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
How to finish an old english patchwork
Answer: I guess your question is geared to the uneven edge of your quilt if you are using paper pieces; and there are two ways of looking at this; the first is to leave the edge uneven and add borders to which the uneven paper pieces are appliqued - this will give the look of the patchwork floating.
The other is to make half templates to fit in the gaps so that the paper pieced patchwork then has straight edges - you can also do this and then add borders by machine.
You would then layer, quilt and bind as usual(see our video on layering if that helps) Just a thought about the quilting - most of my students do this stitching a 1/4" away from the seams - and this can be done by hand or by machine
2nd May 2014
Meet Kate Findlay A teacher and textile artist who has [...]
What did we film? It’s a mystery!
We have a Midsummer Mystery in store for you! More details will be posted in a video promo film later in May; but essentially you will be given instructions each hour throughout the day and as it's the longest day of the year you should still be in daylight! There are 10 parts - the sewing is straightfoward - there will be some rotary cutting but not much - and you will be feed the information piecemeal so that the mystery remains until the end!