International School for Textile Arts

Master Needle Artisan
Needlework
Basic knowledge - Techniques - Design

Sampler- Canvas (detail) - courtesy of © Monika (CH))

highly professional - intensive - a lot of fun!

Needlework is a particularly diverse art form. The mastery of many techniques and knowledge of the processing of various materials, as they are taught in this distance learning course, form the basis for your free artistic development. You don't need a counting pattern or a fill-in-the-surface-by-numbers guide. Inspiration is the only spark! This can be a photo, a painting, a drawing or simply our imagination. At the same time, our tutorial is also an indulgence in the colors and textures of the many materials our market offers today. And at the end you can say:

This is my work of art
Created from A-Z with my hands
It's the greatest feeling in the world!

The focus of our Master Needle Artisan course is on learning needlework techniques, using a wide variety of materials and translating classic techniques into modern design. Our documentation is based on detailed step-by-step instructions throughout and also provides a brief introduction to the history of the various embroidery techniques and further theoretical knowledge. Samplers with classic stitches and their modern interpretation are created, in several projects the learned techniques are combined and implemented with modern design possibilities.
The seminar is suitable for: Beginners, re-starters, Sunday stitchers, needlework maniacs and all those who can't keep their hands off needle and thread and give themselves a treat every day. So, foreveryone who likes to work with needle and thread, who is as fascinated by the whole range of hand stitching as we are and who is or would like to become part of the big worldwide family of happy stitchers. You don't need any more prerequisites.
You can choose the required 12 practical days freely from the dates of the textile workshop (see calendar below).
 

Use it to create practice pieces, as preparation for developing your own courses, to create a pattern book, as preparation for a course at university or the practical part of the journeyman's examination for the profession of Designing CraftsWoMan subject hand stitching. Or:

just do it for yourselves! 

  • Year 1 - Working on Even-Weave Fabrics

    • Canvas
      • Decorative stitches: straight, diagonal, crossed, braided stitches
      • Combinations
      • experimental work
      • Sampler
      • 1 project
    • Counted Thread Work
      • Cross stitch(es), braided stitches
      • Assisi, Colbert, Blackwork
      • Pulled Thread, Drawn Thread
      • 1 sampler
      • 1 project

    Year 2 - Working on Plain-Weave Fabrics

    • Surface Embroidery
      • Line stitches, braided stitches, single stitches
      • Tape stitches, surface stitches
      • experimental work
      • 1 sampler
      • 1 project
    • Techniques of Whitework
      • paddings
      • decorative stitches
      • Perforated embroidery, cut-out embroidery
      • experimental works
      • 1 sampler
      • 1 project

    Year 3 - Some more working on Plain-Weave Fabrics 

    • Metal/beadwork techniques
      • paddings
      • couching
      • chipwork
      • experimental works
      • 1 sampler
    • Canvas - relief/ribbon embroidery
      • Leaves, flowers
      • needlepoint lace
      • free forms
      • experimental works
      • 1 sampler
      • 1 project

    Year 4

    • Shading
      • Canvas
      • plain-weave
      • Blackwork
    • Thesis
      • own design to a given theme

Rule runtime: 4 years

Completion/Duration of support: 4.5 years

Mandatory days of attendance per semester:

  • 12 days per semester
  • additional course days can be booked

Start Date: on a studio day (see dates)

Language of seminar materials/in class: optionally German or English

Tutoring for work at home: via email

You can contact us at any time, we will answer as soon as possible. It is best to attach a good resolution photo (front and back) to your question, then we can help even better.

A regular weekly feedback is preferred, on request you will receive a report template for this. You can also use this as proof of activity for the registration for the external examination as a textile designer in the craft / embroidery department at the Chamber of Crafts!

average working time required for own work per week: 10-15 hours

Termination Option: 4 weeks at the end of a semester

needlework frame:

  • 45cm Easy Frame (2)
  • 60cm professional slat frame

Source of supply in Germany: Hof Erdenlicht / Tobias Dübler Detailed instructions for working with the slat frame are included in the documentation.

needlework scissors with narrow tip Example:
Image result for embroidery scissors
Other: well illuminated workplace also for home

Registration Fee:  100€ (non-refundable)

Seminar fee:
The fee is payable in monthly instalments.

  • monthly rate (48x): 185€
    • Total fee: 8880€

Cancellation options 

  • 12 weeks at the end of the 2nd semester
  • then 12 weeks at the end of a semester

Included in the fees:

  • Documentation
  • Support during the seminar days
  • E-mail support at work at home
  • Certificates
Material costs per semester approx. 300€
Please note: to qualify for the certificate you have to work with the set materials, the choice of colours is up to you.
Register now
Conditions of participation

Dates

All ISTA dates are subject to the Corona situation. Only when events without elaborate hygiene regulations and mask obligation are possible again, we can keep the dates.

Project examples
with kind permission of our students

International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-8-Andrea-EN
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-2-Silke
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-4-Andrea
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-2-YYY-EN
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-2-Jupp-DE
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-1-Veronique-EN
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-1-Valeria-RU
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-1-Martina-EN
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-2-Veronique-CH
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-2-Valeria-RU
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-2-XXX-EN
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-2-Yvonne-EN
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-2-Detail-Yvonne-EN
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-2-Silke-EN
International-School-for-Textile-Arts-Master-Needle-Artisan-2-BIZ-EN

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