Laura Baverstock, a 34-year-old embroiderer from Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, has become the embroiderer of choice for Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Princess Royal. Her journey began at age three, when she showed her grandmother, Bridget, her first running stitch.
“When I showed my parents I was so proud. I still have our pieces that my grandmother and I made together. They have so many memories attached,” Laura says. She lost her grandmother when she was 10, but Bridget, a seamstress, had already passed on her expertise.
Royal Commissions and Early Life
Laura, an only child whose father worked for BT and whose mother worked in an office, says several members of the Royal Family own pieces of her work. “They're all very keen beekeepers and lovers of nature. The very first piece I created was for Queen Elizabeth II, [a bee design] commissioned by an army regiment as part of their Christmas present for her. They told me it was actually sat under the Christmas tree at Sandringham waiting to be unwrapped, which I thought was lovely.”
She has also been commissioned privately for pieces for King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Princess Royal. “When King Charles received his piece, he was absolutely delighted by it and sent me a lovely letter,” she says. Her royal connections extend to teaching at Highgrove as part of The King's Foundation heritage skills courses, which she describes as “a really special outcome.”
Despite her ordinary state school upbringing, Laura was encouraged by her grandmother and parents to pursue creative projects. She studied at the University for Creative Arts, worked for Savile Row tailors, and specialised in hand embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework, based in Hampton Court Palace. She is a double-gold winner of the Goldsmiths' Crafts & Design Council award, the only embroiderer ever to win such an accolade.
Hollywood and Film Work
Laura has embellished costumes for Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express and Autumn de Wilde's adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. “I embroider clothing for the main actors, like Anya Taylor Joy in Emma. Period films and TV really suit embroidery, because it is an art form which in itself is so historic. I was the specialist embroiderer for those projects,” she says.
Working with costume designer Alexandra Byrne on Josie Rourke's Mary Queen of Scots, which received an Oscar nomination for Costume Design, Laura created intricate leather cording embellishment for Mary's costumes and embellished Queen Elizabeth I's green denim dress with mythical creatures in metallic sequins. She also hand embroidered flossing details onto corsets and embellished Elizabeth's circular standing collar veil with black jet beads. She worked with Byrne again on The Aeronauts, starring Eddie Redmayne, where the embroidery told part of the character's story.
Vacheron Constantin and the Tiger Dial
This year, Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin named Laura among six master artisans worldwide for their Métiers d'Art collection, Tribute to the Animal Kingdom. Devoting over 200 hours, she created a miniature tiger on a watch dial using 9 carat gold and 18 shades of silk threads.
“This goldwork embroidery was created on a smaller scale than ever seen before, I miniaturised the tools, materials and techniques to accomplish the desired effect,” she says. Her piece was displayed at Venice's Homo Faber exhibition on San Giorgio Maggiore, curated by the Michelangelo Foundation.
Laura specialises in goldwork embroidery, an ancient craft using metallic wire and threads, with pieces selling for well over a grand. She combines it with silk shading, almost painting with her materials. Every stitch is done by hand, with extensive prep work framing the fabric to ensure even tension.
Revival and Future Plans
With forecasts for 7.5 million people to visit the Bayeux Tapestry during its 10-month loan to the British Museum, embroidery is enjoying an unprecedented revival. Laura says, “I would say that specialist embroidery is rare rather than endangered, but there are many techniques that might get lost if not preserved.”
She still has ambitions: “I'd love to create a piece for Catherine, Princess of Wales one day, and it would also be wonderful to have my embroidery in the collections of the V&A museum in London. Watch this space.”
