Take a trip to Ireland this summer from the comfort of the Tatter studio. Learn about the historical significance and importance of the Irish lace industry from an economic, social and political perspective.

Explore antique lace samples from the personal collection of Fiona Harrington and the Tatter collection, as you discover the 5 styles of lace that are associated with Irish lace making.

Create your own needle lace sampler, including 4 Kenmare needle lace stitches and decorative border options. This sampler will measure approximately 1.5 x 4 cm.

You will leave with an understanding of how to prepare a pattern, create a needlepoint lace sampler, remove your piece from the backing and ‘clean’ the lace.

Date + Time
Friday, July 12th & Saturday, July 13th, 2024

10 – 2 pm ET

Location
Tatter Textile Library: 505 Carroll Street, #2B, Brooklyn, NY 11215

Cost 

$275

Materials 

All materials will be provided. 

*Optional* bring your favorite notebook, embroidery snips, or pincushion. 

OUR TEACHER
Fiona Harrington

Fiona Harrington is a visual artist who uses handmade lace as an integral part of her practice. She studied Fine Art at Crawford College, Textile Design at NCAD, Lacemaking at the Kenmare Lace and Design Centre and completed an MA in Art and Research Collaboration at IADT, Dún Laoghaire.

She has been the recipient of the Thomas Damann Bursary, RDS Graduate Prize, National Craft Award, Eleanor De La Branchardiere Prize, Traditional Lacemakers Award, Percent for Art Commission and the reimagined Branchardiere Bursary in 2021.

Fiona’s work has been exhibited widely and was included in a 3-person exhibition, Lace, Paint, Hair at the National Gallery of Ireland in 2020. In 2022 she was an invited artist for Soft Things in Hard Times at the Olivier Cornet Gallery and she has exhibited as part of annual exhibitions at the RHA, Cairde Visual Arts Festival, DLR Lexicon and Visual Centre for Contemporary Art.

She has travelled extensively giving talks and demonstrations on Irish Lace. In 2018 she spoke at the Textile Arts Centre in New York, Straight Out of Ireland Exhibition in Philadelphia in 2019 and was invited to present her work at the Home/Making Symposium at Concordia University, Montreal in May 2023. In 2024, she will travel to Tennessee, to teach at the International Organisation of Lacemakers annual convention.

In 2021, she represented Ireland at Doily Free Zone, an international symposium exploring lacemaking in contemporary art and design. The same year she was selected to the Michel Angelo Foundation’s Homo Faber Guide, which celebrates European excellence in craftsmanship, where she is currently one of only 4 lacemakers in Europe to be featured.

Most recently, she was awarded the Firestation Sculpture Practice Award, where she is exploring combining handmade lace with mould making, casting techniques and wire sculpture.