Sept 7th - Alison Larkin - Tudor Needlework

Our guest speaker at the AGM was Alison Larkin, an embroiderer, author and teacher, specialising in hand embroidery and traditional stitching. She gave a wonderfully researched and illustrated talk about "Tudor Needlework" to our members in Grassington at our first meeting of our 2022/23 programme. Alison explained that she loved historical work, especially the embroidery worked on costume and accessories. Using paintings of the Tudor period she explained and pointed out the designs, materials and needlework techniques of this era and has worked to redevelop those skills and ideas for modern stitchers. She explained that she had been embroidering and dressmaking for as long as she could remember and has made several period costumes to wear as an illustration of various periods in history. Her work extends from museum quality replicas to items which bring the techniques of the past to modern life. Below are some of the samples sewn by Alison.