Plaistow pupils’ embroidery on display in Kensington Palace

Undine Ciepa, Jacira Batista Tabarda, Theresa Larbi, Karolina Beusadska, Dovile Sivickaite, Eleanor Hurst with their traditional garments.

Melissa York, Reporter Sunday, October 28, 2012
10:00 AM

Ceremonial garmants hand-stitched by Plaistow students will be on display at Kensington Palace for a month.

Undine Ciepa and Viktorija Balachovic with their embroidery.

Eight pupils from Cumberland School in Oban Close explored British heritage and cultural identity through embroidery by learning the art of stitchwork.

They drew inspiration for their creations from a visit to the historic collections in Kensington Palace, the official residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, where they took part in workshops to learn traditional embroidery techniques before embarking on the challenge of making six modern ceremonial garments of their own design.

Karolina Bersadka, a student at Cumberland, said: “I didn’t know anything about heritage embroidery before this project.

“By taking part I have learned different types of stitches and techniques.

“At first I found difficult but with a bit of practice it became quite easy.”

Another Cumberland student who got stitching, Eleanor Hurst, said: “At first I wanted to cry because I found the stitching so difficult, but then I learnt and really started to enjoy it.”

The Cumberland students joined 60 young stitchers from across east London as part of a project run by FAD, a Hackney-based charity.

Dubbed the New East London Embroiderers, the stunning works debuted at the Knitting & Stitching show at Alexandra Palace on October 11 to 14 and the collection moved to at Kensington Palace last Thursday where it will remain on public display for the next three weeks.

Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the garments will form part of a touring exhibition visiting the schools and community centres of the New East London Embroiderers including Cumberland School in Newham, Stoke Newington School in Hackney, Camden School for Girls, and Brighter Futures London, a group for refugees and asylum seekers based at Praxis in Bethnal Green.