Stitch-School: Our Home

In Summer 2024, Stitch-School came to Blackburn and Darwen. A collaborative stitch piece centred around a giant embroidery table, the project moved around community groups in both towns, and continued to grow over the Festival weekend.

Initiated by artist Melanie Bowles, Stitch-School’s collaborators include V&A Dundee, Alexander McQueen and TRImarchi – the biggest design gathering in Latin America. National Festival of Making commissioned this new Stitch-School project and asked artist Sana Maulvi to collaborate, supporting in the facilitation of community stitch sessions.

Three women are sat at a table they are stitching on, one person looks to the person next to her, smiling in conversation

A close up image of some stitching using pale pink embroidery thread, following a blue pattern printed onto the fabric. It's a floral design

With the design influenced by conversations about Home, the cloth visited and was contributed to by different community groups in the borough who support migrant, asylum and refugee communities. The cloth was launched at an art and culture event held at Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery, delivered by BwD Borough Council for National Refugee Week – the theme of which was ‘Our Home’.

Hundreds of hands and many hours of conversation have contributed to a piece that will continue to evolve. We plan to bring the Stitch-School piece back to National Festival of Making 2025 before displaying the finished cloth in Blackburn or Darwen.

The foreground of the image is in clear focus, showing the design of two eyes printed onto fabric, next to some pattern work. In the background are blurred people chatting to each other.

Hands stitching a colourful sun which has a face. In the foreground are spools of colourful thread and surrounding the sun are semi-finished embroidered patterns and stars.

About the Design

In May 2024, we visited our friends at Community Harmony Project and had a conversation about home. We spoke about the sun (and Lancashire’s lack of it!), as well as the rolling hills. We remembered fields of farmland and poppies, the sea and clear blue skies. We talked about rituals and celebrations – sharing food and making people feel welcome. The herbs and spices in our teas and coffees: black pepper, green cardamom and lemongrass to name a few.

These conversations, insights and even drawings were shared with Melanie Bowles of Stitch-School, to help design a brand new collaborative piece for the towns. This was the beginning of Stitch-School in Blackburn with Darwen, and it felt only right that Community Harmony Project should be the first group to add their stitches to the piece.

The Contributors

A common thread running through the project has been feeling ‘welcome’ – whether it be initial conversations about things we do to welcome people into our homes, or the first thing asked of our team to welcome us through the door of each community group: ‘would you like a drink?’. The following contributors to the piece have welcomed the team and the project, and we had the pleasure of visiting most of the groups on more than one occasion, recognising faces, picking up conversations where they left off, and building relationships.

Also integral to the project were Hajra Sidat and Emily Jones of the Integration Team at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, who’s passion for art and culture being part of every person’s life creates beautiful opportunities for connection.

Community Harmony Project

Community Harmony Project helps migrant, asylum and refugee communities to build their lives, & integrate into local community. They hold a regular community café and free English classes at the Quaker Meeting House in Blackburn every Wednesday 11.30am-1.30pm.

DARE

Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise is a welcoming place for asylum seekers and refugees in Darwen. They meet every Wednesday (10am – 1.30pm) at Central United Reformed Church, Darwen for hot food and English classes.

Festival Visitors

On the 6th & 7th July 2024, hundreds of visitors to the National Festival of Making made their mark on the collaborative piece, supported by Melanie Bowles and Sana Maulvi. In an empty shop unit transformed into The Make Space for the weekend, visitors were invited to sit down and slow down, taking a moment away from the busy Festival environment.

ARC

The Asylum and Refugee Community is a registered charity working with Asylum Seekers and Refugees. They work in partnership with other local and national organisations in order to provide service users with as many opportunities as possible. They meet regularly at Wesley Hall, Blackburn

Kairos Housing

Kairos Housing provides short-term shared accommodation and specialist 1:1 support for asylum seekers and refugees who have become destitute and homeless in Blackburn with Darwen after receiving a decision on their asylum claim.

Other Contributors

Also contributing to the piece were members of the National Festival of Making and Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery’s Creative Collective, and some of the 80+ volunteers who volunteered at the National Festival of Making 2024.

An image showing a print out of illustrated instructions of how to do different stitches. The graphics are bold and are mainly red.

Stitch-School

Stitch-School was co-founded in 2017 by Melanie Bowles with the aim to provide professional and inspirational guidance to reconnect to the benefits of embroidery through educational embroidery kits, workshops and community events around the large communal stitch table. Participants explore the wealth of embroidery stitches, learn together, share knowledge and create new narratives around the table.

Website

I loved this cloth it felt like narrative and voice was being explored and expressed throughout the process and beyond!

Melanie Bowles

Sana Maulvi is wearing brown and is sat on one side of the stitch table, talking to a woman wearing black who is stitching at the table. Children and adults surround them, joining in with stitching.

Sana Maulvi

Sana Maulvi is a British Asian Muslim freelance artist based in Blackburn. Her practice revolves around creating mixed media artworks focusing on textures created from found objects, patterns influenced by heritage and manipulating the language of colours to invoke sentiments. Hosting workshops to share this multidisciplinary practice, Sana derives captivating stories, rich culture and woven traditions as a catalyst of inspiration exhibited in an abstracted form.

Instagram

It’s been an amazing experience facilitating this project. It bought together different people who shared captivating stories and shared their cultures while stitching collectively on a beautifully composed tapestry.”

Sana Maulvi

Hands stitch on fabric, adding to the growing colour of the artwork.