internships | HAWTHORNE & HEANEY

Embroidery, much like fabric, is not made to last forever. So when we are looking for examples of historical textiles, sometimes, they simply do not exisit anymore as the fabrics disintergrate with age and use. However we do still have a source of what textiles might have looked like in their glory days in the form of painting.

During a recent trip to Amsterdam in the Rijksmuseum, we came across some wonderful examples of historical painting which showed great detail of the textiles that they protrayed.

Girl In White Kimono by George Hendrik Breitner

1894

most likely showing a print of Japanese origin

Pendant portrait of Oopjen Coppit By Rembrandt

1634

Demonstrating the fineness and whiteness of her flat lace collar

Portrait of Emperor Napoleon I by François-Pascal Simon baron Gérard

1804

Depicting traditional goldwork techniques and bullion fringing

We also have had one of our interns, Amy Pickard working on a project for us in house where she chose a painting which featured a beautiful piece of textiles and has been working to recreate it herself.

For the project, she starting point with a visit to the National and National Portrait Galleries. Here she collected primary research of examples of historical textiles. There was a lot of symmetry and geometric shapes as well as a heavy use of floral motifs. It was wonderful to see so many paintings with gorgeous details and being able to name techniques documented.

Hawthorne & Heaney on Textiles in Art London Hand Embroidery

After the trip, the photos were sorted through and drawing were made of some of the details. For this she used a lot of Ecclesiastical paintings or portraits of past nobels.

Along with the photos she assembled a moodboard to help to keep her on track with the aims of the project.

Having attended a tambour beading class with our partner company, (London Embroidery School) she decided to recreate one of the motifs using this technique.

And then followed up with two other samples on velvet in CAD machine embroidery using similar repeats from the isolated motifs.

All in all we are really excited by the outcomes of the project and think that Amy should be really please with them too!

Hawthorne & Heaney is currently looking for an embroidery intern to join us for an immediate start.

We are looking for a current undergraduate fashion/textiles/costume student to join us in the studio for a 2-3 month internship. Duties will include machine and hand sewing, general administration, maintenance of the social media sites, research, assisting with embroidery preparation for both the staff and for the School and errands. Time is also set aside from duties to develop your own embroidery skills during your internship. Applicants must be hard working, versatile, enthusiastic, professional, responsible and able work well in a small team. Attention to detail is a must along with patience as nothing in embroidery is particularly quick.

Specific Needs

Sewing skills are essential, and a proficiency in both hand and machine sewing would be ideal.
Computer knowledge of both MAC and PC, ideally with an understanding of adobe programs and G drive
Trend aware
Looking to gain experience in a live studio in the embroidery sector
Must be a current undergraduate student of a fashion/textiles related course
Able to travel into London every day

This internship is unpaid and should be taken in addition to a current undergraduate course, we are therefore unable to accept non students for this position. Hours are full time, Monday- friday 9-5pm.

If you would be interested in furthering your studies please fill out the attached form.