Life’s great tapestry
As a child, I was inspired to use a needle and thread by three generations of my family, whose needlework skills ranged from repairs and dress-making to intricate, hand-stitched embroidery.
My own journey began at five years old, with Mum teaching me to stitch a small canvas in tent stitch in our kitchen as she cooked dinner. In the 1970s and 80s, through cross-stitch kits and school textile design classes, I eagerly learned every new ‘handicraft’ technique that became available.
Over the years, my enthusiasm for needlework has never wavered. Even my gap year was spent in an embroidery shop, cutting out templates, printing the owner’s designs and assisting customers with choosing threads and fabric.
Then, after a career in hospitality management, a lifestyle change enabled me to turn a hobby into my vocation.
Entwining qualifications with experience
To kickstart my needlework career, I attended various workshops, then attained a City & Guilds Diploma in Creative Embroidery, followed by the RSN Certificate in Technical Hand Embroidery. In 2013, I was accepted onto the ‘Future Tutors’ Programme, by The Royal School of Needlework (RSN), the international centre of excellence for the art of hand embroidery.
Since graduating in 2016, I’m now teaching others about the wonderful art a needle and thread can create. As well as teaching day classes and the Certificate and Diploma courses with the RSN, I hold private and bespoke classes in my home studio. I’m also able to travel to anyone who wishes to learn and create their own ‘Eternal Embroidery’.
Angela Bishop
Exhibitions
1985, 1987
The Royal Easter Show Sydney
2009, 2014, 2015, 2016
NEC Sewing for Pleasure
2010, 2011
Festival of Quilts
2014
Embroiderer’s Guild Exhibition, Snibston
2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017
Annual RSN Rugby Summer Exhibition
2014, 2015, 2016
Annual RSN HCP Summer Exhibition
2014, 2016
Loughborough Art Open
2016/17
‘Stories in Stitch’ RSN Exhibition,Hampton Court Palace.
2016
Beating around the Bush Convention, Adelaide, South Australia
2017
Fashion Embroidery and Stitch NEC
2017
‘Embellishment in Fashion’ RSN Exhibition, Hampton Court Palace.
Magazine Features
Summer 2014
Australian Textile Fibre Forum
Oct/Nov 2016
‘Stitch News’ Stitch Magazine
Feb/Mar 2018
‘Mary Poppins’ project Stitch Magazine
Qualifications
1989
Advanced Diploma in Hospitality Management
2010
City and Guilds Diploma in Creative Embroidery
2013
RSN Certificate in Technical Hand Embroidery
2016
RSN Tutor in Hand Embroidery
