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
Perfect Mitred Border Corners
I have just followed Valerie's instructions for my first mitred corner borders. Wow, how easy is that!! Big thank you. My engineer husband has been saying for some time now that mitred corners would look so much better than straight stitching on borders, and he is right. They aren't perfect, yet, but more practice will do the trick.
Kind regards, Nicola If you too want to follow Valerie - just click here:
Heat Resistant Fabric – where can I buy it.
This is available in small quantities from our own shop - the amount is perfect to making another Iron caddy Tote: click here; To enjoy the video on how to make the Iron Caddy Tote, click here: but if you want more/larger pieces then you can purchase it directly from Creative Quilting. wwwcreativequilting.co.uk.
How many Jelly Rolls do I need to make the Mystery quilt?
What a good question - it actualy doesn't say BUT jelly rolls are usuallly considered to be at least 20 strips and often as many as 40; if you have the larger version then you will have more options! Want to know more about the Mystery Quilt? click here: