Reconnecting Embroidery with the World Around Us
For centuries, people have turned to thread to express their thoughts and record experiences. The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) brings that impulse into the present through Fragile Threads, a pioneering project that uses embroidery to spark meaningful conversations about the issues shaping our world.
What is Fragile Threads?
Fragile Threads aims to grow awareness of embroidery by partnering with organisations, designers, and cultural changemakers. It’s more than stitching, it’s a movement that connects creativity with causes that matter today:
Environment & Biodiversity
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Mindfulness & Wellness
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Community & Education
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Through these collaborations, we bring visibility, relevance, and new audiences to the art of embroidery.
Embroidery as a Language for Nature
One million species face extinction, threatening the systems that sustain life, our food, water, and health.
Fragile Threads transforms scientific facts into acts of care, connecting us emotionally to what is at stake and showing that nature is part of us.
Every stitch tells a story of beauty, fragility, and survival.
Our Partners
Fragile Threads is a collaborative effort with inspiring organisations that share our vision of creativity and care for the planet:
Action for Conservation (AFC) is a UK grassroots charity using innovative approaches to inspire and empower young people from diverse backgrounds, between the ages of 12 and 24, to become the next generation of environmental leaders. To them, being a ‘conservationist’ or ‘environmentalist’ doesn’t just mean following a career as a field biologist or a campaigner. They inspire today’s young people to a long-term belief in the wonder of the natural world, which will shape their dreams and actions whatever path they choose in life. The RSN has partnered with Action for Conservations young Ambassadors by offering courses on garment upcycling and transformation.
Find out more about the project here:
Hope for Home charity was born out of shared personal experiences looking after loved ones with dementia at home, and our mission is to help others to do the same. The RSN has partnered with Hope for Home to deliver free embroidery kits to up to 100 carers of dementia patients who are living at home.
Hand embroidery combines gentle cognitive stimulation, sensory engagement, and emotional reassurance in a calm, purposeful activity. The repetitive, rhythmic movements can be soothing and reduce anxiety or agitation, while following simple patterns or choosing colours helps maintain attention, hand–eye coordination, and fine motor skills. Embroidery can also trigger memories through familiar textures or techniques, supporting reminiscence and a sense of identity, and the act of making something tangible can foster feelings of achievement and self-worth at a time when confidence may be reduced.
The kits will include a unique hand-printed fabric and recycled materials and will ask the stitchers to consider their thoughts on nature. The final pieces will be returned and displayed as part of our 2027 exhibition.
Global Generation is an educational charity, which works together with local children and young people, businesses, residents and families in Camden, Islington and Southwark. The RSN partnered with Global Generation in order to create a new art piece for their new garden in Kings Cross. As part of the Fragile Threads initiative, the RSN is leading a year-long series of workshops to design and create a nature based centrepiece.
Intoart is an evolving alternative art school and pioneering studio programme, championing equity, leadership & visibility of learning disabled and autistic artists, designers and makers. The RSN partnered with Intoart to deliver embroidery masterclasses to artists with learning disabilities using sustainable materials. These new skills can then be incorporated into the artists existing art practices
The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) is a charity that transforms the careers of talented and aspiring makers by funding their training and education, creating pathways to excellence and strengthening the future of the UK’s craft sector. The RSN will be introducing QEST Alumni to new sustainable materials and supporting selected QEST Alumni through an embroidery workshop and mentoring programme with RSN Tutors. Pieces produced will be displayed as part of the Fragile Threads Exhibition.
ATW80F is a multimedia educational non‑profit that fosters connections between plastic‑free fabrics and planetary health, celebrating the rich diversity of nature‑friendly alternatives to fast‑fashion materials. Through its Around the World in 80 Fabrics database, ATW80F showcases more than 260 sustainable materials and textiles.
RSN has partnered with ATW80F to select 20 sustainable fabrics from ATW80F’s extensive materials library, these fabrics will be tested for their suitability for embroidery and used across our partner projects to champion and promote responsible, planet‑friendly textile choices.
Impact and Legacy
Exhibition
Fragile Threads will culminate in an exhibition at Bankside Gallery in London from 23 February to 7 March 2027. The exhibition, entitled Nature’s Fragile Threads, will include historical embroideries and designs from the Royal School of Needlework’s Collection and Archive alongside contemporary works by embroiderers within and beyond the RSN community and by members of our Fragile Threads partner groups. The exhibition will be open 11am to 6pm daily and is free to enter.
Nature’s Fragile Threads will illustrate how embroidery has served as a witness to biodiversity and species loss over the course of centuries, and how embroiderers within the UK and outside of it have used nature to inspire, emote, reflect, and mourn. With embroidered objects spanning more than 300 years, multiple continents, and innumerable techniques and stitches, the exhibition will consider what in nature has been lost, what has been gained, and where we now stand.
Symposium
In addition to our standout exhibition our second RSN Embroidery Conference will lead with the theme of Fragile Threads, featuring a programme of invited speakers.
Short Courses
In 2026, the RSN will be launching a series of embroidery classes linked to the core messages of Fragile Threads.
How this project has been funded
Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. Fragile Threads is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to support the Fragile Threads partnership projects and plan and host the Fragile Threads exhibition.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Join a Movement of Craft and Conservation
Fragile Threads is more than an embroidery project; it is a collective call to action for our planet. We believe that every stitch can tell a story of resilience and restoration. Whether you represent a conservation group, a community organization, or a creative institution, your hands and your voice can help us highlight the beauty and fragility of our natural world.
Help us create a legacy of awareness. Are you ready to help us weave a new narrative?
