When Nienke Eernisse enrolled on the School of Stitched Textiles’ City & Guilds accredited Machine Embroidery course at Skill Stage 4, she was searching for direction—and she found much more than she ever anticipated. With a broad interest in textiles, but little experience in machine embroidery, Nienke chose this course as a way to challenge herself, build confidence, and gain a respected qualification. The flexibility of distance learning allowed her to fit her creative studies around a full-time job, proving that passion and perseverance can thrive side by side.
Throughout the course, Nienke transformed her approach to making. Previously unsure of her style and pulled in many creative directions, she gained clarity and found joy in the design process—an area she once feared. The course gave her the tools to explore deeply, focus creatively, and work collaboratively with others. Now, she spends time daily immersed in textiles, from stitching and sketching to studying the many books she collected along the way.
Thanks to her outstanding progress, Nienke has been nominated by her tutor to be featured in our prestigious Student Exhibition Awards—a showcase that celebrates the most exceptional work from our graduates. You can view her work and vote for your favourite pieces over on the exhibition now.
Read on to discover how this once hesitant maker blossomed into a confident, creative force—ready to exhibit, teach, and inspire others through stitch.
“The course has helped me gain some clarity and my passion is very much in the designing and creation of unique pieces…This summer I will co-curate an art exhibition in Dover and I’ve also started submitting the occasional piece to open calls, all daunting and exciting in equal measure!”
Nienke Eernisse
With some previous experience in textiles and embroidery I joined the SoST on the Machine Embroidery course at Skill Stage 4. My textiles interests are wide ranging, but with firm favourites in batik and stitch. It was time to branch out a bit and I chose to study machine embroidery as my experience was limited in this area and I needed a strong driver to explore and improve. Doing an accredited course would be a very good reason to learn, develop confidence in my abilities and gain a qualification all in one go. And looking ahead, perhaps I could be running some workshops and exhibit my work.
Studying Machine Embroidery
Studying for an accredited qualification was only possible through distance learning and the SOST offered the program and level that suited me. It was great for flexibility, although it was sometimes not an easy task to keep on top of the course work while working fulltime. Any advice I could give would be around planning: plan in detail what you will do and when, so you have enough time to enjoy the creative parts without worrying about deadlines too much! And take lots and lots of pictures…
From Dabbler to Designer
I often struggle with focus, and before this course I randomly dabbled in lots of different textiles skills and genres, without a clear style or direction. The course has helped me gain some clarity and my passion is very much in the designing and creation of unique pieces. Although I was terribly apprehensive of the design module initially, it turned out to be very enjoyable once I got going and received some positive feedback. I also really enjoyed working with others, sharing skills and ideas, and have found this invaluable during the course.
Next Steps
My next steps are to keep creating, often with my friends, in a mix of hand stitching and machine embroidery, to keep learning (most recently on an indigo and shibori course) and to start thinking about workshop opportunities. I now do something textiles related most days, be it stitching, sketching or designing, or sometimes just reading one of the many books I seem to have acquired during my course! This summer I will co-curate an art exhibition in Dover and I’ve also started submitting the occasional piece to open calls, all daunting and exciting in equal measure!
