Join us for this creative course in collaboration with the Royal School of Needlework. In this course, you will learn how to stitch a beautiful vintage lace pin cushion, inspired by our current exhibition, Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace.

Your day will begin with a highlights tour of the exhibition which includes works from the most celebrated royal photographers, from Cecil Beaton and Dorothy Wilding to Annie Leibovitz and Rankin. The exhibition explores some of the close relationships between royal sitters and photographers and charts the evolution of royal portrait photography from the 1920s to the present day.

The pin cushion was designed especially for this course and is influenced by royal wedding dresses worked on by the RSN and illustrated in some of the photographs on display at the exhibition. Your Tutor, RSN Studio Manager, Gemma Murray, was particularly inspired by the applique lace work she and our professional studio embroiderers applied to the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress and veil in 2011.

During the day you will learn how to apply vintage lace motifs from the RSN Embroidery Studio Collection onto blue silk fabric and make up a special keepsake pincushion edged with a hand twisted cord. Your finished pin cushion will be evocative of the special heirloom wedding veils and christening gowns which our Embroidery Studio regularly restore and conserve.

This class is suitable for all levels and if you don’t complete the pin cushion on the day, your kit will include everything you require to complete the project after the class. You may like to bring your own battery operated magnifiers but please do not bring scissors as you will be able to borrow ring frames and scissors on the day.