Needlework Development Scheme

Needlework Development Scheme (NDS) was a collaborative program between industry and art education, that was to encourage and initiate a new standard for British embroidery design in both hand and machine work. The organisation was primarily responsible for developing collections of foreign and British embroidery, that could be loaned to training colleges, Women's Institutes, and schools.^[1]

Started in 1934, the program was originally set up in Scotland by the four Scottish art schools, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow under the name Needlework Development in Scotland Scheme. The project was a collaborative initiated between industry and art education, that was to encourage British embroidery design. The project was sponsored anonymously by thread producers J & P Coats.^[1][2]

By 1945 the scheme had amassed over 900 embroideries but the outbreak of the Second World War saw the project disbanded. The Scheme was restated after the war, in 1944, and extended throughout the 1950s to include schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.^[3] British artists, including the painter and illustrator Mary Kessell were speciality commissioned to create experimental designs for the scheme which could then be reinterpreted in embroidery.^[1] The program ended in 1961, having achieved its original aims, and the collection of over 3,500 embroideries, was given to various museums and organisation, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.^[3]

References

Embroidery Styles Assisi Bargello Berlin work Blackwork Broderie Anglaise Broderie perse Candlewicking Canvas work Celtic cross stitch Counted-thread Crewel Cross-stitch Cutwork Darning Drawn thread work Free embroidery Goldwork Hardanger Machine Needlepoint Quillwork Smocking Stumpwork Surface Suzani Trianglepoint Whitework Stitches Backstitch Blanket Buttonhole Chain stitch Couching and laid work Cross stitches Embroidery stitch Featherstitch Holbein Parisian Running Satin stitch Sashiko Shisha Straight stitch Tent stitch Tools and materials Aida cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery thread Evenweave Perforated paper Plainweave Plastic canvas Sampler Slip Yarn Regional and historical Art needlework Bunka shishu Brazilian Chikan Chinese English Indian Jacobean Kaitag Kantha Kasuti Korean Mountmellick Nakshi Kantha Persian Opus Anglicanum Rushnyk Ukrainian Vietnamese Vyshyvanka Zardozi Embroideries Butler-Bowden Cope Bayeux Tapestry Bradford carpet Hastings Embroidery Hestia tapestry Margaret Laton's jacket New World Tapestry Overlord embroidery Quaker Tapestry Fragments of a Cope with the Seven Sacraments Designers and embroiderers Emilie Bach Leon Conrad Kaffe Fassett Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum François Lesage Ann Macbeth May Morris Jessie Newbery Charles Germain de Saint Aubin Mary Elizabeth Turner Teresa Wentzler Kathleen Whyte Erica Wilson Lily Yeats Organizations and museums Embroiderers' Guild (UK) Embroiderer's Guild of America Embroidery Software Protection Coalition Needlework Development Scheme Royal School of Needlework Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum Han Sang Soo Embroidery Museum Related Applique Crochet Knitting Lace Needlework Quilting