible!

I loved Ann Munro's vessel. Using natural fabrics and natural dyes, Ann uses handstitch to create tactile surfaces.

Ann Monro - Untitled

I also loved John Peacock's pieces, especially these two. His mixed media stitched collages aim to take a child's eye view of the world.

John Peacock - Wilderness Trees & A Walk in the Park

In Haf Weighton's Siarabanc, paint, print and stitch are used for her vehicles...

Haf Weighton - Siarabanc

Lesley Wood uses vintage fabrics and handstitch in her work but, as a wild swimmer, I especially love this for its subject matter...

Lesley Wood - She Wades In

Susan Mulcock's hand-rolled, dyed, and stitched wet felt interpretation of this waterfall is wonderful. Susan dyes and spins her own materials.

Susan Mulcock - Pistyll Rhyaeadr

Julie French, inspired by animals and birds uses machine embroidery and leaves hanging threads to suggest movement...

Julie French - Cormorant

This waistcoat was handmade by Sylvia's mother for her father and Sylvia has embellished it with applique and hand embroidery. Sylvia was originally a painter who has moved into textile art...

Sylvia Paul - Dad

Fiona Robertson, inspired by her local North Yorkshire landscape, builds up her colours with layers of hand and machine embroidery...

Fiona Robertson - Autumn Maples

Antje is inspired by her life and environment and sometimes uses surreal elements in her work. Here she uses fabric, applique and machine embroidery...

Antje Rook - Hope

Alyssa Robinson has produced this amazing piece using machine embroidery...

Alyssa Robinson - Tulipa Diametro

Suzette Smart, one of the exhibition curators, creates stitched narratives connected to her walks through the landscape. She uses old fabrics, collage and hand and machine stitching...

Suzette Smart - The Fox Took The Low Road

I loved how Chris Clowes had made the twigs for the nest and how they hung out of the piece. She uses machine embroidery on her silk painted backgrounds...

Chris Clowes - Blackbird's Nest

Maggie Smales likes to take an experience or memory and interpret it through textiles and stitch...

Maggie Smales - An Autumnal Nose (Walled Garden, Nunnington Hall)

On until Saturday 30 August 2025, this exhibition is well worth a visit. The Willow Gallery (closed Sunday & Monday) also has an excellent cafe and there is nearby parking in the Horsemarket public carpark. Go see...

A Good Yarn - Rolling Through The Streets Of Bradford

2025-08-02T14:37:00.000+01:00

A Good Yarn at the start

On Saturday 26 July 2025, I went to see A Good Yarn rolling through the streets of Bradford. A Good Yarn was conceived by artist, Luke Jerram. The yarn was created in May & June from donated fabric (mostly bedding) by Blooming Buds theatre company working with the people of Bradford BD10...

A Good Yarn - Detail

School children, scouts, elderly folk, community groups and more (2,500 people) plaited the fabric together to create 1000 metres of yarn. Then, together with the help of Raven Staging, it was wound onto a hollow core to form a ball of yarn. The yarn is held in place by wire and the ball has what appears to be a knitting needle piercing it. And then it was ready to roll. A Good Yarn had already rolled through BD10 on 12 July 2025.

Accompanied by the BD1 Brass Band

The roll through Bradford city centre was accompanied by the BD1 Brass Band who were tremendous.

Nuii Ice Creams

And Nuii were giving away ice creams in the city centre which was just an added bonus.

A Good Yarn En Route

It takes quite a bit of manoeuvring...

It's not every day you get married and find a 3 metre ball of yarn outside your wedding venue but that's what happened to this couple...

A Good Yarn & A Good Wedding Outside City Hall

It was a great occasion. There were plenty of folk from Blooming Buds, Raven Staging and event volunteers making sure the roll went smoothly. Everyone was very friendly and happy to share information about the event. It was a great success! (And I wouldn't mind trying some extreme knitting with that yarn. I feel sure it would knit well on my extreme needles!)

A Good Yarn is currently at Bradford Industrial Museum (closed Mondays) until 26 November 2025 where you can see it, free of charge. While there, you can also hear a new soundscape stitched together by the Broken Orchestra that features stories and memories from many of the people and community groups who made the ball.

Bradford is the 2025 UK City of Culture and there are lots of things going on. Check it out here. There's bound to be something you fancy and I'm sure you'll get a warm welcome.

The Meadow Community Art Project

2025-07-27T14:17:00.004+01:00

The Meadow Community Art Project
Led by Deborah New

"The Meadow" is York Learning's 2024 Community Art Project. It uses denim as a focus to highlight the unsustainable nature of the fashion industry.

The Meadow - detail

York Learning’s dressmaking classes collected denim scraps from past projects, which were sewn together to form the base layer of The Meadow. Then, Deborah New, textile artist and tutor, worked with women from the Kyra Women's Project. The Kyra Women's Project support women to make positive changes to their lives. They stitched into the patchwork denim background inspired by Japanese boro and sashiko techniques.

The Meadow - detail

The participants also hand embroidered many different flowers and leaves which could then be added to the piece.

The Meadow - detail

Volunteers helped attach the pieces onto the background to create "The Meadow".

The Meadow - detail

Barely anything used in the project was bought new. Embroidery threads were sourced from the Cone Exchange in Harrogate. The Cone Exchange is the flagship community project of Bettys & Taylors Group. It is a scrapstore which repurposes waste materials from businesses and donations from the local community. The money raised is used for local good causes.

The Meadow - detail

Some of the participants embroidered their names which were added to the piece...

The Meadow - Embroidered Names

Routes2Success learners researched facts and figures about the scandalous nature of the fashion industry in terms of waste, pollution and carbon emissions. These were cleverly displayed as the tags you get on new clothing. The plastic which enables you to read these labels came from recycled plastic bags...

The Meadow - Labels

Deborah cleverly used recycled denim jean belt loops to hang the project - see first image.

"The Meadow" is truly fabulous. It's currently being exhibited at York Explore (York Central Library), Library Square, York, YO1 7DS till early September 2025. If you get the chance, do go and see it! If you're making a special trip, do check with the library first to make sure it's still on show.

Micklegate Arts Trail, York - 31 May 2025 to 15 June 2025

2025-07-24T15:24:00.003+01:00

Micklegate Arts Trail - A Shoal of Knitted Fish

It occurred to me just the other day that I'd not blogged about the Micklegate Arts Trail (MAT) so for those who didn't get to go, I thought I should. It was great to be involved in a 2 week extravaganza of art, music, film and poetry where 14 venues showcased the work of over 30 artists...

Micklegate Arts Trail 2025 - Artists and Venues

MAT is organised by Navigators Art and is a collaboration between local businesses and artists and is part of the York Festival of Ideas. I took along some extreme knitting, big knitting, hula hoop weaving and crochet to exhibit on the railings of Holy Trinity Church.

Happy, Birds and Rainbow

These were mostly pieces that were originally developed for community art projects in Rowntree Park, which you can read about here (extreme knitted fish), here (big knitted fish), here (big knitted owl), here (hula hoop woven blue tit), here (crocheted Happy) and here (rainbow). Some of these were made by me and some were made or part made by people joining in with the community projects. It was lovely to see them all on display again!

Me with some extreme knitting

As part of MAT I brought along my extreme knitting needles so people could have a go for themselves. And here are just a few of the people who tried it out. It was very popular...

Extreme Knitting in Progress

There were some other great artists exhibiting in Holy Trinity Church and grounds...

MAT Holy Trinity Church - Peter Baker, Nick Walters, Lu Mason, Barry Lewis, Richard Mackness (from top left clockwise to centre)

And of course there were lots of fab artists exhibiting along the Arts Trail. Here are just a few...

Micklegate Arts Trail 2025(clockwise from top left)- Sinead Corkery at No. 84 Deli & Cafe, Fiona Kemp at Hudson Moody, Richard Thompson at The Hooting Owl, Nick Kobyluch at Skosh

It was great fun taking part. I hope everyone who came to visit enjoyed the trail. Thanks to Navigators Art and the York Festival of Ideas and to the venues that took part for making it possible. Special thanks to Nick Walters for organising the Holy Trinity venue. And then it was over...

Hippystitch Exhibit Taken down and Packed Up

Thanks to Deborah New for helping me put everything up (and who also helped with the original community projects) and to Lily Stone for helping me take it down. Watch out for next years Art Trail!

ARCHITEXTURE Exhibition - York Embroiderers & Stitchers

2025-07-08T21:16:00.002+01:00

The Wall - A collaborative YES project

Recently the York Embroiderers and Stitchers (YES) held their triennial exhibition at the Tithe Barn in Nether Poppleton, York. The ARCHITEXTURE Exhibition ran from the 27 to 29 June 2025 and was a great success. Work on the theme of architecture was exhibited alongside other 2D and 3D work. As a member of YES, I was also exhibiting.

There were a number of collaborative projects including "The Wall" - see top image. YES members decorated a brick such that each "brick" represented whatever gives that member strength and stability. The bricks were presented as a wall at the exhibition, put together by Michele Webster, expressing the group's values of friendship, diversity and support.

Dala Horse Carousels

Two charming (and rotating!) carousels were constructed by Moira Wood featuring embroidered Dala Horses that been made by YES members (inspired by a workshop led by Helen Young).

Fairytale Competition

A "Guess the Fairytale" competition was held too, where entrants had to guess which fairytale was being represented in stitch. This was the fairytale I stitched. Can you guess which fairytale it is?

"The House by the Woods" - Sally Stone

My exhibits included "The House by the Woods", "Our House, in the Middle of Our Street", "Stitched Trees" and a "Vase of Flowers". You can click on the exhibit names to read about those that I have blogged about.

"Our House, in the Middle of Our Street" & some "Stitched Trees" - Sally Stone

Stitched Trees - Sally Stone
San Francisco Mansions (behind) - Lynne Harris

Vase of Flowers - Sally Stone

There were some great Architexture exhibits...

Architexture Exhibits - various YES artists

and lots of 2D and 3D work on other themes...

Exhibits - various YES artists

As well as a great exhibition there were bargains to be had on the sales table, tea and cake and cafe tables decorated with fresh flowers...

Sales Table

Lots of cake

Fresh flowers on the cafe tables

Judging by the comments in the Visitor's Book the exhibition was awash with inspiration. I hope if you missed it that this post gives you a flavour of what was on display.

The Red Dress at Oakwell Hall, Birstall, West Yorkshire

2025-06-19T18:35:00.000+01:00

The Red Dress

I have just been to see "The Red Dress" which is currently on display at Oakwell Hall in Birstall, West Yorkshire as part of the Woven in Kirklees festival. It is truly magnificent!

The Red Dress - Detail

The dress was created between 2009 and 2023 by 380 embroiderers from 51 countries and is made from 87 panels of silk. The project was instigated by artist Kirsty Macleod as a platform for people around the world, mostly women, to say something about their lives and their identities.

The Red Dress - Detail

Some of the participants have experienced war, extreme poverty, being refugees or asylum seekers. As a result the dress has become a focal point allowing these stories to be heard and to encourage dialogue on such important but difficult topics.

The Red Dress - Detail

Many of the embroiderers who worked on the dress are textile professionals and were paid for their work and continue to receive some income from project sales. They may have used techniques reflecting their culture and traditions or simple stitches to portray their personal experiences.

The Red Dress - Detail

It is estimated that the dress contains 1-1.5 billion stitches, and weighs 6.8 kg. It is made of burgundy silk dupion. The project has many funders, including institutions, charities, social enterprises, self help projects, crowd funding campaigns and private donations.

Views of the Red Dress

If you want to hear Kirsty talk about the Red Dress project, she is giving an online talk as part of the Embroiderers' Guild Thread Talks series on Tuesday 16 September 2025. You can book here.

Oakwell Hall
Panelling painted to look like walnut, Westmorland bed adorned with modern crewelwork by Oakwell Broiderers, roof revealed to show oak timbers and stone tiles

Oakwell Hall, which is not far from Ikea on the M62 - if that helps you locate it, is an Elizabethan Manor in extensive grounds with a nice cafe and a car park. It was built in 1583 by John Batte and "Fieldhead", in Charlotte Brontë's novel Shirley, was based on Oakwell Hall. It's worth a visit on its own but a must while the Red Dress is on display. During this exhibition, which ends on 30 June 2025, the Hall is open Saturday to Wednesday, 12 noon - 4pm. Entry is free and although priority tickets have gone, you are still able to visit but may have to queue.

Harland Miller: XXX at York Art Gallery

2025-05-10T13:55:00.002+01:00

Harland Miller - XXX

Harland Miller: XXX is currently on show at York Art Gallery until 31 August 2025. Miller, born 1964, uses the form of book covers to present his paintings which combine a love of text and abstraction. He presents single short words in a colourful, eye popping style that draws inspiration from illuminated medieval manuscripts and Pop Artists such as Ruscha and Rauschenburg. These works are part of his "Letter Painting" series.

Harland Miller - Bi

Here Miller has been influenced by the yellow daffodils on the city walls and the white rose of Yorkshire...

Harland Miller - York

Whilst Miller's works are very striking I liked his smaller, less refined studies better...

Harland Miller - York

Harland Miller - Moon

Harland Miller - Mojo

There is only one painting using a 5 letter word. As Miller progressed through painting words with more letters he found creating these painting with 5 letters challenging. The advantage of this word is that 3 of the letters are "E" so they can be nested within each other...

Harland Miller - Eerie

Some of Miller's work is so abstracted it's impossible to see the individual letters..

Harland Miller - Nude

You may remember Harland Miller's previous exhibition at York Art Gallery in 2020, just before it closed as a result of the Covid pandemic, which took a similar form and was especially humorous. You can see such works in the gallery's permanent collection...

Harland Miller - Whitby The Self Catering Years

The inspiration of Miller's upbringing in 1970s Yorkshire is definitely coming through here.

Harland Miller - Scarborough Have Faith in Cod

See more of his previous exhibition here.

Definitely worth a visit. Go see!

Our house, in the middle of our street - is it Madness?

2025-05-04T15:54:00.001+01:00

Our house, in the middle of our street

The answer is "No," it's not anything to do with the Madness song, but it is "Our house, in the middle of our street" - a stitched version for the York Embroiderers and Stitchers (YES) ARCHITEXTURE exhibition in June 2025 (more details here.)

Pattern Piece

I thought I'd just say a little about the making of "Our house". The construction was inspired by a friend's card, which was a flower that stood up on a base. I used this idea for the basic shape and made a paper pattern. I cut the base shape out of pelmet vilene. Then using fabric and Colour Catchers, which you put in with your washing to stop colours running into other clothes, I cut out the basic shapes of a simplified version of my house. I always save Colour Catchers as they come out of the wash all sorts of colours! These were then added to the base using Bondaweb, a double-sided iron-on adhesive web which is attached to a transfer paper.

Back & Front, Before & After Machine Stitching

The whole thing was then machine stitched to make sure none of the pieces came off. To emphasise the windows at the front, I added 2 strands of Anchor soft cotton which I couched down. I also added some detail to the door to reflect the panelling and the door furniture. Then to cover the edges of the front path, I added french knots and drizzle stitch for interest.

Window detail before and after couching and extra door detail

Path Edge Detail - French Knots & Drizzle Stitch

Our House - Layout

Finally I made a couple of chairs from the wires off sparkling wine corks and a table from a tin base and a bobbin to go at the back of the house and "Our house, in the middle of our street" was complete.

Back of the house with table and chairs

I did have to add a cardboard support up the middle as the pelmet vilene wasn't quite stiff enough to hold the house upright and added some velcro dots to hold it together. The tree and the shrub were added, which made the piece more stable as well as reflecting some of the plants in my garden. I think you'd recognise it as "Our house".

Do come along and see all the buildings that will form a central display at the YES ARCHITEXTURE exhibition.

Prism Textiles - Any Other Business, Art Pavilion, Mile End, London

2025-04-18T22:02:00.003+01:00

Lynne Chapman - The 90% Beneath (detail)

I have recently been to Prism Textiles' annual exhibition at the Art Pavilion, Mile End, London. Prism are an international group of textile artists who push the boundaries of textile art and promote its visibility. They exhibit annually at this lovely venue. Prism members also run a variety of free workshops during the exhibition so it's well worth getting the date in your diary for future years!

This year's title and theme was "Any Other Business" which was diversely interpreted and showcased a wide variety of techniques. Here's a few of my favourites...

Lynne Chapman - The 90% Beneath

Lynne Chapman's iceberg shows us the 10% of life that is made up of planned events versus the other 90% which is made up of the mundane that keeps everything going or "the unsung powerhouse of chores" as Lynne puts it. How very true!

I liked the use of a carpet making technique in Sally Spinks' cigarettes - "Fine Line". The piece draws attention to an industry that kills people and continues to lobby to promote its interests...

Sally Spinks - Fine Line

Nerissa Cargill Thompson's "12 Percent" presents a pie chart of where our plastic goes: 46% incinerated, 25% goes to landfill, 17% exported, leaving only 12% recycled in the UK. This was a colourful and unusual way to illustrate our plastic problem...

Nerissa Cargill Thompson - 12 Percent

Pauline Cattle presents beauty, pattern and colour in everyday natural processes. I particularly liked the contrasts of colour and texture in this piece...

Pauline Cattle - Drippings l

Helen O'Leary's poignant pieces "Mending l" suggests that repairing damage to garments adds its own story to a garment's history and is restorative to both the garment and the mender whereas "Losing Touch" draws attention to our frailty as we age...

Helen O'Leary - Losing Touch 1 & Mending 1

Jeryl Church's piece "Conspicuous Consumption" made from till receipts and packaging materials draws attention to our need to address our uncontrolled consumerism. I loved Jeryl's use of consumerist packaging to highlight this issue...

Jeryl Church - Conspicuous Consumption (detail)

Julieanne Long's piece is inspired by the worry of environmental destruction through climate change and the lack of govermental action across the world to address this issue. I thought this piece looked like fleeting thoughts passing through one's mind...

Julieanne Long - A Sense of Place (detail)

Sharon Kearley's work considers the duality of the fragility of life and the gratitude for love and memories experienced while living. I liked how the rust had changed the textile...

Sharon Kearley

In Amanda Bloom's "Reliquaries" we are asked to consider what things we might hold sacred. I loved the colours and intriguing objects in Amanda's "Reliquaries"...

Amanda Bloom - Reliquaries (detail)

Sue Reddish's two works, "Patched" & "Pieced", use cotton, a textile from which Manchester made its fortune, to explore Manchester's business transitions and changing cityscape. The colours and composition of these pieces were great...

Sue Reddish - Patched & Pieced

Judith Isaac Lewis harnesses the power of weeds, plants usually disregarded and disliked, to ecoprint and dye her work to beautiful effect...

Judith Isaac Lewis - Overlooked 1

There were, of course, many other amazing works and artists. The above represents just a small selection. Prism's exhibition is over for this year but do look out for next year's and visit if you can.

If you want to read about Prism's exhibition last year you can find it here.

Stitched Trees for ARCHITEXTURE

2025-03-16T22:21:00.002+00:00

Stitched Trees

Over the last few months, I've been stitching trees. As a member of York Embroiderers & Stitchers, who are a friendly group of stitch and textile enthusiasts of all levels of ability and experience, I am preparing for our ARCHITEXTURE exhibition later this year (27-29 June 2025 - save the date!). As you can imagine from the exhibition title, there will be traditional and contemporary textile art on a theme of architecture alongside other 2D and 3D pieces. And some of those 3D pieces will be buildings, so I thought they might need a bit of greenery to go with them. ARCHITEXTURE is being held at the Tithe Barn in Nether Poppleton, York, YO26 6LF. More details here.

Boro inspired trees - front

I made some tree canopy patterns of varying sizes and then cut out the tree shapes. The fabric I used was dyed calico and backed with some iron-on vilene to stabilise the fabric for embroidery. On the front I added some scraps of fabric in a boro patched style and then stitched them on using a variety of different stitches - running stitch, cross stitch, fly stitch, star stitch, seed stitch. I used different types and weights of thread. On the back of all of them I just used a running stitch, kantha style.

Boro inspired trees - back

The second set of trees I made began in the same way but on the front I did a stitch that was like an irregular darn...

"Darned" trees - front

On the back of these trees I chose a particular stitch and filled the space, sometimes varying the size of stitch and sometimes not...

"Darned" trees - back

I machine stitched the fronts to the backs although you could handstitch them, then stuffed them will toy filling, added a trunk and potted them with some yarn for soil.

Do come along to our ARCHITEXTURE exhibition to see all the YES members' fabulous work.

Another Brick in The Wall

2025-03-03T15:39:00.002+00:00

My Stitched Brick

I'm a member of York Embroiderers & Stitchers, who are a friendly group of stitch and textile enthusiasts of all levels of ability and experience. Later this year we will be holding our ARCHITEXTURE exhibition at the Tithe Barn in Nether Poppleton, York, YO26 6LF from 27-29 June 2025 (save the date!). As you can imagine from the exhibition title, there will be traditional and contemporary textile art on a theme of architecture alongside other 2D and 3D pieces. More details here.

Nicky's dyed fabrics ready to be stitched into bricks

As part of that exhibition members are stitching "bricks" which will be constructed into "The Wall" for the exhibition. Each "brick" represents whatever gives the person who made it, strength and stability and together represents the group's values of friendship, diversity and support. The fabric the bricks are made from was dyed by our chair, Nicky Brunger, so that the colours would be harmonious.

Stitched brick - work in progress

Of course to make a wall all our bricks have to be the same size and orientation so the finished brick must measure 8 inches by 4 inches, be in a landscape orientation with a 0.5 inch border without stitching. The stitched area was therefore 7 inches by 3 inches.

Stitched brick - work in progress

At first I marked the area to be stitched with pins but soon realised some tacking stitches would work better!

Stitched brick - work in progress

I used a variety of stitches such as french knots, detached chain stitch (lazy daisy), ordinary chain stitch, straight stitch, back stitch, star stitch, using colourful threads and yarns in a variety of sizes.

Stitched brick - work in progress

I should say that before I started stitching I had ironed on some stabiliser to provide a better base for stitching (also provided by YES). You can see that the back is quite chaotic!

I then added some calico to the back, stitched it together with right sides facing and left a gap to turn it through and then handsewed the gap. And here is the finished stitched brick ready to be added to The Wall...

Finished Piece

My brick is covered in stylised flowers and represents a colourful, joyful world from which I get my strength and stability.

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished wall. I hope you'll come along to ARCHITEXTURE to see it too!

Mire Lee - Open Wound at Tate Modern Turbine Hall, London

2025-02-24T16:34:00.001+00:00

Mire Lee - Open Wound

The current installation in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern is Mire Lee's Open Wound (on until 16 March 2025). The Turbine Hall is seen as an industrial womb in this installation where various "skins" - fabric sculptures suspended on chains - emerge from a machine coated with a liquid that drips from the machine's tentacles. Then they are moved to racks to harden before being added to the rest of the "skins" populating the Turbine Hall. The installation is supposed to evoke images from both the textile industry and mining whilst also referencing the Turbine Hall's industrial past.

Mire Lee - Open Wound

The "skins" are drenched in a viscous liquid...

Mire Lee - Open Wound

Detail of a "skin"...

Mire Lee - Open Wound

Not sure whether this was the "skins" drying or being prepared to enter the machine...

Mire Lee - Open Wound

We are told Open Wound is supposed to remind us of a deserted construction site with "an atmosphere of futility and melancholy, where something has started to wither " whilst the "skins" are also supposed to "suggest an eerie solidarity".

Elsewhere in Tate Modern, I liked these by Petrit Halilaj. These were large winged insects - moths - drawn to the lights. He made these with his mother, Shkurte, using Kosovar fabrics and carpets. He wears them as costumes during performance pieces and often produces moth themed work. Apparently Halilaj used to chase moths around the house as a child. His family home was destroyed in the Kosovo War (1998-99). His work is bound up in memory and nostalgia...

Petrit Halilaj - Do you realise there is a rainbow even if it's night!?

And the Catbus, which was part of Monster Chetwynd's installation - A Tax Haven Run By Women...

The Catbus is a character in Hayao Miyazaki's film, My Neighbour Totoro. I wanted to climb aboard but it didn't look like that would be welcomed!

There's always something of interest at Tate Modern and apart from the special exhibitions, it's all free.

Acaye Kerunen: Neena, Aan Uthii - PACE, London

2025-02-13T11:02:00.001+00:00

Acaye Kerunen - Aleng 2 (I am Beautiful)

On a recent trip to London I took some time out to see the Acaye Kerunen exhibition: Neena, Aan Uthii (translated from Alur as - See me, I am here) at PACE (close to Regent St & Liberty's). I first saw Acaye Kerunen's work at Unravel at Barbican, London - check it out here.

Acaye Kerunen - Aleng 2 (I am Beautiful) detail

Acaye Kerunen is a Ugandan artist who works with local artisans to source natural materials from her country, which they dye, weave, braid and crochet. She then turns them into sculptural assemblages.

Acaye Kerunen - Ouganda 2

The works represent the Ugandan environment as they can only be made from what grows. The traditional work of women, rather than being made into everyday items, is presented as contemporary art. The sculptures link human labour and the natural world and provide an alternative platform for traditional women's skills.

Acaye Kerunen - Ott Ker 2 (House of Reign) vessel & Yoo Leng (The Path is Clear) on wall

The passing down, through generations, of these artisanal skills suggests a collective memory is at work here.

Acaye Kerunen - The Reckoning

Acaye Kerunen - The Reckoning (detail)

Acaye Kerunen - Yoo Unen (The Path has Revealed Itself)

Made of such materials as bark cloth, raffia, banana fibre, sisal and palm leaves, dyed with natural dyes, they are very colourful and tactile...

Acaye Kerunen - Kaka Lengu (Place of Beauty)

I thought this was a great exhibition. It's on until Saturday 15 February. It's not very large but well worth a visit.

Cordage & Structures with Alice Fox at West Dean College, Bloomsbury Campus, London

2025-02-03T14:00:00.001+00:00

Alice Fox's Cordage Structures

I recently went on a short course at West Dean College's Bloomsbury Campus in London which is quite near Kings Cross Station (handy for me). The workshop was led by textile artist, Alice Fox and we were taught to make cordage from repurposed materials. Once we had made some cordage, we were also taught how to make some simple structures. It was great fun although very time consuming.

Here is some of the cordage I made from recycled fabric, a plastic bag and some newspaper....

Cordage from fabric, newspaper and a plastic bag

I also made some cordage from tissue paper which is easier to make than cordage from newspaper...

Tissue paper cordage

These are my newspaper pots...

Coiled and stitched newspaper pot

Looped newspaper pot

And these are my woven structures...

Flat woven fabric cordage

Woven pocket from fabric cordage

We also had a go at some random weaving which I did with some detritus from the beach...

Random weaving with synthetic rope from the beach

I'm looking forward to making more!