Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today about embroidery skills, creating detailed and decorative stitching.

We're going to do lots of thinking, talking, and exploring together in this lesson.

So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to identify suitable sources from your sketchbook and use complex stitches to create detailed, decorative embroidery samples.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords we'll be using during the lesson.

Complex stitching refers to advanced embroidery techniques that add texture, detail, and depth.

Surface design is the decoration or enhancement applied to the surface of a fabric through techniques like embroidery.

A sample is a test piece to trial and experiment with ideas before final work.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

Selecting suitable sources for embroidery and transforming ideas with complex stitching.

In the first learning cycle, we're going to select suitable sources for embroidery.

Your outcome for today's lesson might look like this.

Take a look at these images here.

Artists often begin a sample by selecting an image that will translate well into stitched work.

They look for clear shapes or motifs that can be adapted into surface design.

Just as importantly, artists select imagery that holds personal meaning or connects to their research.

They often review their sketchbooks, sometimes drawing ideas from museum and gallery visits, to find a strong starting point.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Why do artists look through their sketchbooks or visit museums and galleries before starting a sample? To copy other artists' work exactly.

To find inspiration and starting points linked to their research.

To find the cheapest materials.

To avoid creating original designs.

Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about the answer to this question, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said to find inspiration and starting points linked to their research, you're right.

Well done.

That's why artists look through their sketchbooks or visit museums and galleries before starting a sample.

Choosing designs with strong contrasts in line, tone, or colour ensures the imagery remains striking when stitched.

Karen Nicol's richly layered surface design embroidery and applique samples often play with bold colour combinations and varied textures.

Artists inspired to create embroidery textiles include Jacques Trovic, who created large embroidered tapestries on hessian canvas using layered stitching and applique to depict folklore and everyday life.

Andrea Mindel uses stitching as stimming to quietly reclaim public spaces, exploring disability and highlighting social issues through embroidery.

Maggie Scott draws inspiration from stories that stay with her, transforming photographs through digital editing, felting and stitching into expressive textile works.

Michael A.

Cummings is a celebrated quilter and visual artist whose narrative quilts richly depict history and culture.

This sketchbook page develops ideas from initial photography by exploring shapes, patterns, and light effects from stained glass and church interiors.

The patterns and light effects captured in the photographs can be translated into textile techniques, such as applique and embroidery, for surface decoration.

Observing the details in arches, carvings, and stained glass windows can inspire decorative motifs that link the artwork back to its architectural source.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Research in a sketchbook should only include drawings.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you are ready to continue.

If you said that's false, you are right.

Well done.

But can you explain why this statement is wrong? Pause the video here and explain this to your partner, and press play when you're ready to continue.

Well, perhaps you said something like, "A rich sketchbook combines visual, tactile, and written research.

This variety helps generate stronger ideas and supports the development of refined embroidery designs." Well done.

Alex says, "I have taken many photographs of churches for this project.

I am particularly interested in stained glass windows, finding their colours, patterns, and narratives fascinating." Selecting sources for embroidery can look like this.

Reviewing your sketchbook and choosing pages with rich research and clear ideas that you can develop into an embroidery sample.

All of these sketchbook pages contain research on stained glass windows, presenting a clear and strong theme.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to use your sketchbook to select suitable sources for your embroidery.

You should review the research section of your sketchbook.

Look at the photography pages and the artist, and gallery research pages.

And decide which research pages could be developed further into complex stitching samples, such as embroidery.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at using your sketchbook to select suitable sources for your embroidery, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Were you able to take a look through your sketchbook and identify some artists, and where you could develop that further? Well, there are many possibilities, and Alex here says, "The page I have chosen contains a variety of images that could work well with complex stitching techniques.

The stained glass windows will lend themselves to varied embroidery stitches, as will the church candles." So, well done if you are able to locate something that has a strong theme for you to continue into some embroidery.

This brings us to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to take a look at transforming those ideas with complex stitching.

Artists working with a theme, such as stained glass windows, often begin with a wide range of research, including photographs, sketches, and written observations.

To develop their ideas, they narrow this research by selecting imagery that will translate effectively into embroidery.

Artists look for shapes, colours, patterns and textures that can be adapted into stitch and recreated using complex stitching techniques to use on surface decoration.

Looking at this zoomed-in element of the stained glass window here, there are shapes, colours, and patterns that could be lifted from this stained glass window as ideas for stitching.

To progress initial ideas, artists select images that will translate visually into stitch.

Artists might also find related images that connect through pattern, colour, texture, or shape.

How do these tiles relate to the stained glass window? Take a look at those.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What could you see? How do they relate? Well, there is a similar shape between the first and the third one on the outside.

There are also similar patterns on the inside of the tiles and the stained glass window.

And there are also similar colours, like the yellows that are across all three images.

Bold shapes can be stitched in satin stitch to create smooth blocks of colour.

Selecting a few strong, inspiring images gives artists a clear starting point for refined embroidery samples.

A sampler lets artists test stitches, threads, and layering to combine line, texture, and density.

This enables them to refine skills before creating a final piece of complex stitching.

So you can see this sampler here on the left with lots of these different test stitches and different threads.

Artists like Xinyuan Wang use embroidery to create detailed expressive works.

The artist uses fine thread outlines and layered complex stitches such as cross-hatching, textured fills, and beading to add depth and impact.

Can you identify any of the embroidery stitches in this sample? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your peers, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What could you see? Well, Sofia says, "I have learned how to use many complex stitching techniques in my textiles lessons.

I can identify satin stitch, chain stitch, and feather stitch." This is the satin stitch here, then we have the chain stitch, and the feather stitch.

Can you see how each of those differ? And I'm sure you've practised those in your textile lessons.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Why is it important to use a variety of embroidery stitches when creating a refined sample? To make the work faster to complete.

To add contrast, texture, and depth to the design.

To avoid using too many different colours.

To make the sample look more complicated.

Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about the answer to this question, and press play when you are ready to continue.

If you said to add contrast, texture, and depth to the design, to the design, then you are right.

Well done.

That's why it's important to use a variety of embroidery stitches when creating a refined sample.

Artists who use complex stitching techniques include Roanna Wells, who creates large conceptual stitch works using seed stitch to depict aerial crowd patterns.

Sila Gur makes textile portraits using embroidered textures, often hiding parts of her subjects' faces to create a sense of mystery.

Richard Saja uses detailed embroidery to change traditional toile fabrics, adding playful elements that give the scenes new stories.

Jordan Nassar creates embroidered works that blend traditional Palestinian patterns with modern designs to explore identity and heritage.

Making a complex stitching sample might look like this, from the image of the stained glass window to an idea of a sketch to creating that complex stitching.

Making a complex stitching sample might look like this.

Selecting your source photograph and then creating a drawing, focusing on key elements of the source that interest you.

Now create a simple motif design based on simplified shapes from your drawing, and use your earlier sampler or research to find stitch ideas, and then stitch your sample on your chosen fabric.

And you can develop embroidery samples into refined final outcomes.

Complex stitching samples are an excellent way to explore embroidery ideas.

And these refined samples can later on be incorporated into final outcomes in imaginative ways.

These embroidery motifs have been developed into a fashion outcome.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Once an embroidery sample is finished, it can't be used for anything else.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourselves a moment to think, and press play when you are ready to continue.

If you said that's false, you are right.

Well done.

But why is that statement false? Pause the video here and explain to your partner why this statement is false, and press play when you are ready to continue.

Well, perhaps you said something like an embroidery sample can be developed further into larger projects, such as fashion garments, costume pieces, or fine art pieces.

Samples are not just test pieces.

They can spark new ideas, informed design decisions, and be directly incorporated into final fashion or costume designs.

Well done.

Now this brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to make a complex stitching sample that transforms your chosen source.

You should review your chosen source, whether that's an image, photograph, or a drawing, and turn your source into a simplified motif design.

Then use your earlier sampler or research to find stitch ideas.

Use complex stitching to create your sample.

And then consider surface design, including placement, colour, and stitch to capture the essence of your source.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at creating your complex stitching sample, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you find that? Well, shall we take a look at this example here? Alex says, "My embroidery sample is highly refined, using complex stitching techniques to recreate the stained glass window.

I stitched onto thin, transparent chiffon to replicate the glass of the window.

I plan to develop my sample further by creating a costume or fashion piece that incorporates them." So, well done for having a go at creating your complex stitching sample.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about embroidery skills by creating detailed and decorative stitching.

Artists often begin by developing a sample to test embroidery ideas and techniques.

They use complex stitching to add texture, depth, and detail, transforming simple motifs into intricate works.

Careful choices in surface design, including placement, colour, and stitch variety, allow the sample to capture the essence of the artist's theme while serving as a foundation for larger textile pieces or fashion outcomes.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next.

See you next time.