LES in FT:How To Spend It Magazine

In such unusual times and amongst all the difficulties so many have been facing in the past few months, it can feel a bit tasteless to be celebrating almost anything. However looking for the bright side in tough situations is a comfort to most and some  might argue, just human nature. During this period you will probably have noticed that we made quite a big change to our teaching approach and introduced Online classes and kits to our website to adapt to how we could still reach our community. And reach back to us, you have in the masses!

Spurred on by your enthusiasm we now have 10 online classes/ class series with more in the pipeline to come. We are delighted at how much you all seem to be enjoying this new way of interacting with us whether it has provided you with a way to learn you find easier, as a comfort distraction or rekindling an old passion. So to anyone who is new to the London Embroidery School, welcome, it’s a pleasure to have you join us.

This change is working on a bigger scale as it has also been picked up by the Financial Times who recently published an article in their ‘How to Spend it’ magazine entitled ‘How Embroidery Became a Political Power Player‘ where writer Marianna Giusti explores this new trend ”Whether stitching slogans or calming anxious hands, needlework is gaining many new fans.”

Embroidery has a long history of being harnessed as a tool for political change, often understated because of it’s view as a ”women’s craft” and therefore nothing for the powers that be to worry about. From being one of the few methods of documentation that survived of people from minorities, to the suffragettes to hash tagged t-shirts; the examples are many but the motivation behind it remains the same. We are very pleased that one of our tutor’s Auburn Lucas was quoted in the article and that embroidery gets the coverage it deserves in journalism.

So amongst the bad, we hope that if you have found joy in embroidery, long may it continue. People tend to care about things they understand so with more people experiencing hand crafts, perhaps we can all be a part of influencing a more patient, considerate culture as we return to the gentler place that handmade arts has to offer.