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
Frixion Pens – the debate goes on.
Question: Have you ever used the Frixion pen and would you consider it safe to use on any fabric that will take the heat? I know we will have to test a sample of it but it seems to go against the grain to heat to remove, after all we use heat to set the Microtex pens! Answer: Bear in mind that these pens were not originally designed for use by quilters - we have adopted them!
I have not used these pens at all but Jennie has and mentions them in one of our videos; her word of caution is that they are re-activated by the cold - this could be through the postal service or through air conditioning.
Special Update News for all iPad and Tablet users
SPECIAL UPDATE
Tuesday 29th July 2014 We are very excited to be able to tell you, that as promised in our last newsletter, we have now made the website more user friendly for all our users and especially for those on iPads and Tablets. So, what does this mean for you? Changes to the screen size All users will notice that the video screens are bigger and slightly higher up the page.
Quilters Take Poppy Challenge
With 2014 marking the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, some local artists are remembering in their own special way. Members of the St. Albert Quilters’ Guild took up the challenge this year of creating quilts with poppies incorporated into the designs to commemorate those who died in the war, which lasted from 1914 to 1918.