Stitch-School

In Summer 2024, Stitch-School came to Blackburn and Darwen as one of our Festival Commissions. A collaborative stitch piece centred around a giant embroidery table, the project moved around community groups in the borough who support migrant, asylum and refugee communities, as well as featuring at the Festival weekend. 

The beautiful cloth will return during the 2025 festival weekend, so sit down, slow down and add to the ever-growing piece. No knowledge of embroidery is required – learn and explore the wealth of stitches, make your mark on the large embroidery cloth and enjoy the benefits of stitching together. 

Read more about the 2024 commission here

Initiated by artist Melanie Bowles, Stitch-School’s collaborators include V&A Dundee, Alexander McQueen and TRImarchi – the biggest design gathering in Latin America. Blackburn based artist Sana Maulvi facilitated the Stitch-School cloth’s visits to community groups in 2024. Both Melanie and Sana will return to the 2025 Festival with the Stitch-School table.

About 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. The community events provide a space for people to sit down, slow down and feed their creativity through stitching. Participants explore the wealth of embroidery stitches, learn together, share knowledge and create new narratives around the table. Stitch-School collaborations include: V&A Dundee, Alexander McQueen, Marie Curie, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Trimarchi – Argentina, Brixton X Harlem festival, Peckham Festival, The Good Life Festival, The Stitch Festival, London Craft Week and Hemingway Design.

About 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.