The Knitting & Stitching Shows champion some of the world’s best textile tutors and retailers.
In a series of Meet the Maker interviews, we’ve caught up with the leading lights of the textiles community to hear more about their careers and current projects. Read on to find out more and get some great top tips, and make sure to come along this October to meet the makers in person at the Learning Curve Workshops and in the Creative Living Theatre!
Amanda Jane Ogden
Amanda is an artist, designer and maker living near the sea in Kent. Working out of a studio near her home, she designs fabrics and quilts, making quilts to commission and teaching too.
Angela Pressley
Angela runs The Sewing Club, a sewing school on the Kent coast providing classes and workshops for adults and children with on-going courses throughout the year – and you can make anything you like!
Caroline Zoob
Caroline designs hand-embroidery kits and also publishes The Stitcher’s Journal, a quarterly, print publication about embroidery.
Debbie Harris
Debbie designs and makes patterns and kits for Sewing, Crochet & Knitting. Using high quality fabrics and materials, Debbie offers a range of high quality products whilst aiming to make them accessible to everyone. There is also a range of essential haberdashery available, all of which Debbie uses herself.
Hilary Jane
Hilary has always been passionate about hand stitched work and used to finish her mother’s patchwork! In 1996, after completing her C & G in patchwork and quilting, she started to teach hand stitched patchwork quilt making classes and workshops. In 2018, Hilary Jane’s online fabric shop was set up, mainly selling Liberty cotton fabric.
Jessica Grady
Jessica started in commercial embroidery and print design, alongside making her own work, after completing a textiles degree in 2014. She now runs a small business full time and still completes some textile design work on a freelance basis. She greatly enjoys the teaching and skill sharing that is part of her role and loves meeting so many people.
Jill Kipnis
Jill discovered embroidery through her mum and school. She enjoys inspiring people to find mindfulness and peace in creating something unique and personal, and her mission is to get the whole world to embroider. Jill runs workshops from her North London home every two weeks during term times, and is involved in a number of different projects including a winter course of stitching at the Highgate Institute starting Autumn 2022, and a book on Stumpwork embroidery.
Molly Brown
Chester-based Molly Brown’s Emporium focuses mostly on teaching a variety of crafting skills. Molly also makes a variety kits for sale, as well as some free motion embroidered pictures.
Monica Russel
Monica Russel is a teacher and designer selling knitting kits, yarns, patterns and books, including the recent Fair Isle Knitting – A Practical and Inspirational Guide from Search Press.
Nadia Rein
Artist, designer, “wool magician” and teacher Nadia Rein lives with her husband and children in the UK and has been felting for more than eight years. Nadia values people and nature and tells stories about traditions, friendship and love in her work.
Paula Clark
Cocoon&me is a small family run business and was established in January 2017.
Paula, the founder & creative force behind Cocoon&me, decided to follow her long held dream of running her own creative business, after spending many years as a Knitwear designer in the fashion industry.
