In my work as an art embroiderer, I have experienced two wonderful and truly unique moments. The first was my participation in the team of embroiderers who worked on the tulle fabric of Miss Kate Middleton’s wedding dress for her marriage in 2011 to Prince William, heir to the English throne. The second was my teaching assignment at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios Santo Domingo in Bogotá, Colombia.
In spring 2011, when I was asked to take part in a “very special” project, I was finishing my training at the Royal School of Needlework. Encouraged by the Head of Education at the time, Gill Holdsworth, I went to the RSN Studio to offer my help. Mandy, the studio manager, quickly informed me of the commission entrusted to the RSN: the tulle fabric to be re-embroidered with machine-made lace, destined for Miss Kate Middleton’s wedding dress for her marriage to Prince William.
I was, therefore, one of the “little hands” who worked on creating the re-embroidered tulle fabric for THAT dress. The secrecy was absolute: I was not allowed to reveal to anyone that I was working on this grand project with other art embroiderers. Even my husband didn’t know, although he guessed what I was doing early in the morning, at noon, late at night, and at every moment outside my classes. Everyone involved in this project had signed a confidentiality agreement, so we still cannot disclose the details of our participation, and this is for 30 years. Of course, some things can be mentioned, such as the fact that keeping our hands perfectly clean was essential. We had to wash our hands about every 30 minutes. Since the tulle was white and reworked with white lace, it was obviously crucial not to leave sweat or grease marks on the fabric intended for a royal wedding.
The work was done with short, thin embroidery needles, size No. 12. Experienced art embroiderers know what that means: constantly embroidering and handling the needle with your fingers, it tends to bend quickly. It then easily happens that the needle doesn’t come out exactly where you want it, but always slightly off. Passing through the tulle and lace also wore down the needle’s point, and it was important to keep the needle as sharp as possible so it would not snag on the tulle or the applied lace. Consequently, needles were changed about every hour, so we always had straight, sharp needles to continue our work.
The laces were French and English machine-made laces, and I believe I also heard there was Irish lace, though I’m not entirely sure. Motifs had been cut out and then repositioned to create a new design on the tulle. Our role was to apply these lace motifs onto the tulle. Working with machine lace is not easy. You need to know how the lace reacts when applied. Sometimes the edge of the motif unravels when the needle is inserted into a dense area; sometimes the motif is very fine and has little material to allow easy application. The embroiderer must therefore proceed with great care to avoid fraying the lace completely. The work on the tulle was therefore meticulous and delicate. In addition, we could not rest our arms on the tulle fabric; we were asked either to keep our elbows in the air or to rest them on wooden supports placed next to the protected fabric. Since tulle is a very soft and almost elastic material, it was very important not to exert too much pressure to avoid deforming it.
In October 2011, I visited the wedding dress exhibition at Buckingham Palace. It was a very emotional moment for me. I was able to admire the wedding dress up close, see the shoes covered with re-embroidered tulle, the magnificent train, the veil, and the entire dress decorated with re-embroidered tulle. Fabulous—a truly magical moment for me!
Some time ago, I found this short video on YouTube telling the story of an Australian embroiderer who also participated in this grand adventure. The story she is telling here is exactly what I experienced.
Participating in the creation of the tulle fabric for this fantastic wedding dress was a great honour and an extraordinary privilege for me. I am very proud to have been chosen to embroider the lace onto the tulle, together with other highly talented art embroiderers.
My deepest gratitude goes to Gill Holdsworth and Amanda Ewing for trusting me and to the Royal School of Needlework for employing my advanced stitching skills in this beautiful creation!
