I’m really excited to announce that I’ll be teaching this lovely piece through Knally Embroidery later this year. It’ll be online and you can find out more details here: https://www.embroideryknally.co.uk/ourshop/prod_7832016-September-with-Alex-Makin-ONLINE.html The design is based on / inspired by a 6th-century horse harness excavated in Winchester, where Embroidery Knally is based. The colours were inspired by... Continue Reading →

This month I'm delighted to introduce Nancy Spies, an an independent scholar who has devoted her time since she left teaching, to researching medieval textiles. Her first book, "Ecclesiastical Pomp", deals with brocaded tabletwoven bands, and has become one of the 'go to' works on this subject. She is currently researching12th-century Tunisian church textiles and... Continue Reading →

Hello everyone. In this month's blog post I am pleased to introduce Melinda Hey, a textile conservator who is going to take us through some of the things she encounters when working on different textile objects and how she deals with them. I originally trained in fine art embroidery but now I’m a textile conservator... Continue Reading →

Welcome to the latest blog post. Here we discover the early to late medieval textiles that are associated with St Wenceslaus in Prague Castle. Milena Bravermanová, Helena Březinová, Jana Bureš Víchová This month I am delighted to bring you an article by Milena Bravermanová, Helena Březinová and Jana Bureš Víchová, archaeologists and textile conservators specialising... Continue Reading →

This month I am really pleased to introduce you to Ulla Moilanen, who is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki. She has a wide expertise of Viking Age artefacts from inhumation burials dating from Late Iron Age to Post-Medieval period and she has undertaken fieldwork. Ulla is also interested in interdisciplinary research. In... Continue Reading →

📣Exciting news 📣 The French documentary on the Bayeux Tapestry that I was interviewed for, along with others, will be shown on BBC4 this Tuesday. Here’s the link for those of you who are interested: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015nnc Ps, it is showing in English Image description: a screenshot of the BBC4 schedule showing the advertised program

Welcome to this edition of Early Medieval (mostly) Textiles. This time I am really pleased to introduce Abigail Youngman, who is a radio dramatist and script editor. She writes radio plays based on historical fact, mainly from a female point of view with an element the absurd, because truth is stranger, and sometimes funnier, than... Continue Reading →

I thought some readers may like to know that at 11:30am GMT tomorrow (22nd February 2022), a documentary about the women who embroidered the Bayeux Tapestry will premiere on BBC Radio4. I was lucky enough to be interviewed for it and the sound of me stitching also appears. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001327r

This month I am really pleased to be able to bring you a post by Fran Sales. She is working with a team of staff and volunteers at Norwich Castle, creating an embroidered hanging for the Norwich Castle: Royal Palace Reborn project. Here Fran tells us about the project's aims and progress so far. My... Continue Reading →

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful festive season. To start 2022 off with a bang, I am really pleased to be able to bring you a post by Nadeem Ahmad, who is taking us to 5th-century Central CE Asian culture of Sogdiana. Nadeem is the founding member and lead... Continue Reading →