Interview with Julie 

Can you tell us a little bit about your personal history with textiles? How did you become interested in sewing, was it taught at school?

I’ve been sewing for as long as I can remember. My mum and grandma were knitters so I’m not sure how I was first taught to sew; I must have had a kit as a child. We were taught basic sewing in primary school and in secondary school we had needlework lessons, and used sewing machines. I did a CSE qualification in needlework, which included dressmaking. I specialised in toy-making and embroidery.

It was only really when I moved to Edinburgh in 1989 that I devoted more time to textiles, joining the Embroiders Guild in 1990. Here I completed a level 1 City and Guilds course (long distance learning at Cardonald College) that helped me practise hand embroidery and encouraged me to be really experimental with textiles, for example using materials that reacted to heat.

Did your career relate to textiles or do you consider textiles more of a hobby/pastime?

I always intended to train as a nurse so my career never had anything to do with textiles. I used sewing as a way to relax so it suited me well that it wasn’t part of my busy work life. I enjoyed dressmaking and made eveningwear and wedding dresses, often for my friends. I enjoyed the creativity involved with dressmaking so I liked making dresses from scratch – my friends often asked me to alter clothes, but that involved no creativity so wasn’t any fun! Looking back now, I would have loved to go to art school and study textiles. It was a very different structure when I was growing up, there were not enough spaces at the Grammer school so I was streamed into a Secondary Modern. In a way I was very lucky because there were more vocational opportunities such as needlework, which I wouldn’t have had a chance to do otherwise.

Before these workshop, how much experience did you have with CAD? Have you used it before to support your own work?

After I finished working as a nurse, I began working as a classroom assistant in the art department of a secondary school. Here I was taught Photoshop software on a basic level. Part of my job was to photograph the student’s work and edit the images on Photoshop for presentation, I was lucky to be working more as a technician than an assistant. I wasn’t aware of the extent of possibilities that CAD software could be used for design purposes, until I did an online course. I would say that I don’t have a lot of design experience. I like Photoshop as it makes me feel less intimidated by the idea of designing something; I feel like I can’t draw but the software allows me to edit and enhance my drawings to produce better designs. Photoshop helps me explore my ideas and experiment with the different tools to produce interesting new outcomes.

What’s your opinion on the balance between teaching art and craft skills, and CAD skills in the education system today?

I think it is very unbalanced, there are almost no traditional skills taught. From my experience of working in a school with students I became aware of the negative affects that the students lack of basic sewing/needlework skills, and knowledge of fabric was having on them. I think these tools are absolutely essential for students to have to enable them to complete courses in Textiles, Fashion or Costume Design. I think you need the basic knowledge before you are able to be experimental with your work. Students are also taught basic Photoshop skills but certainly at the school where I worked, they were not shown its huge design potential, it was seen as an editing tool rather than a platform to create work.

Have you enjoyed these workshops, and were the dates/times manageable for you?

I enjoyed this set of workshops more than the previous one that involved screenprinting. This time we were given a bit more time to plan as the workshops were a week apart, last time we did the designing and making all in one day. It would have also been helpful to get a bit more information about the possibilities of CAD, and how the students are using the software before the workshops to get more of an idea of the types of work we could potentially produce in the workshops. If we had more of an idea of the different ways CAD could be used we could choose a specific skill we would like to work on, much like the students were able to choose which type of embroidery they wanted to learn. I found the dates and times easy to manage and very much looked forward to the sessions.

What kind of activities or skills would you like to explore if you did another workshop with us?

I’m not sure about specific activities because I don’t know what’s all available at the art college! I am excited by the prospect of using different types of CAD and the new possibilities it brings to textiles. Lindy mentioned there was a laser cutter here so it would be amazing to experiment with different materials in that.

What do you think of the experience of learning and teaching craft skills face to face, compared to learning from a book or online tutorial?

I find that although books usually have quite easy to follow diagrams, often what is written is harder to interpret. As a complete beginner I don’t know how I would find them. Online tutorials are good because they are usually broken down into stages that make learning simpler as you complete each section at a time. I think learning embroidery face to face with a tutor is most effective as you can watch exactly how they hold the fabric, needle and thread, as well it gives you the ability to pick up tips and ask questions if you don’t understand.

We would like to Thank Julie and all of the ladies from the Embroiderer’s Guild who gave up their time to work with us. It’s been an absolute pleasure and we would very much like to do it again in the future.

Please visit Julie’s personal blog for more information about what she’s been up to at: stitchednotions.wordpress.com