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.
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
Books and Patterns
Posts
De Vere Denham Quilting Retreat 8-9 Oct 2016
What a great time we had; here are some pics of the girls at work in Sarah's class and what they were working on; they all gone at least one top done!!! and some lovely comments from delegates (who are now safely back home) I had a lovely weekend , thank you for organising it.Thank you too for the lovely goodie bag!I have sent my booking form and deposit of £50 today, for next year,2017, I wanted to say ‘thank you’ to you and all the team for a great weekend. It was enjoyable to meet all the different women, to see their work and to spend concentrated, dedicated time on producing something lovely. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the weekend. This was my first retreat and it was wonderful. To just be able to do something you enjoy without any distractions was great I just want to thank you and Maggi for a super relaxing weekend.
7 October 2016
New Videos Every Friday Justhands-on.tv Stitching Getaway We [...]
Filming day at a Fluff-a-torium in Dorking
What a brilliant day we had - Matt Dave and I - in Dorking with Gillian Harris in her shop Gilliangladrag at Fluff-a-torium in West Street. Gillian is the queen of felting so we got to learn how she makes wet-felt; adds some decorative needlefelting; learnt about the kits she sells and then a great tour of the shop -so keep watching!