About Lorna
Originally from South Africa, Lorna has lived in the UK for over 21 years where she works full time as an embroidery teacher and designer.
Teaching and sharing her designs and embroidery techniques is Lorna’s passion. Her teaching has taken her all over the world including the French Alps, USA, South Africa, Russia and Ireland.
She loves all forms of 3-dimensional, raised and textured embroidery and tries to encompass as many of these in her designs as possible. Lorna has a passion for flowers and this shines through in all of her work. She is also an enthusiastic gardener and draws much of her inspiration from her thriving country garden.
Lorna had this to say about her work, “I enjoy working with a variety of threads and silk ribbons to achieve a raised and textured effect in my work. I love experimenting with a number of different embroidery techniques, including ribbon embroidery, stumpwork, crazy patchwork, painting on fabric, canvaswork and applique. I am passionate about colour and about nature and often use flowers and landscapes as sources of inspiration.”
And she had this to say about her love of teaching, “Teaching is my passion! My goal is to try and encourage people to try as many different forms of embroidery as possible, using a kit as an aid to move onto working and experimenting with their own designs. I love working with beginners and reaping the rewards of their enjoyment.”
Lorna’s work has been featured in a numbers of publications, including Stitch (UK) and Australian Inspirations. She has appeared on Sewing Quarter and Hochanda, and can be seen in a number of online classes on justhands-on.tv. Her book – Embroidered Country Gardens – was published by Search Press and released in 2019. Click here to see Lorna demonstrate a few of the techniques that she covers in her book .
She has built up a curated collection of beautiful kits, patterns, threads and embroidery materials, suitable for complete beginners all the way through to experienced embroiders looking for a more challenging project. These are available through her web shop.
Lorna lives and works from her picturesque cottage in rural Hampshire. Most of her stitching and hard work happens from her garden studio, ‘The Nest,’ where she is watched on by various feathery garden visitors.
Signature Technique
3-dimensional and textured hand embroidery
Top Tips
- Create contrast in texture with overcast stem stitch, whipped backstitch or whipped chain stitch.
- When using Drizzle stitch, make sure you use a needle big enough to take the thread through the fabric.
- The waste knot (or Quilters knot) is the most useful knot you’ll ever learn.
- When in doubt, experiment small and finish rather than add to your basket of UFOs.
- The cast-on bullion stitch makes delightful flowers.
- Incorporate beads into actual stitches, rather than adding them on later, for a beautiful effect.
- Kits are a great ways to try something new and move on beyond cross stitch and tapestry.
- Use your scraps to create a colourful pin weaving masterpiece.
Videos
Books and Patterns
Posts
Lorna Bateman
Teaching and sharing her designs and embroidery techniques is Lorna’s passion. She loves all forms of 3-dimensional, raised and textured embroidery and tries to encompass as many of these in her designs as possible.
Embroidery with Lorna Bateman
Lorna joined Valerie and the film team to share with us her love of embroidery, embellishing and pinweaving; so we have some great films to share with you soon. And here they are surrounded by some of Lorna's beautiful work.