EMBROIDERY STUDIO AND SUPPLIES
Let Me Inspire You With Stitching
Embroidery
What Is Embroidery?
Cross stitch? Well, yes, it can be, but there is so much more to try! Daisies on petticoats and tray cloths? Perhaps, and with the trends for vintage style, maybe you’d like to do that. But how about………
Colouring in with thread. Embroidery can be a mindful, relaxing activity, a way of switching off and refreshing your soul with a beautiful tactile craft.
Drawing/painting with stitch. Thread is a fantastically versatile medium for art, offering an incredible depth of colour and variety of texture. Crewel embroidery is a great way to start this.
Goldwork. Add a bit of bling to your project, a technique with hundreds of years of history, but maybe throw in a few parts of a watch and steampunk it up too?
Stumpwork. This is best described as 3D embroidery; figures, birds, insects, plants, anything can be raised from the surface.
Upcycling. How about personalising an old garment with stitch? Or reimagine something from the charity shop.
Machine embroidery. Drawing with a sewing machine.
And that’s just for starters!
About Julie
Stitching is my happy place. I was fortunate to find embroidery as a child, and I know from experience how difficult it can be to find the materials and teaching to take part. The first purpose of Julie the Stitch is to enable you to find out if stitching is your own creative outlet, to nurture that spark and to provide access to the threads, fabrics and quality tools to make the beautiful work that is inside you.
Everyone has the ability to be creative. I believe it is fundamental to what makes us human, and that is why being creative has such a positive impact on our health and happiness. Everyone is creative in a different way and by using different materials, we just need to discover where our own creative language lies.
Which brings me to the second purpose of Julie the Stitch: communication. We need to spend time with other people, to talk, listen, support, form a community. Embroidery is an art which can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone, so the Stitch Together sessions and classes are a great opportunity to meet people of all ages and backgrounds and make new friends in a safe environment.
Finally, Julie the Stitch is a studio resource for anyone already developing a textile practice but without the space or equipment to take it to the next stage. Although centred on hand and machine embroidery, the studio also provides facilities for dressmaking, patchwork and quilting, enabling you to take your stitching journey in any direction you want. So whether you have already caught the stitching bug, or are a complete beginner, Julie the Stitch can help you grow.
My Background
I have forty years of experience in embroidery, and have studied textiles, art and design. I am passionate about texture and colour, and love to try something new. I also love to teach! It is such a buzz seeing someone else learning to be creative through stitch.
Originally from Cardiff, I worked in North Yorkshire before moving back home and eventually settling in Pentre, Rhondda in 2003. My employment history includes leading craft classes at a retreat centre, a spell in a clothing factory as a bespoke garment cutter, and several years in the museum sector. I have assisted curators at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales with their research into the 10th century Llangorse textile and early 16th century ecclesiastical textiles.
Julie’s Qualifications Include
City & Guilds Embroidery Part 1 (Craven College Skipton)
Certificate in Embroidered Textiles (Middlesex University)
BTEC Level 3 in Education (qualification in teaching to adult learning sector)
I am studying with the Royal School of Needlework towards a Certificate and Diploma in Technical Hand Embroidery. I’m learning so much that I can pass on to you if you join one of my classes.
