Textured embroidery and plastic bags by Emily Cox

By now I’m sure you’ve realised that I enjoy seeing the quilts, galleries and special exhibitions at the craft shows I go to as much as seeing what the suppliers have to tempt me with, and it was no different at the Harrogate Knit & Stitch Show in November.

One of my personal favourites of the whole show was the hall hosted by the Embroidery Guild which we almost didn’t find - it was at the far end of the hall we entered, though others were arriving through that door and were immediately immersed into it. I loved that in this part of the show there was an area to showcase recent graduates work, and in my first few posts I’m going to focus on these.

Let’s start off with a look at Emily Cox’s stand, and if you know me then you know I do like a Waitrose shop, so I was curious to see if that coat really was made from Waitrose bags - and spoiler it was, but more on that later.

EMILY COX, KNIT & STITCH SHOW HARROGATE 2025

Emily says that ‘embroidery is central to her practice’ and allows her to ‘form an intimate relationship with her work, each stitch elevating the emotional and conceptual connection behind the pieces’.

Nature is a recurring theme as Emily admits she is ‘fascinated by the patterns, colours and textures that surround us, that often go unnoticed’ - I could have spent a lot more time looking at all of these pieces in much more detail.

BREATH BETWEEN THREADS, EMILY COX, KNIT & STITCH SHOW HARROGATE 2025

If you’re wondering how the ‘Breath Between Threads’ piece is created the label beneath it reads ‘Domestic freehand machine embroidery on fabric, with cut-outs to create depth and shadow between the leaves’ - and isn’t it gorgeous?

EMILY COX, KNIT & STITCH SHOW HARROGATE 2025

I love the texture and the colour detail in all of the pieces above, though in the image above I think the one with the pink background, which reminds me of a gloriously rich coleus is my favourite.

BLOOM AGAINST WASTE - EMILY COX, KNIT & STITCH SHOW HARROGATE 2025

And then I saw the embroidery on plastic hanging on the back wall - it’s a collage of plastic bags with a freehand machine embroidered tulip stitched on which ‘merges beauty with the traces of consumption’.

And that Waitrose plastic bag coat? Here’s a closer look at it.

REGROWTH IN PLASTIC - EMILY COX, KNIT & STITCH SHOW HARROGATE 2025

It’s a fantastic way to reuse reusable plastic bags to make a statement, as well as a beautifully tailored item of clothing - yes clothing, as Emily was due to model this on the Knit & Stitch Catwalk during the show, sadly not on the day we were there.

But it’s totally a plastic mac with a difference isn’t it?

Embroidered Rooms A><B

I saw these pieces by Manuela Caniato at the 2021 Knitting & Stitching Show held at Alexandra Palace, and was keen to get a closer look.

They are cotton canvas worked with stranded cotton, each just 27.5 by 20 cm. Manuela took pictures of her rooms on the iPad and drew them digitally before printing on canvas and embroidering.

She also says that she likes this as it is “the making of a new fabric” and is a combination of digital and manual skills, and that she likes to imagine that she’s “throwing a thread that unites past and present”.

Looking more closely, I was drawn to the herringbone effect and texture that the rows of stitches brought while also clearly showing the scene, and the plant in the image above is also effective agains the straight lines of the background. Though while it’s good to see the detail, I actually think standing back and taking them in from a short distance shows so much more.

What do you think?

Love This #95: Suzy Watson's detailed designs

Today I’m sharing some of the most fabulous embroidery I think I’ve ever seen, and even looking at them now I can’t help but be amazed. These pictures are clearly taken through glass, but even so it’s clear to see the detail.

These all formed part of the exhibition by Suzy Watson at the 2021 Knitting & Stitching Show held at Alexandra Palace. The exhibition was titled Birds of Paradise, and it represents Suzy’s study of colour and how she views it.

For each piece of art, because let’s be frank that’s what they are, Suzy uses more than 200 threads to create the picture building up the layers from dark to light, and she aims to create “a series of work that feels real and comes to life”.

Tick.

She’s done that for me, each piece is incredible, isn’t it?

I could have quite easily left with any of the pieces I’m sharing here today, and these bugs held an unexpected and special appeal - which I’ve still yet to fully explain to myself, so there’s no chance of explaining myself in writing.

And then I spotted the glass display case of embroidery hoops, which I spent a fair time admiring and managing to capture even more of the detail by laying my phone directly on the glass.

Just look at the work involved, and the detail.

Now tell me they’re not art.

The cactus paintings were equally as charming, discovering the work of Suzy Watson at this show was pure delight.