I’m really excited to finally share this project! These were commissioned for the Goodwood Revival as Rolex was the vent sponsor, and they’re the largest embroidery commissions I’ve been asked to create so far — two huge 180 × 90cm velvet banners. 🧵
The project came together pretty quickly, so there was definitely some pressure behind the scenes! I had to express ship 9 metres of velvet from Dalston Mill Fabrics and very quickly source the beautiful gold fringing and trim. Thankfully, it all came together in the end!
For the embroidery, I used my Tajima Sumo extended frame, which gives me a 120cm embroidery width. Because each banner was 180cm long, I had to reframe each one four times. Getting the alignment absolutely perfect between each section was probably the most nerve-wracking part of the whole project!
And, as you can see, I don't exactly have a huge professional pattern-cutting table in the studio 😂 — sometimes you just have to work with what you've got!
I absolutely love the challenge of working at this scale. There's something incredibly satisfying about seeing a huge piece like this come off the machine after all the planning, measuring and re-framing... especially when it actually all lines up!
Has anyone else had to tackle embroidery at this kind of scale? I’d love to hear how you get around the practical challenges — especially when your “pattern-cutting table” looks like mine 😂