Goldwork Master Class: Embroidered Heart Brooch

Jenny Adin-Christie

Jenny’s career stemmed from a rich family heritage of craftsmanship, being taught to stitch and make from an early age by her mother, a teacher specializing in textiles, and her father, a master gunsmith and fishing rod builder. Fine hand embroidery became her true passion and Jenny was encouraged to apply for a sought-after place on the rigorous three-year Apprenticeship course then offered at the Royal School of Needlework, Hampton Court. Here she learned to work a hugely diverse range of traditional and more contemporary techniques to a professional standard, training simultaneously in art and design. Graduating in 1996 with distinction and awards in goldwork and silk shading, she was honored with full-time employment at the RSN. This role allowed her the enviable opportunity to practice her skills on the enormously varied commissions of the commercial studio, such as playing a key role in the production of the applied lace panels for the wedding dress of HRH the Princess of Wales, and designing and working new altar frontals for Canterbury Cathedral. She also tutored on the extremely broad range of courses offered by the RSN, including the Degree program. Jenny thus became internationally recognized as a specialist in the fields of whitework, metal thread, raised embroidery/stumpwork and for her unique style of embroidery design which combines these techniques together. Ten years of invaluable experience as a senior tutor and studio embroiderer, eventually becoming Assistant Head of the Studio at the RSN, allowed Jenny to branch out as a freelance embroiderer when her daughter was born in 2008. Jenny now works full time as a freelance professional hand embroiderer, running her own business from her home studio in Surrey, UK, working as a designer maker, embroidery artist and tutor, frequently taking her teaching out to students around the world.