A fascinating interview with textiles graduate Suzanne Treacy was featured in a recent edition of the leading embroidery and needle craft magazine Mr X Stitch.

The publication was catching up with Suzanne as a previous prize winner in the annual Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery, a competition which has been rewarding excellence in embroidery design since 2000.

In an interview with Jen Funk Weber, who bills herself as the ‘Queen of Funk & Weber Designs, a cross stitch and counted-thread embroidery designer and teacher dedicated to stitchy explorations and adventures’, Suzanne details the incredible progress she has made in her textiles design career over the past three years.

She talks candidly about the highs and lows she has experienced since her prize win in 2016, from the impact that three eye operations had on her final major project for her degree (her degree show display is pictured above) to exhibiting at major shows in Paris, Brussels and London and achieving a first class honours BA (Hons) Textiles & Surface Design degree from The Northern School of Art this summer (she is pictured below on her graduation day with fashion historian Amber Butchart).

Suzanne is also very positive about her experience as a mature student stating that “I wouldn’t have had the confidence that I now have as a more mature student.” Adding  that for her degree she “worked as hard as I possibly could and made sure that I achieved what I set out to do. I doubt that I personally would have been that determined when I was 18.”

Here are some of the tips she passes on as part of the article.

What one piece of advice would you offer someone looking to expand his/her embroidery skills?

Practice, practice, practice although I also truly believe that expanding your knowledge of other disciplines helps too and attending exhibitions and galleries is essential to remain culturally aware. (Pictured below is detail of a stained glass window design digitally printed onto silk georgette by Suzanne)

What advice would you give someone contemplating a return to school as a mature student?

If you have a desire and the means, do it! There’s no time like the present. If you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to study as a mature student, grab it with both hands. I have not only achieved a BA, I have made new friends, I have learned a huge amount about myself and I have had opportunities that I certainly wouldn’t have had otherwise (Suzanne is pictured below on a post graduation trip to Chernobyl organised by her former textiles lecturer Claire Baker).

The full article is available to read here https://www.mrxstitch.com/the-funk-files-revisit-suzanne-treacy/