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Niamh Wimperis

About Niamh

Niamh Wimperis is one of the most colourful and dynamic embroidery artists currently practicing.

According to Niamh, she’s “all about feminism and plants”, and finds a lot of her inspiration from her vast collection of house plants, and childhood memories of her grandparents house, Selsley Herb and Goat Farm. Her work has evolved from ultra political – – with her feminist pieces featured in Ms Magazine, Buzzfeed and The Huff Post – – to this more calming botanical style.

Niamh achieved a Masters Degree in Contemporary Craft in 2017 from Plymouth College of Art. Her final piece, an interactive installation titled ‘A Feeling Of Safety, Perhaps’ was exhibited in the MA show and as part of Dwell, a two woman collaboration for Plymouth Art Weekend at Plymouth Art Centre.

In 2018 Niamh was chosen to be on the BBC2 programme, The Victorian House of Arts and Crafts.  This was a “living history” reality show in which Niamh and 5 other talented crafts people lived in a William Morris-esque arts and crafts commune for a month, complete with wearing Victorian clothes, eating Victorian food and using Victorian tools. The 4 part BBC2 show aired in January 2019. You can read more about her experience here, and watch the series here.

Niamh now lives in Camden Town with her partner Alex, a watch maker. She is currently writing her first book, continues to make work (including commissions), and has launched her #WEStitchKit – a monthly embroidery kit subscription box. You can find about more about her kit subscription here.

Click here to see Niamh talk about the inspiration behind her sampler, which is based on the bed spread that she made on the BBC2 programme, The Victorian House of Arts and Crafts.

www.wimperis.co.uk

Signature Technique

Botanical Embroidery

Top Tips

  • Use the Satin Stitch for a shimmer and shine effect.
  • Stitch on two layers to avoid warp and seeing stitches on the back.
  • Keep your fabric tight as a drum in your hoop or your piece will pucker.
  • Nothing in nature is perfect, so don’t be afraid if a stitch appears strange or off the centre line. That’s how it appears in real life.
  • The Fly Stitch is wonderfully versatile; use it for pine branches, flowers and leaves.
  • If you find your thread is suddenly shorter, you probably have a knot. Use your needle to pull the knot apart.

Videos

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Books and Patterns

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Posts

Go Crazy with Val in New Malden

Valerie has been invited by a group in New Malden – New Malden Quilters Association (aka Foxy Quilters) to share this fun workshop on Thursday 6th July at 7.30pm     If you aren’t familiar with this workshop , it is a great way of creating a quick and easy quilt from 6 Fat ¼’s with no waster;  pretty much any combination works and you have the added bonus of not having to worry about the seam allowance.

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Crazy Stashbuster

Margaret contacted us in May as she was trying to remember which video she needed for one of Valerie's stack and slash quilts, as she had made one a few years ago and wanted to make another. It turned out she wanted to make Valerie's crazy patchwork quilt - which you can watch here. Margaret has got back in touch just a few weeks later and has just completed her quilt in this lovely colourway, which she has hand quilted using perle thread.

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2022-09-26T06:18:46+00:00
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