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
Filming in Kent for Justhands-on.tv
Val: We have a truely lovely day on Friday filming; we had stayed overnight at a small delightful hotel Hilltop Hotel close to Brands Hatch racecourse https://www.hilltophotel.co.uk/aboutus.htm and then we were up bright and early to do some filming. We spent the day with Sylvia Critcher, Hilary from The Silk Route, Kim Shaw, Carolyn Forster, Sue from The Daisy Chain and Lee Brown so we have lots of great workshops for you to enjoy.
Faded Flag cushion
Val; So pleased that so many of you have enjoyed the Faded Flag Cushion workshop video with Anne - it does work so very well with all sorts of colours - and here we have the latest version from Lyn Butler (for her friend in Cornwall)
Our visit to Mandy Shaw
As mentioned in the newsletter the boys from Bizview.tv (Matt Bigwood and Dave Harries) and I (plus hubby Stuart) popped down to East Sussex to film Mandy Shaw’s exhibition called ‘Quilts on the Farm’ where the work of her students was on display. The weather was glorious and the exhibition superb and we captured it all –including the bluebell woods and the Alpacas.