The Embroiderers' Guild is a registered charity with members in the UK and worldwide who share our interest in embroidery. We run virtual talks and workshops open to members and the general public, and details are on our website.
The Embroiderers' Guild was established in 1906 and almost from the beginning pieces of embroidery were collected to enable education on embroidery and to ensure the work survived for future generations. There are approximately 6,500 items in the collection and its breadth covers techniques, artists, countries and historical eras – the key criteria for accepting items into the collection are originality and quality. We have pieces worked from transfers as exemplars of what can be achieved, as well as original pieces. We have work from the sixteenth century onwards and may have a few earlier pieces we've not yet digitised. We have an amazing collection of samplers, pictural and abstract pieces. We've also a large collection of domestic embroidery – such as tablecloths, tea cosies, mats and clothing featuring embroidery for all ages, from babies to adults.
Winter's Breath Beret
(part of a set of beret, scarf and mittens) 1953
Jeanne Mount (active 1953) 
The digitisation of the collection is a major project for The Embroiderers' Guild. The aim is to create accessible photographs for the Guild to use for its work. By making the collection available on Art UK, we want to demonstrate the breadth of embroidery to anyone interested. Embroidery is not just hand stitching but also machine-made: it is pulled work, wool work, metal work and has a range of uses.
Our initial digitisation started with pieces from the Needlework Development Scheme that ran during the 1950s. When the scheme ended, we received a proportion of the collection and it was a sensible place to start with the digitisation pilot in October 2023. The items cover a range of techniques and were originally produced as exemplars of embroidery techniques. We've used just a few for the launch. However, we've moved on to digitising other parts of the collection and these pieces will be joining the initial launch pieces on Art UK shortly. To date, we've photographed 1,000 items of our collection and are continuing the digitisation programme, with the help of our photographer Ian Lillicrapp from the Society of Fine Art Photographers.
I chose the items to feature in the launch to show the beauty of some of the pieces. It has been a joy and a privilege to be running the project and therefore seeing many amazing items, as well as occasionally some that challenge my thinking, but more of those in a later article.
The blue circular cushion was the first piece taken out of the first box when we started so I had to include it. It's simple embroidery on cotton fabric however the embroidery is very effective in its use on the cushion.
We have some amazing items, and a lot by well-known names in the embroidery world. These initial pieces include work by Beryl Dean and Winsome Douglass.
I picked several by Beryl Dean, including two exquisite floral pieces that have been unmounted. We've chosen to show the whole piece so the viewer can see the level of colour fading of the fabric. The threads still retain a lot of colour and are exquisite flower studies. Her other piece – a bible cover – shows her skills in metal thread embroidery.
The Winsome Douglass pieces are a toy bird (above) and a picture of a bird stitched in white threads on a blue background. I included the latter because I love it – it was designed by a 14-year-old and then stitched by Winsome – and it makes me smile every time I see it.
Other makers are perhaps less well known however their work is equally exquisite – for example, the beret, scarf and mittens by Jeanne Mount. These pieces make a beautiful set for a child: the design works across all the items.
Winter's Breath Mittens
(part of a set of beret, scarf and mittens) 1953
Jeanne Mount (active 1953) 
We also have a toy bull by Jennifer Gray – although I don't think we'd consider giving it to a child to play with. The photos of this piece show why photographer Ian has been essential: the bull required several photos to be taken and joined together so the whole piece is shown in focus.
This tablecloth is made from pineapple cloth with Nanduti lace insertions. Pineapple cloth is a very fine fabric made from pineapple leaves. Nanduti lace – a delicate lace from Paraguay – was unknown to me when I started the project. We have a number of pieces and this tablecloth is a larger example.
While we have no exact date for the making of the tablecloth, this pictorial panel was made in 1971 and is a stylised interpretation of a flower and leaves in vibrant pink and purple. It is certainly representative of the designs and colours of the time. The artist is Janet Warner.
Unfortunately, we don't have much information on some of the artists, however, we have longer-term aims to run research projects on our collections to try and find out more information and build a national resource about embroiderers.
A demonstration folder from 1959 and a design with stitched samples from 1952 show another type of item from our collection: demonstration items, showing how to stitch. These are important items as education is one of our key aims as a charity, and they are still useful, while also giving an insight into how embroidery has been taught by The Embroiderers' Guild and other organisations over the years.
A panel from 1630 is the earliest piece we've included in this initial launch. It is in very good condition and our photos clearly show the stitches used on the piece.
We photographed this piece to help the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) with their Stitch Bank project as Jacqui Carey had used this piece to identify several stitches from the Elizabethan era for her 2012 book. The photos they had were from 2012 or earlier and we were able to provide a new set with improved clarity. One of the stitches used in the piece is the double ladder stitch – you can visit the RSN Stitch Bank for a guide on how to make it.
The other pre-twentieth-century piece is a panel from the eighteenth century which is made up of two pieces joined together, stitched with silks with naturalistic flowers. We have no information on the original use of the pieces however they've been joined and conserved on net backing to protect them.
More examples from the Guild's collection will be added to Art UK in the future.
Anne Haigh, trustee of The Embroiderers' Guild
