Student Textile Success at the Shrewsbury Drapers Company Competition 2024

Moreton Sixth

The Darwin Room of the Shrewsbury library is currently filled with colourful, creative corsets, textured, woven and knitted hangings, and stunning, ground breaking embroidery. Moreton Hall students have contributed six beautiful pieces to this annual Textiles Competition and Exhibition, kindly run by the Shrewsbury Drapers Company.

Shrewsbury Drapers Company is a long-established Guild which was granted a royal charter in 1462 and was historically responsible for the importation of unfinished Welsh cloth into England. The Guild has been running continuously since 1444. Moreton Hall students have had great success in the 2024 textile competition – the theme this year was the Four Seasons. There were 84 student entries, with 52 from one college alone. We are very proud of all of our Art and Textiles students, Aura and Sophia from Lower Sixth and Amelia, Grace, Ruby and Cecily from Upper Sixth.

Aura in Lower Sixth achieved a Commended Award for her quirky origami, ‘Springtime’ inspired flower dress. Amelia in Upper Sixth achieved a Highly Commended Award for her ‘Coastal Posts’- a sculpture featuring embroidery, felt and mixed media textiles, which evokes feelings of time passing, but nature taking over eventually.

Cecily in Upper Sixth, achieved two awards – she was given the highest award in the student category – The Susan Auster Student Gold Award, and a cheque for £200. Cecily’s machine-embroidered hanging, crafted on delicate, translucent chiffon, features five panels adorned with contemplative faces. The stitched expressions evoke the melancholic emotions many feel as we descend into the chill of winter. Cecily also achieved the Student Graphic Textile Award, which is a relatively new award that has only been running for three years. It is awarded to the student whose work shows the most creativity in textiles, in a graphic way. She received another cheque for £50 and a very unusual, beautiful sculptural trophy to keep for one year. The trophy will sit beside her work for the duration of the exhibition, which opens to the public on Wednesday 13th November until Saturday 23rd November, during library opening hours.

Huge congratulations to all of the students for entering, winning and exhibiting their work in a public display. Make sure you visit the exhibition to experience it for yourself!