Wednesday 3 September, 10-4 p.m.: Workshop: Make a Historically Inspired Pocket with Melissa Jo Smith and designer Rebecca Cole from Illuminated Arts

Museum of The Home, 136 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8EA

Join Illuminated Arts for a full-day creative workshop celebrating the rich and little-known history of women’s pockets - symbolic spaces of privacy, resilience and quiet resistance.

Before the mid-19th century, women’s pockets were not sewn into clothing but tied around the waist and hidden beneath layers of skirts. Accessed through discreet slits, these pockets held personal treasures: coins, letters, sewing kits, spectacles, and keepsakes. Though concealed from view, they offered one of the few spaces where women could carry and control their possessions. By the time of the Suffragette movement, sewn-on pockets became a political symbol, representing women’s growing independence and right to ownership.

Guided by textile-artist-historian Melissa Jo Smith and acclaimed designer Rebecca Cole, you’ll explore this legacy while designing and hand-stitching your pocket with vintage textiles, embroidery threads, beads, trims, up-cycled materials. You’ll learn hand embroidery, appliqué, couching, beading, and more beginner-friendly techniques, with support tailored to your skill level. A sewing machine will be provided for final assembly if preferred.

This workshop also reflects Illuminated Arts’ broader mission: breathing new life into hidden histories through stitch, storytelling and shared heritage. As you sew, you’ll learn traditional techniques and be invited to reflect on memory, identity and the emotional weight of personal objects.

Pockets are deeply connected to memory—they carry essentials and mementoes of life’s joys and challenges. Today, Illuminated Arts extends this symbolism through workshops with people with memory loss, dementia, and Alzheimer’s, using stitch and storytelling to anchor identity and recall.

Each ticket supports Illuminated Arts’ ongoing community project, culminating in a Pocket Parade and public exhibition at the Queen’s House, Greenwich, in Spring 2026.

All materials provided. Participants are encouraged to bring meaningful fabric scraps or embellishments to personalise their pockets.

If you are bringing your own fabrics: The pocket is made from two A4-sized fabric pieces. For a lined pocket, use two additional A4-sized lining pieces. Choose a sturdy main fabric, or reinforce fine fabrics with backing. 

The venue is fully wheelchair accessible, and the workshop is open to anyone.

A light vegetarian lunch, fresh juices, and a glass of wine are included.

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