Helen Jones

Helen came to embroidery via adult education and the law.  She was an adult educator before training as a solicitor.  Throughout her life she has dabbled in different textile activities.  She comes from a family where the women always had a textile project on the go.  Granny did tatting and mum was a brilliant knitter.   She has tried sewing, knitting, weaving, crochet - some more successfully than others.  About 10 years ago, while still in full time work, she started attending embroidery classes.  If felt like coming home. 

In the last decade she has completed, with distinction, the Certificate and Diploma course at the Royal School of Needlework (RSN.  She then went on to complete, with merit, their tutor programme so that she is now a qualified tutor with the RSN. 

She gave up her Practising Certificate as a solicitor a couple of years ago and now works for herself through her company Stitchwork.   In the last year she has taught for the Warner Textile Archive in Braintree, Essex and Embroidery Now in Winchester.  She is currently working with the Tollesbury Textile Group in Essex on some new projects.  She also teaches for the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court, Rugby, Exeter and Glasgow and works in their commercial studio. Towards the end of 2017 she was part of the studio team working on a set of ecclesiastical garments for Buckfast Abbey.   

As a stitcher Helen is interested in teaching traditional skills well so that they can be understood and practised by a new audience.  If those she teaches interpret their skills in a new direction of their own that's all to the good.  When she has time to stitch for herself she is   interested in understanding historic stitches and using them in a contemporary context.  A favourite activity is to select an archive embroidery, find out about it, and create a class from her investigations.