In June we held our traditional joint meeting with Dutton WI, it was great to welcome back old friends Our President, Melanie, opened the meeting with pictures of her visit to the NFWI Annual Meeting at the Royal Albert Hall as representative of a few WIs in our area. It was her first National meeting and she really appreciated the opportunity to attend
Click to read Melanie’s report on the event
Our speaker for the evening was Tina Saunders with ‘An Embroiderer’s Tale’. She studied at The Royal School of Needlework and she showed us many of the amazing pieces of coursework that she produced. It was fascinating to see the tiny stitches, incredible detail and use of shading to produce some fantastic results – her rhinocerus was particularly admired.
She then took on a number of different jobs including working for the famous shoemaker Jimmy Choo for a number of years where her work included the shoes that Camilla wore when she married Charles. Her most memorable time was the 6 years she spent as a dressmaker for Queen Elizabeth II. She shared pictures of some of her favourite outfits from this period.
She has now moved North and is kept busily self-employed with a wide range of projects, dressmaking and courses. A very enjoyable talk, with the message to enjoy life, follow your dreams, and do a job you love.
Tina then judged our competition which this month was for a thimble. This picture shows Janet (our competition organiser) and Tina discussing the entries. It was very appropriate that Ann C, our winner, is a joint member of Dutton and Whitley!
