BOTANICAL DESIGN EMBROIDERY WORKSHOPS

Fri 3 Jul and Sat 4 Jul 2026, 10.30am–4pm

At the Museum

Two-day practical sessions in the Ashmolean Learning Studio

Tickets are £225 for the workshops spanning over two days. Booking is essential

Tickets coming soon

With Nicola Jarvis, embroiderer and illustrator

This workshop will explore the art of botanical drawing/painting combined with embroidery.

It will focus on one of the founding objects from the Ashmolean collection, the 'Tradescant’s Orchard 1620-29' manuscript attributed to John Tradescant The Elder.

This class is designed to guide attendees in the painting and stitching elements of a composition inspired by the ‘Flanders Cherry’ illustration.

Colourful botanical design of a branch laden with cherry fruit, with snail eating a fallen cherry and a grasshopper beneath

Flanders Cherry’ illustration from Tradescant’s Orchard 1620-29

Day 1 - create a painting of ‘Flanders Cherry’ on cloth, learning how to mix and shade using fabric paints to complete the illustration.

Day 2 - learn the techniques required to complete the embroidery:

Construct a three-dimensional cherry fruit by wrapping thread on a round, wooden bead
Create a raised leaf form by working with wire couched around the outline and along the veins
Utilise a range of surface stitches to enhance the wings and shell of a butterfly, caterpillar and snail respectively

Participants will receive enough tuition to be able to complete the embroidery at home, the kit supplied to them will contain all necessary materials.

This event is part of our Shaped by Nature season of events.