Jayne Emerson – A journey through my creative life
At our June meeting Jayne Emerson arrived with a wonderful selection of samples of her work which were displayed on tables for members to enjoy. She chose not to deliver a projected presentation but instead talked in depth about her textile journey, her education and her numerous exciting projects.
It was obvious from early on in her talk Jayne had been inspired by members of her family and teachers at school. She went to Loughborough College of Art and graduated with a 1st class honours degree in Mixed Media and then applied to Central St Martins to follow a Masters degree in Fashion. This was a very exciting time in Jayne’s life when she started experimenting with unusual fabrics, materials and techniques. A selection of her samples from Uni were then passed around and we were all amused to see garments made from all sorts of unusual things including tights, stockings, mohair and lace.
A representative from Hodge Sellers (http://hodgesellers.com/) saw Jayne’s final show and asked her to sell her ideas in the form of small samples but this meant the copyright was sold and therefore she could not publicise her work. This was a world I knew nothing about but, according to their website, Hodge Sellers design custom materials for luxury fashion houses, interior designers and textile mills. Her agreement did enable Jayne to run workshops and write books so this opened up a completely new world. One of her books was on needle-felting and Jayne was approached to show how to felt a robin on the Kirsty Allsop Craft Show.
Over the years Jayne has been very proactive in reaching out to publishers, manufacturers and organisations suggesting exhibitions, publications and collaboration. She has written numerous books on patchwork, felting, re-cycling clothes and embroidery which are available through her website or on Amazon.
Jayne set up a challenge on Instagram but when it ended participants wanted her to continue and this was the start of a group called “No Rules Textile Society”. Members receive a project every six weeks and topics have included using indigo scraps, automated stitch, stitch on Tyvek, stripes and zigzag on water soluble material.
Jayne has lots of ideas in the pipeline and is currently preparing an online course using gel plates.
We are hoping that Jayne will return and lead a workshop because we would all love to enjoy a day of “no rules textiles”.
Thank you Jayne for sharing your story and for bringing all your wonderful samples and I hope we will see you again.
Website: https://jayneemerson.co.uk/
No Rules Textile Society website: https://www.norulestextilesociety.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JayneEmersonTextileDesign
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayneemersontextiles/?hl=en
YouTube – Kirsty Allsop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIp9a3HDhFQ
Report and photos by Ros
Brilliant enthusiastic stitcher, amazing ideas and inspirational talk