Meet our Teachers
Ali Ferguson
Ali’s nostalgic textile work takes inspiration from home & family life, past & present. She stitches stories of ordinary people and everyday things using handwritten words, vintage materials, personal motifs and a whole lot of heart.
She’s continually gathering inspiration. A favourite family recipe falling apart through use, snippets of life found in the words of strangers’ letters or a line from an old needlework book have her delving into her stash of vintage linens and old garments. A cloth collage emerges as fabrics are ripped, layered and patched together before the story telling continues with needle and thread.
She teaches in person across the UK and internationally and is the author of ‘Cloth Stories – Exploring domestic life in textile art’ which was published by Batsford in 2024.
Ali lives just south of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepurplethreadshed/
Website: https://aliferguson.co.uk
Kitchen Tales – Cloth Collage
In this two-day workshop you’ll share kitchen stories, play with deliciously scrappy vintage materials and slowly hand-stitch a cloth story collage inspired by our theme - Kitchen Tales.
Ali will share the stories behind some of her own kitchen collages and then gently lead you through her process of gathering and playing with meaningful materials and using words, motifs and simple hand stitching to create a piece that is personal and has story at its heart.
The inspiration for your collage will be your own memories of domestic life such as cooking and baking and you’ll have the opportunity to print personal kitchen related text such as old family recipes onto fabric.
Ali will demonstrate her relaxed approach to cloth collage where fabrics and papers are ripped and layered, printed words are highlighted, and personal words are hand stitched. She’ll show you how to add a stitched motif or two - all adding to your Kitchen Tales. You’ll be encouraged to capture your own thoughts and memories and find ways to incorporate them in your work.
You will work on up to two small cloth collages, one on a woollen blanket ground and one on a piece of vintage table linen.
Don’t worry if you’re not an experienced stitcher, you’ll be shown everything you need to know. Ali encourages you to work with heart rather than perfection!
