ACTIVITY

For centuries, embroidery has been practiced in many forms as a means of decoration and artistic expression.  A single strand of thread can be stitched, twisted, and knotted to create an infinite array of designs.  This workshop has been conceived to help participants move beyond stitching from a pre-designed kit and confidently develop their own creative embroidery practice.

Participants will be guided through a series of exercises and prompts which have been designed to unlock creativity, connect the senses of sight and touch, and invite mindfulness and playfulness in embroidery practice.

By varying materials and the length and spacing of a few simple stitches, an endless assortment of line, texture and form can be created.  Learning to “sketch” with thread, participants will experiment with meandering lines and creating intentional marking to produce a work of abstract art.

Date
Saturday, January 11th, 2025

Time

12 – 4 pm ET

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

BLUE, The TATTER Textile Library is located in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Serving as both an interactive, ongoing art-installation as well as an academic research library, BLUE is an ever-growing home to 6,000 books, journals, exhibition catalogs, and objects that examine and celebrate the global history, traditions, makers, craft and beauty of textiles.

Cost
$100

MATERIALS

All class supplies will be provided.  Participants are welcome to bring any materials they might be interested in experimenting with.

Our Teacher

Shahnaz Khan is an embroidery artist and educator focused on the preservation of traditional techniques and their use in contemporary art. 

Connected through her cultural heritage to Pakistan and Greece, Shahnaz loves what can be gleaned about culture and history through the various adornments of cloth with a needle and thread.

Her embroidery practice has led her to work on a variety of projects including: visual art collaborations, couture fashion (Alexander McQueen & Burberry) and most recently a commission for HBO’s Gossip Girl. 

An interview with Shahnaz is included in Jen Hewett’s 2021 publication, “This Long Thread: Women of Color on Craft, Community, and Connection”. 

Shahnaz lives in New York City where she works as a costume tailor for Broadway, film, & television, while maintaining her embroidery practice. 

Shahnaz loves teaching and hopes to be able to inspire her students to incorporate traditional embroidery techniques into their contemporary work.