Goldwork embroidery is an intricate art form that’s been around for centuries. Unfortunately, only a few of the oldest embroidered pieces remain. Many have been destroyed and, sadly, many have just vanished. So, the opportunities to see some of these older and rarer pieces of goldwork embroidery are few and far between. However, if you live in the Manchester or Cheshire area, or are planning a visit in the near future, then there is some good news for you. The Manchester Costume Museum at Platt Fields, Rusholme, houses one of the finest goldwork and metal thread embroidery collections in the country. It’s open most days and admission is free. If you’re interested in goldwork, then this place is definitely one to see.

The Costume Museum’s collection of goldwork embroidery is housed at Platt Hall, an eighteenth century textile merchant’s home. The collection stretches back as far as the early 1600s and also has more contemporary items. The Jacobean and Georgian goldwork embroidery on display is truly astonishing and beautifully detailed. There are examples of delicately embroidered silk gloves and scarves, and astonishingly detailed waistcoats and dresses. Because if the age of some of these rare pieces, the Museum has had to keep them in dimly lit rooms with controlled humidity. None the less, this doesn’t take away from the experience. If you ever get the chance to visit, then we’re sure you’ll be as astonished as us at the detail and refinement of some of the goldwork pieces on display. They are, without a doubt, some of the finest examples of metal thread embroidery work we’ve seen.

Whilst you’re in the area, you might also like to have a look at another example of goldwork embroidery. This time it’s definitely contemporary though. The celebrated British artist and illustrator, Louise Gardiner, is currently exhibiting a selection of her work at Quarry Bank Mill in Styal, Cheshire. Louise is best known for free-machine embroidery work and has received many awards and international acclaim. You may have seen her on the recent Kirstie Allsop’s Homemade Home television programme. Her latest exhibition, ‘Losing the Thread’ mixes colourful and exciting explosions of thread, goldwork, paint, leather and ink and will challenge anyone’s traditional perceptions of embroidery. Louise also holds a series of Superstichers workshops at the Mill periodically, where she teaches her own unique brand of energetic machine embroidery. If you’re in the area this exhibition is definitely one to see. You’ll probably not see this type of goldwork embroidery anywhere else. That’s for sure.