Introducing the Textile Study Group Summer School 2027: Surface and Structure

We are delighted to announce details for the Textile Study Group’s Summer School 2027! Centred around the theme Surface and Structure, this year’s four-day summer school features three exceptional tutors: Sheila Mortlock, Eleanor Burkett, and Sarah Burgess.

Read on to discover what each tutor will be offering across the week.

What Lies Beneath

Tutor: Sheila Mortlock

What draws so many of us to textiles is the sheer depth we can create—building layers through painted or printed colour, then working into the surface with applied fabric and stitch to yield rich, intriguing textures.

In her workshop, Sheila will demonstrate how simple printing techniques—easily recreated at home without expensive equipment—can help you produce truly unique pieces. You will learn to create painted and printed surfaces on both paper and fabric, collaging with sheers and found pieces before layering hand stitch on top. These works can serve as standalone backgrounds or be cut up to inject pattern and interest into ongoing projects.

• Media & Processes: Accessible print techniques, paper and fabric painted surfaces, collage, and layered stitch.
• Level: Suitable for enthusiastic beginners through to experienced makers.

Affecting Change

Tutor: Eleanor Burkett

There will be no intimidating blank sheets of paper in this workshop. Instead, you will pattern, crumple, pierce, slash, texture, and stitch into a range of materials, pairing fabric with paper in new and exciting ways.

A unique highlight of Eleanor’s course is the introduction of specialist papers, pastes, and traditional paper-textile techniques from Japan. You will learn to spin paper thread, emboss paper surfaces, and build a rich 'palette' of textured samples through playful creative exercises. Over the four days, you will develop some of these samples into resolved pieces while using others to seed future ideas for your practice.

• Media and Processes: Japanese paper-textile techniques, making paper thread, embossing, slashing, and paper-fabric pairings.
• Level: Designed for anyone looking to seek new possibilities and workable alternatives for their practice.

Stitch, Print, Stitch / Repeat

Tutor: Sarah Burgess

Join Sarah to explore the hidden marks and unexpected possibilities that basic stitches can reveal.

Working with hand stitch, you will build simple printing blocks before using rubber rollers to print onto a variety of surfaces—from paper and fabric to opaque and semi-transparent materials. By playing with positive and negative imagery, you will reveal concealed marks, unexpected patterns, and rich textures. Through a series of guided design exercises using layers of stitch, print, and collage, you will begin growing these explorations into a series of personal studies to take home and develop further.

• Media and Processes: Stitched printing blocks, roller printing on varied surfaces, positive/negative imagery, and layered collage.
• Level: Suitable for enthusiastic beginners as well as more experienced students.

Join Us in 2027

Explore, discover, and develop new ways of transforming your materials. Over the course of the week, you will layer, print, stitch, and manipulate to reveal rich, tactile surfaces full of creative possibility. Guided by experienced and inspirational tutors, you will be supported to develop your own ideas in a warm, encouraging, and collaborative environment.

Whether you are looking to reignite your practice, learn new physical processes, or simply spend four days immersed in creative play alongside a welcoming community of makers, Surface and Structure offers a wonderful space to experiment.

To book visit our Summer School page.