The Basics:

Name:

Helen Stevens

Website:

Coming Soon…

Instagram:

helenstevens864

My Story:

Why do you enjoy hand embroidery?

I enjoy watching the embroidery slowly growing as I stitch. There are so many lovely different threads, silks and fabrics in so many wonderful colours to be combined in an infinite number of permutations.

What’s the first thing you can remember stitching?

A tea tray cloth that was in my Christmas Stocking. I was 7 or 8 at the time. My Aunt showed me how to do some stitches. Lazy Daisy, French Knots and Stem Stitch.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently working on:

A very interesting commission restoring and recreating goldwork detailing on historic military uniforms for a collector of militaria.

A personal project designing and working Scabious flowers in a variety of techniques.

New teaching projects inspired by the garden and nature.

What is on your wishlist of stitching projects?

I have already had the privilege of working on a number of projects that I could never have dreamed I would be involved in.

Top of my wish list of stitching projects would be to have a piece of work accepted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

How long have you been teaching?

35+ years

What types of embroidery do you like teaching?

Crewelwork/Freestyle Stitches
Goldwork
Stumpwork
Thread Painting
Appliqué

What else can you tell us about yourself?

I joined the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) in 1980 where I trained as an apprentice. I now enjoy a busy career combining teaching at the RSN and working in their Studio with working on commissions and my own projects. In 2006 I received a BA (Hons) Degree in Art and Design from Brighton University.

I have had a love of the natural world from childhood. I now live in East Sussex which is an ideal location for indulging my passion for the countryside. Walks in the Weald and on the South Downs as well as the occasional longer trek in the UK and abroad provide abundant source material for my work.

I usually work from my own photography or images, often focussing on a subject of a single bird, animal or flower painting a picture with a needle against a plain background to draw the viewer's eye to the detail, colour and natural beauty of the subject.

Teaching at the Stitch Sanctuary

What do you enjoy about teaching online?

Online teaching makes my courses available to students for whom classroom learning is inaccessible whether due to location or other factors; it has a global reach which provides the opportunity to communicate and interact with potentially a more diverse cultural group. It can provide a focussed and concentrated environment for teaching and learning.

There are the obvious advantages in that neither I nor my students have to travel to the class, hopefully providing each of us with a comfortable learning environment. Online teaching is a sustainable alternative to travelling to classrooms.

What do you think are the drawbacks of online learning and how do you overcome them as a teacher?

Technical gremlins can always be an issue. Checking equipment, links, etc. in advance and having a dry run can help to reduce the risk. Not being able to physically stand next to students to help how they angle their needle or position their threads. Sometimes it is not being able to help someone struggling to thread their needle or remove an unwanted knot their thread has curled into. Some of these drawbacks can be overcome by students sending me images of their work so I can give them constructive feedback.

What would you say to someone thinking of booking onto a Stitch Sanctuary online class for the first time?

You will be in good hands. Stitch Sanctuary tutors are all career embroiderers with masses of experience and a track record of teaching success. Take the opportunity to access courses and tutors that you might not otherwise get the chance to connect with. Learn in a sustainable way from the comfortable environment of your own work space.