Lynda Scoulding recently completed our Textiles Skill Stage 3 course and has kindly agreed to share her stitch journey. Throughout her course Lynda produced excellent work. She was even put forward by her tutor to be entered into our Student Excellence Awards Exhibition, in recognition for her amazing samples. Lynda went on to win her category.
Lynda Scoulding
I have been crafting for as long as I can remember. Mainly sewing but also knitting and crochet. I joined a patchwork class when my children were young and fell in love with it. I also studied a City and Guilds course in Soft Furnishings and went on to run my own business making curtains and blinds. I was then lucky enough to be employed as a Design Consultant with Rowan Yarns and became a part-time tutor teaching sewing, knitting and crochet.
Why did you want to study with us?
I chose the Textiles course because of the variety of content, which suited me as I didn’t want to limit myself. Over the years I have been to shows and seen amazing textile art on display and thought that I would never be able to produce such stunning work. I then realised that it was only myself who was holding me back from trying so I decided to take the plunge and sign onto this course which I hoped would help me gain the confidence to be experimental and become braver with my design decisions and start to produce original work.
I had originally thought I wanted to study locally but couldn’t find a course. I had been following the School of Stitched Textiles online and was very impressed with the range of courses that they offered and the students work that they posted. So, I decided to study with them and thank goodness I did…not only because it has been an amazing experience but we went into lockdown shortly after I started so it was fantastic to have something to throw myself into. I chose an accredited course because I felt it would give me the impetus to carry on if I felt challenged.
What’s been the most helpful thing?
I have learnt to be so much more experimental, not restrict myself and not be frightened to step out of my comfort zone, things don’t need to be perfect and quite often imperfect turns out to be just the best thing! I also learnt to use Power Point which was new to me but with the help and advice from my tutor I have became quite smitten with it and love the design tools it has.
I am looking at studying Level 4 with School of Stitched Textiles in the future and I am working towards setting up a sewing/textiles tutoring service either hosting in my studio or going out to my customers homes.
Would you Recommend the Course?
Absolutely I would recommend this course particularly if you want to try a variety of textile crafts. It will push you to step outside of your comfort zone but you will always be supported by the tutors. I found the last two modules (business and marketing) more challenging but once I got started I really found marketing fascinating and look at all marketing material with fresh eyes now.
If I could give students some advice it would be to just sign up! You won’t regret it and it is such a great feeling when you look back and see what you have achieved.
