(Photos taken and reproduced with the permission of Nicola Hulme. Images are the property of Skipton Branch of The Embroiderers' Guild)
Monday 19th October
The title of Nicola Hulme's talk was Take Inspiration but listening to her journey from working single mother to qualified sewing teacher made me realise that she is also a model student.
Like so many others, Nicola was initially self-taught but a desire to improve herself and thereby help her pupils, drove her to study for an RSN certified course. Despite her aversion to all things arty, Nicola found herself drawn into a City and Guilds distance learning course. Working from sketchbooks to develop her ideas and concepts took her outside her comfort zone and pushed her into the realms of experimental pieces and mixed media.
Her technical skills in ribbon work, crewel and stump work are without question but it is her passion to communicate that makes her a great teacher. She says there is no better feeling than teaching a beginner, especially someone who thinks they can't do embroidery.
As the Embroiderers' Guild embarks on a new phase of development with a clear focus on it's role as an educator, we would do well to take inspiration from Nicola Hulme.
Nicola runs regular workshops for her studio in East Keswick, details on her website: www.simplystitch.co.uk