If you’ve joined one of our weekend beginner classes at the Hand & Lock School for Embroidery, you’ve probably met Amy Tang. Amy teaches goldwork, tambour beading, silk shading and monogramming with a style she describes as “flexible and relaxed.” She explains, “I can be very technical with processes when I get students who want to learn the specifics and know the rules for embroidery which I’m happy to discuss. But I also get students who just want to play with the techniques and it’s fun to discuss how you can think outside of the box with certain stitches.”
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Amy’s own journey into embroidery started later than many. “I didn’t know embroidery was a proper ‘thing’ you could do until I got to secondary school,” she says. “I never really learnt stitching when I was in primary school and only knew about constructive sewing from my mum.” Luckily, Amy attended a secondary school that prioritised the arts and was able to study textiles as a subject where she “got to learn so many different techniques.” But it wasn’t until university, while studying Textile Design, that she “found my love specifically for embroidery.”
When asked about her favourite traditional embroidery techniques, Amy admits it’s hard to choose. “It changes between goldwork, tambour beading and silk shading.” She elaborates, “Silk shading was the first technique I truly got into as a student. Tambour beading is great because I love working with sparkly beads. But I think goldwork ranks a tiny bit higher for me. I love the colour gold and the sparkle of it. Because it’s so time-consuming, therapeutic and delicate to work with, it’s so fulfilling when you complete something.” She also loves “working with goldwork bullion - it’s so versatile and you can really experiment and play with it!”
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Advice to Students
Amy sees one of the most common mistakes students make with tambour beading as wanting to be fast straight away. “I get a lot of students who have seen videos of people doing tambour beading who are very quick at using the tambour hook. Then they get frustrated when they realise they can’t do it as fast.” She reassures them, “It’s very normal to start off very slow as a beginner - you’ll actually be slower than using a needle and thread! But go slow, steady and practice lots and you will eventually get faster.” Amy shares from experience, “It took me at least a week of daily practice when I first learnt it to get it into my muscle memory and get a lot faster!”
One piece of advice Amy always gives to new embroiderers is to “keep your mistakes and learn from them!” She explains, “I’ve had students trying to unpick their ‘bad attempts’ in classes and I’m always saying, ‘No! That’s like deleting your childhood photos!’ Keep the mistakes and see how you improve.”
When it comes to what’s in her embroidery kit, Amy is passionate about her tools. “I have about nine pairs of small embroidery scissors in my sewing bag,” she laughs, “not because I need all of them but because it just happened.” Her practical recommendation is to “have at least two pairs — a really good pair for sharp cutting and a dull or old pair for cutting metal or difficult materials.” She cautions, “Cutting goldwork bullion does blunt your scissors so use a dull pair!” Other essentials for her are “sharp tweezers and a heat-soluble pen.”
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Teaching at Hand & Lock
A memorable moment for Amy was when a student surprised her with flowers at the end of a class. “It was a lovely gesture and I think it was just so memorable for me because, at that time, I don’t think I had ever been gifted a bouquet of flowers before.” She’s quick to add, “Please note I do not expect gifts from any student at the end of any class - I just need your sense of accomplishment from learning something new!”
Amy’s favourite thing about teaching at Hand & Lock is “just lovely being able to teach at a place where there is such a big passion focusing solely on embroidery in every shape and form and to be able to be with a room of eager students who share that same interest.” She reflects, “It’s rare to be able to have a space that has such a rich archive of embroidery everywhere you look!”
Watching students grow is what Amy loves most about teaching. “When they are convinced that something is too difficult or they won’t be able to do it and then they eventually do - that’s the best part.”
We are excited to continue having Amy as part of the Hand & Lock education team as well as teaching her incredibly popular guest tutor class with us featuring her own design!
| See all of our amazing guest tutor classes here |
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Instagram: @amytangembroidery
