I have undertaken a range of differently focused commissions with museums, archives and schools. The first was in 1996 for Belsay Hall in Northumberland, creating a community quilt with local primary schools.
More recent projects include Radical Locks with the women of Tameside to acknowledge 100 years of the right to vote, Sew Near – Sew Far with the Brontë Parsonage Museum and Unfolding Origins with North Yorkshire County Records Office and Chrysalis Arts. Each has allowed me to engage with new ways of working, partner organisations, spaces and agendas. I am always happy to discuss ideas and possible new collaborations.
Posts about my commissions
- Connecting Threads – tactile social history – new publication Jan 25
Lynn Setterington’s new book, Connecting Threads tactile social history brings together twelve of her textile projects produced between 1981 and 2024. These social history documents provide tactile evidence of untold stories, people and places through stitch and the work is both personal and political. - Update from 2022-23
In 2022-2023, my work focused on how textiles connect, document, and empower communities. Alongside creating new pieces, I co-authored Crafting with a Purpose with Professor Fiona Hackney, exploring community workshops and well-being. I presented at conferences in Ghent and India, sharing research on mental health, construction, and ethical stitching practices. - PHD Study
My PhD at UCA, supervised by Professor Lesley Millar and Simon Olding, explored collaborative stitch’s benefits and tensions. Focusing on “signature cloths”—hand-sewn autographs—it examined community dynamics through case studies at Robin Hood’s Bay Museum, the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Archive, and Burnage Academy, highlighting stitch-based collaboration’s cross-disciplinary potential.