Margaret Stephens |
| Accredited Tutor | Needlelace |
Background
Margaret has always had a passionate interest in lace and old textiles since a small child and was left to amuse herself with trunks of old family clothing dating back several generations.
She joined the Embroiderers’ Guild NSW and The Australian Lace Guild in 1980 and learnt Bobbin lace and taught this for a number of years. She learnt Needlelace by Distance Learning from Jean Goldberg and went on to develop her own style. Margaret retained the traditional techniques of Needlelace but pushed the boundaries with the use of metallic and unusual threads, wire, beading and innovative embellishments which results in a lush rich textile.
Her original work has won prizes at National and State level and she has Tutored widely in Australia for more than 20 years. A piece of her work was purchased by the Embroiderers’ Guild and is in their collection. She has the Embroiderers’ Guild Accreditation in Stitch technique in Needlelace and the Embroiderers’ Guild Practical Teaching Skills Certificate Course.
In 2003 she was awarded a Jean Vere Scholarship from the Embroiderers’ Guild to study lace in Italy and in particular Aemilia Ars Needlelace. This was followed by Museum tours and then to France to study Alencon and Argentan lace. This led to the development of a Home Learning course in Aemilia Ars. In 2004 she went to Greece to study the old Greek lace at the Benaki Museum. In 2009 she returned to Italy to do an intensive course in Floral Aemilia Ars and to study Reticella further.
Margaret gives workshops in Contemporary Needlelace, Aemilia Ars and Reticella. She continues to research the history and techniques of the old Needlelace and a new workshop will be available in 2011 of a lace stitch that started in Egypt and resurfaced in the Greek Islands hundreds of years later. In 2009 she led a textile tour to the UK and Europe for Odyssey Travel. She is the Keeper of Textiles at her local Museum in rural NSW.
For more information phone the Guild on 02 9743 2501 or email tutor@embroiderersguildnsw.org.au