Featured Project RSN Stitch Bank The world's leading resource for embroidery stitches
RSN Stitch Bank is the world’s leading resource for embroidery stitches. As project lead I oversaw the project from concept to delivery. Working with a hugely talented editorial team of embroiderers we produced 500 stitches, instructions, history examples, video, and illustration.
The Royal School of Needlework, founded in 1872, is the world’s leading institution for hand embroidery education and preservation. In 2017, I was employed by the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) to create RSN Stitch Bank, an online guide to the world’s embroidery stitches.
The RSN’s initial idea was for a simple wiki-like encyclopaedia of stitches. I advocated for a more ambitious solution, approaching the project as an online learning tool for embroidery stitches. The budget for the project was limited, so I took on a variety of roles, working as creative lead, project manager, web developer and designer.
The project drew on my diverse range of expertise across strategic digital leadership, user experience research, database architecture, web development, brand design, and content workflow management.
Over eight years, from initial concept through to launch in 2021 and ongoing development to 2025, the RSN Stitch Bank grew to document 500 stitches. The website achieves over 3,000 daily visitors and has increased the RSN’s global reach and engagement, establishing it as the major first point of contact with the organisation.
Research & Strategic Development
I began the project with an extended period of research that came to focusing two main areas: firstly, developing a structure for the large amount of information that would be created for the project and secondly, creating a design for the site that would clearly display this information and allow easy navigation of this complex and extensive material.
Drawing on previous experience cataloguing artworks and consulting with a wide range of embroidery experts I led the development of a controlled vocabulary and structured classification system for describing and categorising embroidery stitches. This system came to be adopted throughout the RSN’s educational and curatorial work and was shared with textile curators at other institutions.
Extensive research was carried out to discover the needs of potential user groups, including embroiderers of all levels of experience, tutors, students and researchers. This led to refining the structure of educational content to cater to different learning preferences, providing descriptive text, step-by-step photography, technical illustrations, and instructional videos for each stitch. The research also revealed the need for inclusive design considerations, including adaptations for left- handed users and a distraction-free design to help neurodiverse learners.
I then put together a close-knit team of experienced
embroidery tutors to create the content for the
project and together we developed streamlined
workflows that allowed us to efficiently produce text,
photographs, illustrations and videos for over 500
stitches.
Design & User Experience
During the research and discovery process it became clear that the success of the project would depend on developing a way for users to quickly and straightforwardly navigate the website and find stitches. To this end, I designed a navigation system that allows users to find stitches by name, structural characteristics, practical applications, or embroidery techniques. This enabled a complex a vast set of data to be easily accessible through a variety of routes.
Research also revealed the need for a more intuitive,
visual way of finding and identifying stitches.
The creation of stylised icons for each stitch allowed
visitors to visually browse the site, and to easily
recognise and identify stitches.
These icons also served as the core element of the project’s branding. The stitch icons proved so popular that their use extended beyond the website, becoming integral to the RSN’s broader branding across books, embroidery kits, and merchandising.
Technical Development & Content Management
I coded the website infrastructure using HTML, CSS/SCSS, JavaScript, PHP, and ExpressionEngine CMS alongside managing the technical aspects including hosting, security, and performance optimisation. I linked stitches to techniques, historical examples, and collection items, establishing a comprehensive information structure for the material.
I developed streamlined content workflows that enabled the core team to easily upload extensive content within available resources. The system was designed to support quarterly content releases and ongoing user experience improvements while maintaining the platform's scholarly integrity.
Impact & Legacy
The RSN Stitch Bank became the organisation’s flagship digital product, significantly expanding its global reach and influence. The website now serves over 3,000 users daily and acts as the primary point of contact for new audiences discovering the RSN’s work, transforming how the institution connects with learners, contemporary makers and scholars world- wide.
