When Trinity Nevil enrolled on our Hand Embroidery Skill Stage 3 course, she arrived with curiosity, determination, and a quiet hunger for depth. Her experience of embroidery until that point had been largely self taught, shaped by cross stitch, basic surface techniques, and hours spent studying and emulating work she admired online. While this had nurtured her love of stitch, it had also left her aware of gaps in her knowledge and a strong desire for grounding, structure, and professional legitimacy.
Trinity’s motivation was not simply to learn more techniques, but to understand embroidery properly. She wanted to move beyond instinctive making and build a solid technical foundation that would allow her to grow independently with confidence.
Alongside this creative drive sat a very practical desire. Trinity wanted a recognised qualification that could stand as evidence of her commitment, learning, and skill. Like many artists, she understood how difficult it is to quantify years of self guided practice, particularly when looking to work professionally. Accreditation mattered to her as a way of adding credibility to future business plans, teaching ambitions, and specialist pathways she hoped to explore. Studying at a distance was essential due to her location in New Zealand, and she was drawn to the School of Stitched Textiles because its courses were designed specifically for remote learners, rather than adapted as an afterthought.
What Trinity ultimately gained from the course went far beyond what she expected. Being guided through unfamiliar techniques pushed her outside her comfort zone and challenged long held assumptions about her own preferences. Techniques she once believed would feel monotonous or frustrating, particularly drawn thread and smocking, became sources of deep enjoyment and creative fascination. These discoveries reshaped her practice and opened new directions that continue to influence her work today.
Now, Trinity is expanding her established Etsy business to include more hand embroidery, exploring ecclesiastical embroidery as a specialist avenue, and continuing her studies alongside professional development. Her ambitions stretch into teaching and conservation, underpinned by the confidence that comes from having tested herself, filled in blind spots, and committed to learning with structure and purpose.
Trinity’s story is one of intention meeting opportunity. A reminder that structured study does not stifle creativity, but can deepen it, challenge it, and give it room to grow with clarity and confidence.
Trinity Nevil
“The course pushed me outside my comfort zone and exposed me to techniques I would never have chosen to explore on my own. It helped me hone my skills and design process, and gave me the confidence to continue developing my embroidery practice with real direction.”
Going into this course I had self-taught hobby experience in only cross stitch and basic surface embroidery. I had been involved in a local guild but mainly learnt from trying to emulate pictures of embroidery work that I found online.
My main motivation was to ground myself in the basics and broaden my experience in a range of techniques. I had always wanted to try various techniques such as goldwork, black work, drawn thread work, etc and therefore selected the Level 3 course as that seemed to focus the most on sampling a broad range of embroidery styles.
I really craved the structure and guidance to lead me deeper into the world of embroidery and be better able to continue to teach myself in the areas I found to be of particular interest to me.
Why the School of Stitched Textiles
I really wanted to gain a concrete accreditation that I could point to as proof of my time spent studying this artform in order to pursue work in the field later on down the line. It is very hard to quantify the hours of self-guided learning and exploration and does not amount to much when looking to demonstrate your skills and experience.
I wanted to add more professionalism to future business/projects that I hoped to start and also make sure that I was covering my blind spots by seeking a structured program. I initially was hoping to study with the Royal School of Needlework however I could not justify the huge financial commitment for a merely distance-learning experience, since I live in New Zealand.
School of Stitch offers a much more affordable alternative if you are not willing to make that leap of commitment to the RSN programs. I was also really attracted to their programs as they were created to be distance based from the beginning, rather than what can end up being a ‘second-hand version’ of an in-person course.
From self-taught stitcher to confident embroiderer
I think the most valuable areas of learning that I have carried with me from this course was the exposure to many different techniques and areas of textile work that I would not have otherwise chosen to spend the time to study and experiment with. It forced me to step outside of my comfort zone and gain experience in techniques that have since captivated me and in which I thoroughly enjoy continuing to develop my skills in.
One area of particular note is drawn thread and smocking which I was always quite uninterested in as I thought that the monotony and tedious nature of the work would frustrate and bore me. Instead I found them to be my absolute favorite and have since loved exploring them further and incorporating them into my work.
What next?
My plans going forward are to continue with the Etsy shop I have been running for the past couple years, expanding my wares to include much more hand embroidery. I am wanting to dig deeper into ecclesiastical embroidery and potentially open a second branch to my business specializing in this work. I am also continuing to study on the side, and intend to embark on another embroidery course run by the New Zealand Embroiderers Guild. I would love to look into teaching in the future and also to explore the area of embroidery conservation and repair.
Advice to new students
I would definitely recommend the course to those looking for a distance-based programme that will help push them out of their comfort zone to try new areas of the craft and hone their skills and design process.
My main advice to other students would be to create a routine for yourself in order to help you complete the work at a steady pace as the distance based approach can lack accountability and structure if you do not create it yourself. I would also encourage students to make the most of your tutor always being there to assist and to have a good open dialogue with them!
