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goldwork

Ceremonial Embroidery

April 7, 2022 by Connie Mabbott

Embroidery is a popular addition for university, legal and military ceremonial dress for robes and uniforms.  For small scale commissions from private enthusiasts to full sets of robes for well know heritage companies Hawthorne & Heaney have the privilege of working on ceremonial embroidery for projects all over the world.

Ceremonial Embroidery London Hand Embroidery
Gold cut work cuff embroidery

We pride ourselves on our ability to produce traditional cut work and purl embroidery at home and overseas with reliable lead times and faultless quality.  Our experts have over 40 years experience in the ceremonial gold work industry making our product and service unparalleled.  

Ceremonial Embroidery London Hand Embroidery
Embroidered robe ornament embroidery

In contrast to this we also run a digital embroidery workshop and are able to offer incredible results, with extremely short lead times.  With lots of experimentation we have developed our own unique way to create the traditional hand embroidery and gold work effects using the digital process. These techniques and skills are what gives our small team the ability to produce stunning, large scale pieces within a very tight turn around.

Ceremonial Embroidery London Hand Embroidery
Large Scale embroidery on Chasuble robe for a wedding embroidered by Hawthorne & Heaney.  Made by Antonia Ede and Keith Levett.

 

If you wish to get in touch with us about embroidery for ceremonial dress, head to our contact page for our contact details and we will be delighted to help with your enquiry.

Filed Under: ceremonial, Embroidery, Embroidery, London Embroidery Tagged With: bespoke, bespoke embroidery, ceremonial, custom, embroidery, Embroidery London, Fashion Embroidery, goldwork, hand embroidery, Hawthorne & Heaney, Hawthorne and Heaney, history, judicial, machine embroidery

Learn To Embroider Like Us With Our London Embroidery School Classes

February 25, 2022 by Connie Mabbott

You may have heard of our sister company, London Embroidery School. Located in Central London, London Embroidery School is dedicated to delivering high standard embroidery classes for all abilities.

‘Embroidery is a lifelong skill and even if you are just starting out, it is something that will stay with you, to be passed down through generations. Perfect for slowing down a busy mind, we teach hundreds of techniques on demand.  Our online classes can be stopped, restarted, replayed and paused all so you can fit them into even the craziest schedule.’ -London Embroidery School

Offering a wide range of classes online which all start with the basics, you can learn the embroidery techniques we use daily, with no previous experience in the comfort of your own home, in your own time.

Hand Monogramming Classes

Learn To Embroider Like Us With Our London Embroidery School Classes London Hand Embroidery

Learn To Embroider Like Us With Our London Embroidery School Classes London Hand Embroidery

At Hawthorne & Heaney, we work on a lot of hand monograms for luxury items like shirts and silk pyjamas. You can learn this skill yourself with the London Embroidery School online classes. Starting with part one, which kicks off with the most basic form of hand monogramming, and moving into more difficult techniques with part two and three.

Learn To Embroider Like Us With Our London Embroidery School Classes London Hand Embroidery

Learn To Embroider Like Us With Our London Embroidery School Classes London Hand Embroidery

Goldwork Classes

We are very well known for our gold work skills at Hawthorne & Heaney, and through our sister company London Embroidery School, you can learn this technique from one of our expert team members through online classes. Starting you off with an introduction to gold work to get you started, there are 5 classes to choose from varying in skill level depending on how confident you’re feeling.

Learn To Embroider Like Us With Our London Embroidery School Classes London Hand Embroidery

Learn To Embroider Like Us With Our London Embroidery School Classes London Hand Embroidery

Don’t forget to share your creations on social media and tag us on @londonembschool so we can see your progress!

Filed Under: Art, Embroidery, Embroidery, London, London Embroidery, Monograms Tagged With: embellishment, embroidery lessons, Embroidery London, goldwork, hand embroidery, learning, London Embroidery, London Embroidery School, Monogram, monogramming, personalisation, stitching

In Discussion with Lisa Grainger for Walpole

August 12, 2021 by Natasha Searls-Punter

It’s always a surprise and a delight when a writer for the Times Magazine calls, so you can imagine our feelings when Lisa Grainger got in touch for a chat in preparation for her latest column for Walpole: The Value of Craftsmanship. The piece came out on their website today so follow the link to read all about it.

In Discussion with Lisa Grainger for Walpole London Hand Embroidery

We feel very passionatly about the importance of craftsmanship and maintaing these precious skills so it is with much gratitude that we thanks to Walpole and Lisa for the opportunity to be featured.

Filed Under: Art, Embroidery, Fashion, London, Tailoring Tagged With: article, column, craftsmanship, embroidery, goldwork, hand embroidery, lisa grainger, opus anglicanum, press, walpole

Hawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk

March 24, 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter

As a member of the V&A, I try to visit most of the temporary exhibitions they put on in the fine institution that is the Victoria and Albert Museum. At the start of March, they opened their doors on their newest addition ‘Kimono:Kyoto to Catwalk‘. 

Hawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk London Hand Embroidery

Held in North Court of the building, this exhibition brings a little Asian influence to their corner of the world. The Kimono is a fascinating piece of social history, carrying so much culture and responsibility within its relatively simple folds. 

Hawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk London Hand Embroidery

Kosode: From Edo period demonstrating Yuzen dyeing (Cloth tube fitted with a metal tip used to apply a thin ribbon of rice paste, then dyes are brushed within the paste boundaries) 1730-70

I won’t go into all the history as you should be able to make your own discovery of the exhibition and enjoy it fresh yourself, but I will show you a few of my highlights which may stir your interest. For an embroiderer or anyone interested in textiles, the exhibition is full of wonderful examples of hand embroidery and lesser known textile techniques. They draw a lot of attention to them, which was something I had not necessarily expected of the exhibition but was delighted to realise. As the basic form of a kimono is very clean and unfussy, once the structure of the garment has been addressed and the pattern explained there is not very much more to say about the shape. It is the varying and evolving elements of the details displayed on them which holds all the intrigue. Even though this is a fashion exhibition it is the textiles that does the lion’s share of the talking. 

Hawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk London Hand EmbroideryDesign for a Kimono 1800-50

The historical examples at the start of the exhibition were very strong, the pattern books were a surprise but of course it makes great sense to sell such a garment in this way, with patterns being chosen and customised from a book rather than remade examples. The women of the elite military class could have designs made specifically for them, particularly for special occasions.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk London Hand EmbroideryDetail from Kimono of a Geisha- a very elaborate example demonstrating the parallels between fashion and the theatre in 18th Century Japan

On the embroidery front, there are many great examples of goldwork and silk floss/ silk shading styles throughout the exhibition. The lion above is quite an extravagant example, taken from the back of the kimono shown in the first image of this blog. Amazingly, the lion is only a very small part of the work on that kimono probably only measuring about 20-25cm high and isn’t even the main centre back motif. However I’m sure you will agree it is an exquisite use of Japanese thread (cotton core wrapped with gold leaf paper).

Hawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk London Hand EmbroideryThere are also a few pieces that feature a dying technique called Shibori which you may have heard of. It’s use is using much larger scale and bolder than the examples on the kimonos where it is used to create very small and delicate designs, creating a much more subtle and quietly expensive impression. The technique is quite labour intensive as it require parts of the fabric to be tied off very tightly before dying so they are left in negative as can be seen in the white squares pattern.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk London Hand Embroidery

Uchikate- Outer Kimono for a young woman featuring Shibori and embroidery 1800-50

When Japan opened up its began trading with western countries such as Holland and Portugal, we can start to see the cultures influences each other, as Japanese kimono makers start to make kimonos from cottons South-east Asia and foreigners eager for everything Japanese started to use Japanese fabrics for their own pieces.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk London Hand EmbroideryDay Dress: Misses Turner 1876-8

Hawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk London Hand EmbroideryJapanese influenced robe, Victorian EraHawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk London Hand Embroidery

Towards the end of the exhibition they turn the attention to more modern applications and influences of the Kimono. This includes pieces from modern fashion houses such as Dior, Commes De Garçons and Alexander Mcqueen. This room brings the exhibition full circle, they also demonstrate the cyclical nature of fashion as you can pick out the elements of kimonos that have influenced that ‘new’ piece. 

Hawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk London Hand Embroidery‘High Voltage Power-Lines’ Yamawaki Toshiko 1956

Hawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk London Hand EmbroideryEvening Dress: also by Yamawaki Toshiko (1956) featuring Obi like bow and scrolling asymmetric designHawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk London Hand EmbroideryTextile details, couched goldwork and red embroidery imitating kanoko shibori 

While this last room holds many beautiful pieces, the real gems of this exhibition are the historical pieces. Many people will be familiar with what a Kimono is on sight from walking through the Asia exhibits, but this exhibition delves so far into this garment and unpicks the elements of it. The V & A puts on lots of great fashion exhibitions and in London we are spoilt that we have fashion specific exhibitions at all. But as this one puts so much detail into the textiles and processes, it has something special to offer in my opinion. 

Filed Under: Embroidery, Fashion, London Tagged With: bespoke embroidery, custom, embellishment, embroidery, Embroidery London, exhibition, fashion, goldwork, hand embroidery, japanese thread, kimono, kyoto to catwalk, shibori, textiles, V&A, victoria and albert museum, visit

Hawthorne & Heaney for Watts and Co.

January 30, 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter

 

Hawthorne & Heaney for Watts and Co. London Hand EmbroideryJust a short one today, but we really wanted to share this stunning ‘three keys’ cope design we produced for Watts and Co last year. The combination of colours really pops, makes us think that yellow is a bit under used when it looks this good on mass.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Watts and Co. London Hand Embroidery

The keys themselves are all bullion work in silver, in a combination of smooth and rough purl for texure . Edges in Pearle purl for defination. Hawthorne & Heaney for Watts and Co. London Hand Embroidery

Filed Under: Art, ceremonial, Embroidery, London Tagged With: bullion work, church, cope, ecclesiastical, fringing, goldwork, keys, metal work, navy, watts and co, yellow

Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent’s Sampling Project

September 11, 2019 by Intern

by Abi Tominey-Smith

During her time here, our last intern Florence Sargent visited the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2019 for her research project, where she was briefed to create a sample based on the Summer Exhibition including 3D aspects. She became increasingly aware of how much reference there was to the animals of the world and nature throughout the art. This year the colours were bold and capturing and this was something Flo wanted to reflect when it came to sampling. 

At the exhibition, she began by taking photographs to capture her favourite pieces, most of which included animals with an unusual look or aspect to them – bright colours and interesting faces. This sense of the individual and different, she has taken through to her final samples.

Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand Embroidery

Mach Brothers, EASY TIGER, 2019.

Christopher James, MACAW, 2019. 

Caroline Piggott, UK FISHING RIGHTS, 2019. 

After visiting the exhibition and writing a blog post about her time there, Flo began her development by creating lots of drawings. She has created some really beautiful and realistic work using only pencil and shading. 

Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand Embroidery Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand Embroidery 

To develop further Flo began to turn her flat drawings into 3D artworks, using stitch alongside cutting and joining techniques with glue and tape. These gave her work more of a 3D focus and gave her some ideas as to how she could put together and join her final piece to include these 3D effects.  

Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand Embroidery Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand Embroidery

Flo moved on by adding in more character, using bold colours combined with her 3D style, and experimenting with mediums such as paint, pen and pencils mixed together to give her work a bit more life.

Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand EmbroideryHawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand Embroidery  

Then when it came to actually beginning the sampling process, Flo decided to start with a simple line drawing plan, laying out all the techniques and shapes to be included when it came to creating. This really helped her final piece come together as a success.

You can see here, she has decided to combine 2 of the most popular animals seen at the RA, a fish and a bird combined, to create her own fantastic creature.  

Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand Embroidery

Finally Flo took both the Goldwork Beginner and Tambour Beginner series of classes and learnt the basics of both practises. With some time blocked out for her during the weeks at Hawthorne & Heaney, she was able to practise and build on these skills to create her final pieces.   

Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand Embroidery

Goldwork was the first class Flo took part in, so this was the first technique she became comfortable and practised in, and is how she became so skilled at putting together these samples in such a short amount of time. Alongside, she also tried her hand at a smaller tambour sample to practise these skills further. 

Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent's Sampling Project London Hand Embroidery

 

Overall I think Flo has really captured the fun, bright, wildlife inspired themes seen in this years Royal Academy exhibition. You can see the progression through her work and that she has really taken the time to think and plan out what she aimed to archive. This has resulted in these stunning final pieces, full of life and many embroidery skills!

Image Credits: 

  • https://www.countryandtownhouse.co.uk/culture/review-royal-academy-summer-exhibition-2019/
  • https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/summer-exhibition-2019
  • Own photographs of Flos work, at Hawthorne & Heaney.

Filed Under: Embroidery, London Tagged With: embrdoiery, florence sargent, goldwork, hand embroidery, hand stitching, intern, internship, sampling

Hawthorne & Heaney for Hasan Hejazi

January 11, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

We are delving back into the archives to revisit this really fun project we worked on for designer Hasan Hejazi in 2012.  We were asked to create baroque inspired tonal cut work for three bespoke luxury evening dresses for pop goddess Marina from Marina and the diamonds.  The project included some exciting names including Tim Bret Day (Photography), Thomas Knights (Film) and a suit for the designer by London tailor Gresham Blake.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Hasan Hejazi London Hand Embroidery

Our designs and drawings were based on victorian florid ornament something that is very good to translate to cut work.   The initial designs and refining took a long time and the annotations and notes for the embroiderers even longer as there was so much detail involved.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Hasan Hejazi London Hand Embroidery

The embroideries were executed in cutwork in colours to match the dresses with a fade to either lighter or darker.  There were also a few crystals scattered about to add a bit of light.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Hasan Hejazi London Hand Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney for Hasan Hejazi London Hand Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney for Hasan Hejazi London Hand Embroidery

The dresses were then put together over four days ready for the photo shoot.

Before the event we hadn’t seen any of the dresses, so we were very excited for the launch.  The first we saw was the full length red piece which marina wore for her performance at the beginning of the night.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Hasan Hejazi London Hand Embroidery

She then changed into the blue knee length dress which is our personal favourite !

The final pink dress was saved solely for the photo shoot, which you can see in the photos below.   It was lovely to get a chance to flex our cutwork drafting muscles this thoroughly, so we are very grateful to Hasan for getting us involved !  A wonderful project all round.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Hasan Hejazi London Hand Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney for Hasan Hejazi London Hand Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney for Hasan Hejazi London Hand Embroidery

Filed Under: Art, Embroidery, Fashion, Music Tagged With: baroque, bespoke, couture, custom, cutwork, drafting, embellishment, embroidery, fashion, goldwork, hand embrodiery, hasan hejazi, making, marina and the diamonds, music, pop, stitching, womenswear

Hawthorne & Heaney for the Worshipful Company of Broderers

October 11, 2018 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Hawthorne & Heaney for the Worshipful Company of Broderers London Hand Embroidery

Last month, The Worshipful Company of Broderers held a fashion show, dedicated to the best of embroidery in British Fashion. Hawthorne & Heaney was invited to be involved and naturally, it was an opportunity that could not be missed.

 

The Worshipful Company of Broderers is a livery company, dedicated to the protection and promotion of the art of embroidery. Also known as ‘The Brotherhood of The Holy Ghost of the City of London’, it was originally formed in the middle ages, receiving a Grant of Arms in 1558 and its first Charter on 25th October 1561 from Queen Elizabeth I. Charitable works lie at the core of the company as it functions today, with the fashion show acting as a fundraising event for their charity; Fine Cell Work and the Broderers’ Charity Trust. Fine Cell Work teaches needle-work to prison inmates and sells their products.  Established in 1997, Fine Cell Work now operates in more than 15 prisons to empower and rehabilitate inmates in preparation for their sucessful return to society.

Hawthorne & Heaney for the Worshipful Company of Broderers London Hand Embroidery

On what was a very balmy September evening, the company gathered beautiful examples of british embroidery work from well known designers such as Bruce Oldfield, Clements Ribeiro, Jasper Conran and Beulah, one example of which can be seen above. The show was held in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, London with the ladieswear mostly demonstrated beadwork with an array of evening gowns on show (as seen above).

Hawthorne & Heaney for the Worshipful Company of Broderers London Hand EmbroideryHawthorne & Heaney was invited to contribute to the show in the form of these goldwork waistcoats for the gentlemen to wear. These were later auctioned off to raise further funds for the cause. Hawthorne & Heaney for the Worshipful Company of Broderers London Hand Embroidery

The first features a circular dove motif on purple with silkworks for the center and a cutwork edge.

Hawthorne & Heaney for the Worshipful Company of Broderers London Hand Embroidery

The second piece was this striking pair of rampant lions on red.

Hawthorne & Heaney for the Worshipful Company of Broderers London Hand Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney for the Worshipful Company of Broderers London Hand EmbroideryThe lions are most embroidered over raisings with cutwork, a pearle purl edges and silver/red accents throughout.Hawthorne & Heaney for the Worshipful Company of Broderers London Hand Embroidery

For more information on any The Worshipful Company of Broderers or Fine Cell Work, follow the links in the text above.

Filed Under: ceremonial, Embroidery, London, Tailoring Tagged With: auction, beading, Beulah, Bruce Oldfield, charity, Clements Ribeiro, crypt, embellishment, embroidery, fashion show, fine cell work, goldwork, Jasper Conran, livery company, st pauls cathedral, The Brotherhood of The Holy Ghost of the City of London, the worshipful company of broderers, waistcoats

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