Saturday 2 November 2025, 2 - 5pm GMT, Mark / Stitch / Repeat: The Art of Hand Embroidery with Richard McVetis

Online workshop, hosted on Zoom by Richard McVetis

Saturday 2 November 2025, 2-5pm GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

Richard McVetis' practice centres on drawing and process, driven by a deep fascination with the language of time, geology, and cosmology. He explores these themes primarily through textile-based work, particularly hand stitching, crafting intricate, shifting forms and installations. Through his meticulous making, he examines ideas of repetition and the subtle interplay of sameness and difference within it. His works map space and visually represent the passage of time.

Richard McVetis (b.1983 Witbank, South Africa) studied at Manchester School of Art before studying at the Royal College of Art, where he now teaches. McVetis has been shortlisted for several distinguished prizes, including the Trinity Buoy Wharf
Drawing Prize, UK, 2023; the Jerwood Drawing Prize, UK, 2011 and 2017, and the international Loewe Craft Prize, 2018. In addition, McVetis has shown work nationally and internationally at several exhibitions, including Threads at Arnolfini,
UK, 2023; The British Textile Biennial, UK, 2021; RENEW at Kettles Yard, UK, 2019; Loewe Craft Prize, Design Museum, London, UK, 2018; ‘Form + Motion’ – a major exhibition with the British Council, South Korea, 2017. In 2022 his solo show was at the Craft Study Centre, Farnham.

Workshop Description
Discover the meditative and expressive power of hand embroidery in this immersive workshop led by acclaimed artist Richard McVetis. Drawing on his deep interest in time, space, and materiality, McVetis invites participants to explore stitch as a form of drawing—where needle and thread replace pencil and paper.

Open to all levels, this hands-on session introduces embroidery as a tactile language of mark-making. You’ll delve into the rhythms of repetition, scale, and texture, experimenting with a range of stitches to develop your own vocabulary of thread-based expression. Together, we'll examine how embroidery can map memory, trace presence, and articulate the subtle interplay between sameness and difference.

Through guided exercises and individual exploration, participants will gain insight into both the technical and conceptual potential of stitch. McVetis will share examples from his own internationally exhibited practice, offering personal reflections on how embroidery can bridge the intimate and the monumental—connecting body, landscape, and cosmos.

What You’ll Learn:

• Core embroidery stitches and their expressive potential
• How to build patterns through repetition and variation
• Techniques for experimenting with texture, spacing, and composition
• Ways to approach embroidery as a drawing tool and meditative practice
• Insights into Richard McVetis’ creative process and inspirations

What’s Provided in Your Workshop Pack:

• Wool fabric printed with shapes to stitch on
• Embroidery needles
• A curated selection of Perlé and stranded cotton threads
• Stitching handout and postcards for inspiration

Additional Materials to Bring:

• Embroidery scissors
• Embroidery hoop (15cm recommended)
• Any additional threads or materials you’d like to explore

Workshop Level: Suitable for beginners and experienced makers alike.

Please Note: Material packs are shipped on an insured, trackable delivery service. Any customs duties, delays, lost or undeliverable packages are the responsibility of the customer. Once a material pack leaves the workshop tutors' hands with a tracking number, the seller has no further obligation to the buyer.

If we reach capacity, we may close bookings. Be mindful that we must close bookings at least 2 weeks before the workshop, in order to ship material packs. We cannot accept bookings within the 2 weeks leading up to the workshop, because you will not receive materials pack in time. Book now to avoid disappointment.

Workshop recording
The workshop will be recorded and the recording will be shared with you after the workshop. Please allow 7 working days for us to send you the recording.



Workshop Cancellation Policy

All places reserved for workshops are non-refundable. However, if you let us know you are not able to attend a workshop you have booked at least two weeks before the event, we will offer a credit note.

If you require additional information about this workshop please contact the events team, events@selvedge.org.

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