Embroidery

Grandey’s Place QEST Emerging Maker 

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PLEASE NOTE: Sophie is not resident at Grandey’s Place. 

Grandey’s Place directly funds a number of scholarships and awards in association with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), providing an alternative opportunity to express our on-going commitment to preserving and nurturing our endangered heritage crafts. 

Sophie Boylan is a Canadian embroidery designer dedicated to honouring traditional techniques while pushing the boundaries of conventional materials. Her practice explores themes of femininity and nature, with sustainability serving as a guiding principle. Her work combines traditional craftsmanship with innovative material research, creating textiles that are both aesthetically striking and environmentally conscious.

For her MA in Textile Design at the Royal College of Art, Boylan explored the environmental impact of conventional embroidery materials, focusing particularly on the petroleum-based microplastics used in traditional sequins. She developed a plant-based alternative that retains the visual and textural qualities of conventional sequins while reducing their environmental impact. This research established the foundation for her ongoing exploration of sustainable materials within embroidery.

As part of the 2025 CHANEL & The King’s Foundation Métiers d’art Embroidery Fellowship, Boylan further developed her haute couture hand embroidery practice and trained at École Lesage in Paris. In recognition of her embroidery practice, she was awarded the Emerging Embroiderer of the Year Award 2025 by Heritage Crafts.

She is currently undertaking a Future Materials Fellowship at the Jan van Eyck Academie in the Netherlands, where she is researching the durability and lifespan of her biodegradable sequins while continuing to develop her practice in haute couture embroidery and future materials.

With the support of her QEST Grandey’s Place Emerging Maker grant, Boylan will return to École Lesage in Paris for further training, developing her skills to an even higher standard in haute couture embroidery. Her long-term ambition is to return to the UK and share these skills through teaching, helping to pass on and preserve the important heritage techniques of hand embroidery for future generations.

Instagram: @soyasophie