Creatures of the Deep - Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough - July 2025

Julie Bailey, Wendy Galloway & Nikki White &  Blueberry Academy

 

I didn't have time to write about this exhibition at the Old Parcels Office Artspace when it was on but it was such a colourful, joyful exhibition I thought you might like a look even though you can't go and see it.  Creatures of the Deep was created by six community groups paired with local artists.  Many were inspired by a visit to SEA LIFE Scarborough.

Inspired by the seabed and coral reefs, and a trip to Sea Life Scarborough, Julie Bailey, Wendy Galloway & Nikki White & Blueberry Academy made an undersea landscape full of texture and colour using recycled materials (see above).  The Blueberry Academy provides support for young people and adults with learming differences. 

Caroline (Bobby) Hick & SPARKS PROJECT 

Caroline Hick worked with 3 groups (Eastfield Crafters, Barrowcliff Social & SAGE) from the SPARK (Solving Problems And Real Kickstart Solutions) PROJECT inspired by the lifecycle of jellyfish...

Caroline (Bobby) Hick & SPARKS PROJECT 

Charlotte Hill & Cross Lane Hospital

Charlotte Hill worked with staff and patients at Cross Lane Hospital to create creatures of the deep using waste materials.  Cross Lane Hospital provides mental health care...

Charlotte Hill & Cross Lane Hospital

Simon Doughty worked with people at the Rainbow Centre which provides support to people who are homeless, vulnerable or in crisis. They chose to create an octopus which doesn't show up on radar and is thus "invisible" which is how the people at the centre think they are perceived by others...

Simon Doughty & the Rainbow Centre

Carol Eves worked with the refugee community to create a shoal of fish from textile waste.  Some participants were very accomplished at sewing and others were novices.  Participants were encouraged to design their own fish, some incorporated symbols or techniques from their homeland...

Carol Eves & SHOAL

Dan Parker worked with the Gallows Close Youth Group.  After a trip to SEA LIFE Scarborough they decided to work in small groups to create their favourite sea creatures...

Dan Parker & Gallows Close Youth Group

There's often something interesting going on at the Old Parcels Office Scarborough.  Check it out!

Textiles: The Art of Mankind at the Fashion & Textile Museum, London

Wodaabe Artisans - Young Woman's Wrapped Skirt (detail) 

The main exhibition on at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London is Textiles: The Art of Mankind. This exhibition celebrates the ancient relationship between textiles, people and the environment. Amazing textile techniques that have been developed across the world are illustrated.  It shows skills handed down through generations, and illustrates people's thoughts and histories.  It is organised through themes of materials, identity, collaboration, and sustainability.  Here is just a flavour of the items on display.

The Wodaabe skirt above is embroidered in chain stitch in patterns meaningful to these migratory people.

Tuvalu - Pandanus Skirt for the traditional Te Fatele song/dance

This skirt from Tuvalu, a pacific Polynesian island, is coloured using natural dyes including bark juice, burnt nut soot and turmeric root. 

Grace "Molly" Crowfoot - Peruvian Backstrap Loom Model

The above piece of double weave cloth was made by Crowfoot in the 1920s to understand ancient textile techniques.  Crowfoot could be described as a English textile archeologist.

French Basketmaker - Nest Basket

Inspired by birds' nests, this basket by a French basketmaker, uses twigs, branches, wire and nails. 

Chinese Artisans - Baby's Tiger Hat

Made in the early 1900s, this tiger hat has moveable tassels that would move with the baby's head.

Sara Impey - Why Stitch?

Sara Impey's piece Why Stitch makes an argument for the importance of textiles. One of the quotes stitched on this, which resonates with me - "Anyone who loves textiles, touches them. It is an instinct" - Jessica Hemmings 2012. That's just so true - they are so tactile.  Sara's artwork is made from calico fabric with free-motion machine-stitching and machine-quilting with polyester thread.

Bogolanfini Cloth

Bogolanfini cloths are worn by hunters as camouflage, for status and as ritual protection or by women as they reach adulthood or after childbirth.  Traditionally these cloths were woven by men on narrow looms and dyed by women.

Tadek Beutlich - Figures in Cocoons 2

Made from PVA soaked cotton wool, modelled over a woven structure of esparto grass, this piece features helpless people, and is supposed to reflect the trauma of war.

Jo Ann C Stabb - Swan Song - My last academic plan ever

This wearable art coat is made from appliqued recycled industrial silk scraps with dollar signs hand embroidered round the bottom to signify "the bottom line".  The inside is stamped with the different stages of the academic planning process.

English Artisan - Sweet Bag

This drawstring bag is an example of goldwork from the mid 16th Century and has intertwined hearts on the front, a symbol of love and devotion.

Rajasthan Dyer - Just dyed cotton cloth

This cloth from India is an example of tie dyeing from the 1980s, that has been dipped several times.  The patterns are supposed to evoke the waves formed by winds blowing across the desert sands. 

Lynne Setterington - Been Shopping

Reflecting on our preoccupation with retail therapy, Setterington has created this piece from Suffolk puffs made from plastic carrier bags that reflect her own retail preferences.  More of Lynn Setterington's work is on display in the Connecting Threads exhibition in the Museum's Fashion Studio and is really interesting.  For more on that click here.

Both exhibitions are on until Sunday 7 September 2025. There is no cafe in the Fashion and Textile Museum but there are plenty close by and the Museum does have a shop.  London Bridge station is a short walk away.

Connecting Threads - Lynn Setterington at the Fashion & Textile Museum, London

Lynn Setterington - Respect + Protect - 2009

On a recent trip to London I went to the Fashion & Textile Museum to see Lynn Setterington's Connecting Threads exhibition in the Museum's Fashion Studio. Lynn is a socially engaged textile artist who has worked with many different communities to co-create textile pieces that bear a message.  Here's a flavour of Connecting Threads.

The picture above is the result of an Arts & Science partnership project with Professor of Microbiology at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), Joanna Verran.  Working with different communities across Manchester, they produced this quilt for World Aids Day in 2009. Paricipants added red cross stitches to this piece  which acts as a reminder that the virus continues to affect people's lives.

This is one of Setterington's early embroideries, rooted in place and representative of everyday life...

Lynn Setterington - Leeds Market - 1984
Hand & Machine Embroidery

A number of Lynn's textile projects have been influenced by the signature quilt or cloth.  These items date back to the first half of the 19th century in the USA and initially bore the names of families and friends. Later, the signature quilt/cloth was used as a means of fundraising for good causes or particular projects.  People paid to sign their name on cloth which was then embroidered creating a finished piece bearing embroidered supporters' signatures. 

"Remembering Emily" was made to commemorate Emily Wilding Davison, a suffragette who was accidentally killed by the King's horse at the Epsom Derby, whilst trying to make her protest. One hundred years later, Setterington got staff and students at MMU to embroider their names on cotton fabric which were later machine stitched together into a 10m long banner...

Lynn Setterington - Remembering Emily - 2013

In "Signature Bags", these bags bear the names of members of Katab, a group of textile artisans, in Ahmedabad, India.  Made from khadi cloth, these bags, by bearing names, acknowledge the makers whose skills and work so often go unidentified...

Lynn Setterington - Signature Bags - 2011

 
"Threads of Identity" was made to commemorate the death of Ahmed Iqbal Ullah, a young boy killed in 1986 as a result of a racially motivated crime at a school in south Manchester. Working with 16 boys from Burnage Academy, Setterington got them to collect the names of 10 people important in their lives and to embroider these names on white cotton handkerchiefs within the letters spelling Burnage Academy 4 Boys. These were then stitched together using a faggoting machine to create the wall hanging, shown below, that has been on display at the school ever since...

Lynn Setterington - Threads of Identity - 2016

This piece, made by Setterington, draws attention to the Construction industry which has the highest suicide rate of any sector...

Lynn Setterington - Pearly King of Eccles

The "World Wellbeing Map" is a comment on climate change.  Made by over 100 people learning English at Oldham Library and MMU students, it highlights rising sea temperatures.  Made by hand, it upcycles products from the construction industry - thread from discarded debris netting stitched into rendering mesh...

Lynn Setterington - World Wellbeing Map - 2024

Setterington has also used the Suffolk Puff or YoYo (American) in many of her pieces. These are gathered circles of fabric that make a decorative rosette. Below is "House" made from debris netting gathered up into Suffolk puffs and stitched together, commenting on the housing crisis, lack of affordable homes and poor mental health of construction workers...

Lynn Setterington - House (detail) - 2024

Made during the Covid Crisis, "Living with Loss", apes historic samplers but with a modern twist by repurposing materials from the construction industry.  The loss of a loved one is something we all have to face at some time in our lives.  The unfinished nature of the piece is purposeful...

Lynn Setterington - Living with Loss - 2020

This is a really interesting exhibition and there are also some short films about some of the projects exhibited here but also about a project, Sew Near - Sew Far (2017), developed with the Bronte Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire. Here the pseudonymous male signatures of the Bronte sisters (Acton, Currer and Ellis Bell), found at the museum, were writ large on Haworth Moor where it could be read by walkers on the Bronte Way.  The signatures were made from debris netting which themselves contained the stitched signatures of participants in the project.  These signatures were stitched into the debris netting with a wool and string mix. 

This exhibition is on until Sunday 7 September 2025 in the Museum's Fashion Studio, which is sometimes closed for special events and workshops, so please check ahead if you want to be sure of access.  There is also a Connecting Threads book by Setterington, on sale in the museum shop, which is an interesting read.

Textiles: The Art of Mankind is in the main gallery - blogpost coming soon.

There is no cafe in the Fashion and Textile Museum but there are plenty close by and the Museum does have a shop.  The Museum is a short walk from London Bridge station.

Stitch by Stitch - Willow Gallery Oswestry

Perspicere - Head in the Clouds

 

Stitch by Stitch is an exhibition, curated by textile artists Alison Holt and Suzette Smart, at the Willow Gallery in Oswestry.  It showcases the wide ranging nature of textile art of both established and emerging artists.  It is a really fascinating exhibition with both traditional and modern elements.  There were too many fabulous exhibits so show them all, so here is just a small selection...

Perspicere's piece above is made from sewing thread wrapped round nails on canvas. It needs to be viewed from a distance - up close it is just a mass of threads - incredible!

I loved Ann Munro's vessel. Using natural fabrics and natural dyes, Ann uses handstitch to create tactile surfaces.

Ann Monro - Untitled

I also loved John Peacock's pieces, especially these two.  His mixed media stitched collages aim to take a child's eye view of the world.

John Peacock - Wilderness Trees & A Walk in the Park

In Haf Weighton's Siarabanc, paint, print and stitch are used for her vehicles...

Haf Weighton - Siarabanc

Lesley Wood uses vintage fabrics and handstitch in her work but, as a wild swimmer, I especially love this for its subject matter...

Lesley Wood - She Wades In

Susan Mulcock's hand-rolled, dyed, and stitched wet felt interpretation of this waterfall is wonderful.  Susan dyes and spins her own materials.

Susan Mulcock - Pistyll Rhyaeadr

Julie French, inspired by animals and birds uses machine embroidery and leaves hanging threads to suggest movement...

Julie French - Cormorant

This waistcoat was handmade by Sylvia's mother for her father and Sylvia has embellished it with applique and hand embroidery.  Sylvia was originally a painter who has moved into textile art...

Sylvia Paul - Dad

Fiona Robertson, inspired by her local North Yorkshire landscape, builds up her colours with layers of hand and machine embroidery...

Fiona Robertson - Autumn Maples

Antje is inspired by her life and environment and sometimes uses surreal elements in her work.  Here she uses fabric, applique and machine embroidery...

Antje Rook - Hope

Alyssa Robinson has produced this amazing piece using machine embroidery...

Alyssa Robinson - Tulipa Diametro

Suzette Smart, one of the exhibition curators, creates stitched narratives connected to her walks through the landscape.  She uses old fabrics, collage and hand and machine stitching...

Suzette Smart - The Fox Took The Low Road

I loved how Chris Clowes had made the twigs for the nest and how they hung out of the piece.  She uses machine embroidery on her silk painted backgrounds...

Chris Clowes - Blackbird's Nest 

Maggie Smales likes to take an experience or memory and interpret it through textiles and stitch...

Maggie Smales - An Autumnal Nose (Walled Garden, Nunnington Hall)

On until Saturday 30 August 2025, this exhibition is well worth a visit.  The Willow Gallery (closed Sunday & Monday) also has an excellent cafe and there is nearby parking in the Horsemarket public carpark. Go see...

A Good Yarn - Rolling Through The Streets Of Bradford

A Good Yarn at the start

 

On Saturday 26 July 2025, I went to see A Good Yarn rolling through the streets of Bradford.  A Good Yarn was conceived by artist, Luke Jerram.  The yarn was created in May & June from donated fabric (mostly bedding) by Blooming Buds theatre company working with the people of Bradford BD10...

A Good Yarn - Detail

School children, scouts, elderly folk, community groups and more (2,500 people) plaited the fabric together to create 1000 metres of yarn. Then, together with the help of Raven Staging, it was wound onto a hollow core to form a ball of yarn.  The yarn is held in place by wire and the ball has what appears to be a knitting needle piercing it. And then it was ready to roll. A Good Yarn had already rolled through BD10 on 12 July 2025.

Accompanied by the BD1 Brass Band

The roll through Bradford city centre was accompanied by the BD1 Brass Band who were tremendous.

Nuii Ice Creams

And Nuii were giving away ice creams in the city centre which was just an added bonus.

A Good Yarn En Route

It takes quite a bit of manoeuvring...

It's not every day you get married and find a 3 metre ball of yarn outside your wedding venue but that's what happened to this couple...

A Good Yarn & A Good Wedding Outside City Hall

It was a great occasion.  There were plenty of folk from Blooming Buds, Raven Staging and event volunteers making sure the roll went smoothly.  Everyone was very friendly and happy to share information about the event.  It was a great success!  (And I wouldn't mind trying some extreme knitting with that yarn. I feel sure it would knit well on my extreme needles!)

A Good Yarn is currently at Bradford Industrial Museum (closed Mondays) until 26 November 2025 where you can see it, free of charge.  While there, you can also hear a new soundscape stitched together by the Broken Orchestra that features stories and memories from many of the people and community groups who made the ball.

Bradford is the 2025 UK City of Culture and there are lots of things going on.  Check it out here. There's bound to be something you fancy and I'm sure you'll get a warm welcome.

The Meadow Community Art Project

The Meadow Community Art Project
Led by Deborah New

"The Meadow" is York Learning's 2024 Community Art Project.  It uses denim as a focus to highlight the unsustainable nature of the fashion industry. 

The Meadow - detail

York Learning’s dressmaking classes collected denim scraps from past projects, which were sewn together to form the base layer of The Meadow. Then, Deborah New, textile artist and tutor, worked with women from the Kyra Women's Project.  The Kyra Women's Project support women to make positive changes to their lives. They stitched into the patchwork denim background inspired by Japanese boro and sashiko techniques.

The Meadow - detail

The participants also hand embroidered many different flowers and leaves which could then be added to the piece.

The Meadow - detail

Volunteers helped attach the pieces onto the background to create "The Meadow".

The Meadow - detail

Barely anything used in the project was bought new. Embroidery threads were sourced from the Cone Exchange in Harrogate. The Cone Exchange is the flagship community project of Bettys & Taylors Group. It is a scrapstore which repurposes waste materials from businesses and donations from the local community. The money raised is used for local good causes.

The Meadow - detail

Some of the participants embroidered their names which were added to the piece...

The Meadow - Embroidered Names

Routes2Success learners researched facts and figures about the scandalous nature of the fashion industry in terms of waste, pollution and carbon emissions. These were cleverly displayed as the tags you get on new clothing. The plastic which enables you to read these labels came from recycled plastic bags...

The Meadow - Labels

Deborah cleverly used recycled denim jean belt loops to hang the project - see first image.  

"The Meadow" is truly fabulous.  It's currently being exhibited at York Explore (York Central Library), Library Square, York, YO1 7DS till early September 2025. If you get the chance, do go and see it!  If you're making a special trip, do check with the library first to make sure it's still on show.