Promotional feature: Based in Rugby in the West Midlands, Royal School of Needlework (RSN) provides expert and enthusiastic tutors who share their passion for hand embroidery with beginners and advanced students alike.

Great British Life: Crewelwork at RSNCrewelwork at RSN (Image: Archant)

The current trends in vintage and hand-crafting, together with the popularity of programmes such as the Great British Sewing Bee and Kirstie Allsopp’s Handmade Britain, have all led to an increase in students attending RSN classes and picking up their needles for the first time.

Beginners may like to try the ‘Introduction’ to hand embroidery Day Classes that run on selected weekends through the year where students have fun learning traditional hand embroidery stitches and meeting like-minded people. They may have learnt at school and now with free time have picked up a creative hobby again, or can remember a relative stitching and want to pick up on that creative family link. Some attend classes to add a USP to their existing skill set for their own businesses, others so they might contribute to community stitching projects.

Many students progress to studying the RSN Certificate and Diploma course under the expert eye of RSN Tutor Nicola Jarvis. This course teaches technical hand embroidery techniques such as Jacobean Crewelwork, Blackwork, Silk Shading and Goldwork (each technique requires 8 days tuition). There are flexible attendance options and students can opt to attend weekly, one day a month or fit the course around other commitments. Students learn to a very high technical standard, to the extent that they could become freelance teachers in their own right.

Great British Life: Needlework at RSNNeedlework at RSN (Image: Archant)

Day Class venue: The Masonic Buildings, Elsee Road, Rugby CV21 3BA

Certificate and Diploma venue: Rugby Library & Information Centre, CV21 3BZ

You can see the Summer Exhibition of RSN Rugby students’ work July 14 – 23 at Rugby Library & Information Gallery

For more information visit www.royal-needlework.org.uk/learn

E: anne.butcher@royal-needlework.org.uk

T: 020 3166 6937