Alexandra enjoys giving lectures and talks about different aspects of her research, and early medieval textiles and embroidery. She also leads embroidery workshops based on early medieval embroidery.
She has presented to wide audiences including at the universities of Oxford, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Leeds in the United Kingdom; the Université Caen Normandie in France; the University of New Mexico and the San Fransico School of Needlework and Design in America; and Simon Fraser University in Canada. Alexandra has lectured at a number of museums including the British Museum, UK, and the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in France. She is also a regular lecturer on the ‘From Court to Cloister’ year course at the Victoria and Albert Museum, UK. Groups Alexandra has spoken to include branches of the Embroiderers Guild, Ornamental Embroidery, Early Studies Textile Group, Medieval Dress and Textile Society, The Liverpool Decorative and Fine Arts Society and BBC History Days.
Alexandra has organised and run one day embroidery workshops for both adults and children for the University of St Andrews, various branches of the Embroiderers Guild and the John Rylands Library in Manchester. She has also organised and run weekend and multi-day classes for Ornamental Embroidery and Embroidery Now.
In 2022 she has led one day and multiple part day online workshops for Embroidery Knally, developing a bespoke design inspired by a 6th-century horse harness fitting excavated in Winchester, and an in person workshop at Lakeside Arts, Nottingham. Here the tailormade the hanging decoration incorporated stamped motifs found on early Saxon pottery discovered in Nottinghamshire and now owned by the museum.
Please contact Alexandra via the contacts page for further information, prices and booking details.
Lecture Topics
Alexandra has spoken on a wide variety of topics including introductions and more detailed aspects of:
The Bayeux Tapestry
The St Cuthbert Maniple Recreation Project
Her book, The Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World: the sacred and secular power of embroidery
The making, meaning and use of early medieval embroidery
Early medieval materials and stitches
Embroiderers during the early medieval period
The wider social contexts of early medieval embroidery and its links across the then known world
Early medieval textiles
Workshop Topics
Bespoke Designs inspired by early medieval motifs
The Bayeux Tapestry
Early medieval stitches
Goldwork
Gold and silk work
Opus Anglicanum
Dr Alexandra Makin 