Embroider Your Future is a free virtual summer school, perfect for school and college students interested in a career or further education in textiles and the arts.

The summer school will be delivered by embroidery artist Elnaz Yazdani in partnership with the University of Huddersfield and the Embroiderers’ Guild.

Embroidery plays a huge role in many creative industries and career routes: fashion, textiles, costume, graphic design and contemporary art & illustration.

If you are interested in embroidery or studying an arts degree at university then Embroider your Future will be perfect for you!

The summer school will be delivered live online via Zoom 27th July – 31st July 2020 10am-12pm. Participants can take part at home.

By attending, you will gain brand new skills and knowledge and a course certificate for completing the summer school.

You need to be at least 15 years old and have an interest in art, design or textiles. School teachers and college tutors are also welcome to join in alongside their students.

It will be a fun week of creativity and online learning, so sign up now!

CONTACT: e.yazdani@hud.ac.uk

Find us on social media @elnazyazdani @ada_huddersfield @embroiderersguildukofficial

Share the hashtag #embroideryourfuture and tag us in your creations throughout the week.

Please join the Zoom meetings 10-15 mins before the 10am start times to ensure you can log in without any problems and for a prompt start.

Monday 27th July 2020

10am - 12noon Hand embroidery with artist Elnaz Yazdani

Tuesday 28th July 2020

10am - 12noon Experimental beading with artist Elnaz Yazdani

Wednesday 29th July 2020

10am - 1.30pm Inspiring talks from embroidery artists and designers

Thursday 30th July 2020

10am - 12noon Appliqué and cutwork with artist Melissa Fletcher

Friday 31st July 2020

10am - 12noon Fabric manipulation with artists Elnaz & Melissa

Materials you need for the summer school:

• Needles (embroidery needles, assorted sizes if possible)
• Threads or yarns (if you can get it through the eye of your needle you can stitch with it)
• Fabrics (you can reuse old clothes, old bed sheets, plain fabrics, patterned fabrics – anything you can get hold of)
• Scissors
• An embroidery hoop
• Paper and card
• Beads
• Sequins
• Pencil and pens
• Ruler and stapler
• Experimental materials, reuse, recycle (paper clips, elastic bands, bottle tops, loom bands, plastic bags, old jewellery and anything else you see fit for the experimental embroidery lesson)

You can participate in the summer school with some or all of the above materials or feel free to watch if you don’t have access to materials.

If you can and wish to order supplies for the week, here are a few helpful links:

Beads http://www.spellboundbead.co.uk

Hoops, needles & threads: https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk

Recycled materials: https://scrapstuff.co.uk/

Fabrics: https://www.fabworks.co.uk

The summer school is happening online due to the coronavirus lockdown. If you are unable to participate online, please get in touch using the email address above to receive information about Embroider Your Future courses happening at a later date at the University of Huddersfield ADA Barbara Hepworth Building.

The Embroiderers' Guild

The Story of the Embroiderers’ Guild Collection: Part 2.

We hope you enjoy it.

 June 2020

Dear Supporter,

We hope that you have enjoyed our floral theme during May, which might well roll in to June thanks to the wonderful weather we are having during lockdown, and this week we shine the Spotlight on two 3^rd year Degree students’ final Major Projects which are both inspired by flowers.

STOP PRESS: Put Wednesday 10 June at 7pm in your diary now and join RSN Chief Executive, Dr Susan Kay-Williams, for an Instagram Live session. Susan will be answering your questions about the RSN, its Archive, Collection and history, as well as giving you some inside gossip on things she has learned whilst working on the story of the RSN for our 150^th anniversary in 2022! This Live event is free to join which you can access through the RSN Instagram account and we have chosen a time which makes the Live session accessible to a maximum number of our followers, including those of you in North America. There’s an opportunity for you to put your questions to Susan in advance, underneath our Instagram post of 29 May or by contacting the Marketing team.
 

The RSN is delighted to join Islington Square on their Chapter Two series, ‘Time Well Spent’, during which they are hosting a series of online workshops and talks spanning well-being, living well, crafts and things to do with children. We are bringing you a special four part 'RSN Summer Series' with RSN Future Tutors Course Leader Kelley Aldridge, learning how to make a ‘Floral Posy’. All workshops and activities on the Islington Square website are free of charge during the period of lockdown, however we are encouraging participants to donate towards the mental health charity ‘Mind’. We know that hand embroidery can be soothing and therapeutic in troubling times, it can encourage calm, focused work and a relaxed state of mind. At a time when it is difficult to come together, we invite you to join us in supporting the vital work that Mind in Islington, London, are doing to help the most vulnerable in the wider community. Watch Kelly's RSN Summer Series Introduction video and sign up to their Newsletter for further workshop information and to book your RSN place (scroll to bottom of their web page and tick the T&Cs box).
 

'Floral Posy' for RSN Summer Series by Kelley Aldridge

If you have not yet caught up with our recent Fiber Talk Podcast then put the kettle on and listen to Susan and Kelley discuss how the RSN is adapting to current restrictions by encouraging our students to learn Online, live and direct.
 
In their recent joint manifesto, the British Fashion Council (BFC) and The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) state, “The creation of less product, with higher levels of creativity and quality, will be valued and their shelf life will increase”. So, we open the RSN Embroidery Studio doors to the large ‘Red Carpet Green Dress’ commission worn by Naomie Harris in 2013 which brings this statement closer to home and illustrates the ‘shelf life’ of hand embroidery when it comes to timeless fashion.

For a happy ending to your half term break, the RSN is encouraging children to stitch their own fun ‘RSN Postcard From Home’, whether with their family or friends, to ‘show and tell’ when they return to school. They might keep their Postcard forever in memory of this historical period in time, or choose to post it to someone who they have not seen since lockdown. And don’t forget to stitch your name and date for future generations to look back on, which is very easy with a Postcard!
 
As has become a recent tradition in our eNews, we close with a lovely message from Lyn in New Zealand who refers to the ‘RSN Selfie Project’ which we are running with UK schools, “I was delighted to see your article on young folks stitching a portrait of themselves! I am a passionate stitcher, having completed the Diploma of Stitched Textiles Level 3 a few years ago. During that time, I worked in a School and I was asked by the Design Tech teacher to teach Year 10 (14 year olds ) to smock. They took to it ‘like a duck to water' and we had 15 fabulous smockers ! Australian Smocking and Embroidery Magazine (now defunct) even ran a 2 page article on it! We are in 'Lockdown' times in NZ with CV and the one thing I'm loving time to do is embroidery!! Stay safe and sane, from the other side of the world!”

Enjoy a sunny weekend!