Which Course Should I Choose?

If you are new to hand embroidery, we would recommend beginning with the Introduction to Jacobean Crewelwork. This Course uses crewel wool, which is thicker and easier to handle than the fine threads used in other techniques. It also features a range of stitches and colours and so offers an excellent starting point to learn hand embroidery.

If you already enjoy cross stitch, then another great place to start is the Festive Christmas Sampler, Introduction to Blackwork or Introduction to Canvaswork as these utilise a similar counting technique. Introduction to Blackwork features continuous patterns to give the ability to shade from dark to light. Introduction to Canvaswork covers the entire background of a piece with a variety of counted textural stitches.

Once you have followed at least two of the above courses, or If you already have some stitching experience, we would then recommend taking the other introduction courses - Silk Shading, Goldwork, Whitework or Appliqué. The Introduction to Stumpwork course includes some Silk Shading, so if you have completed the Introduction to Silk Shading course, this would be easier to master.

For the more competent stitchers, or if you have completed the Introduction to Jacobean Crewelwork Course, you can go beyond the traditional confines of the technique with our Next Steps: Contemporary Crewelwork course. You will also be ready to try our other ‘Next Steps’ courses, Goldwork and Silk Shading and 18th Century Goldwork and Ribbonwork.

We are committed to providing new and exciting courses for you, so look out for new titles, and let us know if there is anything you would love to see here!