Defying soft embroidery clichés
- Hanny is drawn to goldwork embroidery for its sculptural strength
- She trained with straw expert Veronica Main
- Her first solo exhibition opens at the Swiss Straw Museum in 2027
Hanny Newton learned embroidery from her grandmother. "I witnessed the pleasure my she took in creating," she says. Hanny was introduced to goldwork at the Royal School of Needlework, and later completed a BA in contemporary craft at Falmouth University. She was always interested in questioning materials, so she collaborated with the UK's last metal thread makers to explore tin thread for goldwork. Hanny discovered straw thread in 2022, and was mesmerised by its potential. "I noticed how the straw changes colour along its length," she says. "It was immediately obvious to me that this was ‘natural gold’. The straw was paler, shinier and stronger where hidden under the leaf, and finer, darker and softer at the exposed tip.” After buying initially, Hanny mastered spinning on her own and now uses self-spun straw threads.
INTERVIEW
In 2023, I received a QEST scholarship that paved the way to my practice in straw embroidery. I trained with straw expert Veronica Main and researched historical straw use in the Swiss Straw Museum archives. A year later, I won the QEST Sanderson Rising Star Craft Award for pioneering the use of straw as a natural and responsible alternative to gold thread.
Conversations about goldwork often focus on beauty and technique, but they shift once I explain how the metal thread is made. I enjoy presenting my embroidery alongside raw wheat straw. The realisation that straw can mimic gold from afar triggers people to rethink the potential of humble materials. This allows for deeper dialogue on the topic.
Since discovering straw threads, I have shifted from focusing on appearance to unravelling the history and issues behind my craft. I now view the material in a broader context, considering its impact on people and the planet. Embroidery is a surface technique but a significant part of my artistic process delves beneath that surface.
Do not aim to monetise your craft too soon. Ease financial pressure by having another job, and let your creative voice, not marketability, guide your work. Once stable, you will have the freedom to choose opportunities that feel right rather than forcing your craft to fit them.
