Free-Motion Embroidery & Applique Workshop

Artisan Stitch is running a free-motion embroidery and appliqué workshop on Friday 6 November, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at their studio in St Margaret's House, 151 London Road. It's a taster session that brings together raw-edge fused appliqué and free-motion machine embroidery, two techniques that got a fair bit of attention on The Great British Sewing Bee.

If you've seen those shows and wondered how it's actually done, this is a good place to start. You'll be combining the two — fusing fabric for the appliqué and then stitching over it with the free-motion embroidery — to make your own piece of textile art. It's a one-day session, so you'll walk away with something finished by the time you head home.

The studio is run by Jen Skedd, a degree-trained textile designer and lifelong sewist. She studied Stitched Textiles and Fashion at Edinburgh College and Textile Design at Heriot-Watt University's Galashiels campus, the former Scottish College of Textiles. In her final year, she sold knitwear designs to the Italian fashion label Valentino, and she still sells embroidery work and exhibits with the Embroiderers Guild and Group Twelve Textile Artists. Artisan Stitch itself started in 2015 in the coastal village of Cockenzie, East Lothian, before moving to St Margaret's House here in Edinburgh. It was named Sewing Provider of the Year 2026/27 at the Scotland Prestige Awards, its fifth consecutive Scotland Prestige Award and tenth in seven years.

The workshop runs from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Friday 6 November, and it's £80.00. You'll find it at Artisan Stitch, Studio 6.03A, St Margaret's House, 151 London Road, Edinburgh EH7 6AE.