How it all started
I was taught to sew and to enjoy crafting by both my Mum and her mother. I always remember having a lovely rag doll made by my Nanny and many beautiful handmade clothes for my dolls and teddy bear. Many of my childhood clothes were made by my Mum and I had gorgeous hand-knitted jumpers too. Perfect for when you live by the seaside in East Anglia.
I was always encouraged by my Mum and Nanny to try different types of handicrafts such as knitting, sewing and crochet. It was always difficult as I’m the only left-handed person in the family so it always took me a bit longer to learn and an awful lot of sitting opposite people. I’ve never managed to learn how to crochet - it is a dark art and a complete mystery to me. I’m always in awe of anyone who can crochet.
I can knit and do dressmaking but the thing that stuck with me and I love the most is embroidery. I’ve started with small kits when I was young and these were often picked up and put down depending upon what was happening in my life or school as I was growing up as a teenager.
Embroidery was really a hobby at this stage and I only really returned to it when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in my mid-twenties. I spent some time in hospital and was on sick leave and was getting very bored, so my Mum gave me a cross-stitch book by Jo Verso. In the book it described how to design your own cross-stitch designs. I read the book from cover to cover, got some graph paper, coloured pencils and started to design my own cross stitch designs. My very first design was a wedding sampler for a friend who had got married a few years earlier and it was well received, spending a number of years on their bedroom wall. Being able to concentrate on the designing and the embroidery distracted me from feeling so poorly with my Crohn’s Disease. I stopped worrying about being ill and dealing with a chronic condition and gradually learnt to live with my illness and I also rediscovered my love of embroidery.
As I improved my embroidery skills, I began to look for more challenging embroidery designs and found what is still my favourite embroidery shop in my local area - Northgate Needlecraft . The shop is a real treasure trove for anyone who loves embroidery and I became a regular visitor and started attending various evening classes. I’ve tried many new techniques in these classes and also made many friends - some of whom have become lifelong friends including Sue who owns the shop and runs the classes.
During one visit to Sue’s shop there was another lady there, chatting to Sue and she mentioned that she worked at the Royal School of Needlework and that she was thinking of inviting some of the School’s apprentices up to Norfolk to run a few classes over the weekend, would we be interested? That was the first time I became aware of the Royal School of Needlework, and I wanted to attend those classes. Norfolk back then was not the most connected county in the U.K., and some may say it’s still not that connected today, so this was in my eyes an opportunity not to be missed as I was unlikely to ever be able to go to the Royal School of Needlework.
The lady in question was Wendy Hogg, who worked in the Royal School of Needlework studios and twice a year for several years, she ran weekend workshops with apprentices in Great Yarmouth for people like me. It was at these workshops that I really became aware of the various different techniques of embroidery and how enjoyable they were. I discovered Goldwork, Silk Shading, Whitework, Mountmellick, Beading and Stumpwork and really enjoyed learning different techniques. I also wanted to learn more about the Royal School of Needlework and to take classes there at some point.
It would take a few years and some encouragement but that is how it all started.