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Sylvie Millen

@sylviesew

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Sculptural machine embroidery,mixed media art.
Exploring humanity through stories of repair, memory & transformation
@societyofdesignercraftsmen_sdc

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Today I’m pleased to introduce Sylvie Millen @sylviesew

Sylvie Millen is a self-taught textile artist whose practice has evolved through experimentation, intuition and selected online classes. Working from her garden studio in Worcestershire, she creates ethereal textile art and sculptural forms inspired by spirituality, nature and the mysteries of existence.

Drawn to the symbolism of circles, Sylvie explores their ancient associations with wholeness, eternity, protection and the cyclical nature of life. For her, the circle represents the interconnectedness of all living things, the passage of time and the unseen threads that bind us to the natural world.

Her work is an intuitive journey into the art of repair, exploring fragility, resilience and the beauty that emerges through mending. Like the Japanese philosophy of kintsugi, she is fascinated by the idea that imperfections and scars can become sources of strength and beauty.

Combining delicate stitching, recycled materials and sculptural forms, Sylvie layers ethereal, translucent shades with earthy tones inspired by the Worcestershire countryside. Her work invites the viewer into a world where the tangible meets the mystical, where nature holds ancient wisdom, and where the smallest stitch can carry a deeper meaning.

Each piece is an invitation to pause, look beyond the surface and discover the quiet magic within the ordinary.

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Prompt: Favourite post of another’s participant’s work - Day 30

What a wonderful September it’s been! So much inspiration, the opportunity to connect with so many amazing artists, and the opportunity to see so much incredible and inspiring work. I’ve REALLY loved being a part of it.

How is it possible to pick a favourite? There are so many. Maybe to start, a favourite prompt? Some were quite challenging!

I love the prompt ‘experiment’. I love to experiment myself. I love the work of @goedesier2015 trying to clothe a box in goldwork and the work of @mikki.1964 with the repositioned red squares with their story, & their gorgeous texture, colour and visible stitching. I love @clairesteeletextiles piece posted in ‘battle’ . I love the sketched New York panorama of @nekemp that is so busy yet full of energy and life, and the ‘friendship’ piece of @sylviesew with its bonus beautiful surface texture. It seems unfair to only name these few. There are so many others that are also worthy of a mention.

What a wonderful journey it’s been - I’m so glad to have been a part of it. Thank you.

@seam_collective #septtextilelove #septtextilelove2026 #stl26day30 @naarmtextilecollective #textileartist #textile

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#SeptTextileLove with @seam_collective
Day 30 : Favourite post by another participant…
As ever, this is my least favourite post of the month, because it’s an impossible task to pick four, never mind one!
It’s been, once again, a wonderfully rich time of textile brilliance, so thank you, Seam Collective and everyone who’s posted for so many inspiring contributions.
I’ve picked out these 4 that especially caught my eye …
@sylviesew ‘s gorgeous textural piece, one of several I admired from her; Tirzah Garwood’s fabulous embroidery, posted by @deenabeverley ; and two ‘oversized’ pieces from @drelvey and @mikki.1964 , because I feel very inspired by them to create something oversized myself!
#STL26day30 #inspiring #textileartists

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I am so inspired by the wonderful creative Freemotion textile artists that I have bought a machine and filling my days trying to create texture.

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Our latest workshop was “Dragonflies and Leaves” by Sylvie Millen. The day was started with experimental circles, getting used to free motion embroidery in circle shapes, whilst trapping small pieces of fabric into the circles.
We followed this up with an afternoon of stitching either a dragonfly, butterfly or flower using free motion embroidery on water soluble fabric. Sylvie was a great help going round giving creative advice and trouble shooting any machine difficulties!

The final part of the day was a grand reveal of us all dissolving the work together and watching the pieces become complete. Here is a collection of the completed work from the day, just after it was dissolved, and a few still on the dissolvable fabric.

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Interiors begin with art. At the Barbourne Artists Spring Exhibition I spent the evening in the company of two artists who understand that instinctively — Margaret Powell, whose painted rooms hold more atmosphere than most real ones, and Sylvie Millen, whose mixed media textiles bring texture and tension to any space. Grateful, inspired, and already thinking about what goes where. 🖤
#FallenMarilyn #BarbourneArtists #InteriorDesign #ArtAndInteriors #MargaretPowell #SylvieMillen #LocalArtists #Worcester #MixedMedia #TextileArt #SpringExhibition #DesignInspiration #ArtForInteriors #WorcestershireCreatives

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İplikle ruh vermek… 💫🧵 Sanatçı: @sylviesew 💖

#Repost @sylviesew with @use.repost
・・・
Honoured to be a Finalist!

My piece Mended Not Broken has been selected as a finalist for the 12th ArtGemini Prize and will be exhibited this Autumn in London at the Exhibitionist Hotel, South Kensington.

This stitched work explores the quiet beauty of repair. Using gold thread, free-motion embroidery and layered textiles, it draws on the idea that our visible scars, emotional or physical can become marks of strength. Inspired by the art of Kintsugi, it’s a reminder that we are never broken, only mended with meaning.

📍 London | Exhibitionist Hotel Autumn 2025

More details @artgeminiprize

#MendedNotBroken #ArtGeminiPrize #TextileArt #SylvieSew VisibleMending FreeMotionEmbroidery Kintsugi ContemporaryTextiles AutumnExhibition WomenInArt EmotionalRepair GoldThread StoryThroughStitch
threadpainting contemporarytextiles

ArtForHope
ArtCollectors
EmergingArtist
TextileArtist
ArtExhibition
ArtThatSpeaks
EmotionalArt

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Thank you @societyofdesignercraftsmen_sdc for such a wonderful day. ✨ Today's topic was about collaboration, hearing about how artists and makers can come together from different disciplines to create. All the speakers were amazing but being a textile artist I particularly enjoyed hearing from @alicekettle

It was also wonderful to finally meet @wendy.greaves.textiles a @flourish_textile_art_hub tutor and to see some of her work up close 😍 and @sylviesew 🙂 who's work is just amazing too 😍

At the moment I collaborate with fellow textile artists through @flourish_textile_art_hub to create beautiful online workshops, showing how diverse textile art can be. Today has given me lots to think about, especially cross disciplines! I would be interested in hearing if you have collaborated with another creative and how it worked for you?
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#textileartist #britishcraft #handmadeuk #craftsmanship #makersuk

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Very enjoyable couple of hours judging the @artgeminiprize at @the_exhibitionist_hotel this afternoon - if you don't have your tickets to the private view and winner's announcement on Tuesday yet, don't miss out! The link is in my bio.

Here are just a couple of the great works included. Thanks to fellow judges @artculturelondon & @isabelhlangtry and organiser @lekjimmy - looking forward to welcoming everyone next week.

#ArtGeminiPrize
#ArtExhibition
#Judging
#LondonArt

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How do we start to describe the final day of Stitch by Stitch? It was a celebration of textiles and a coming together of so many textile artists and enthusiasts who helped us to "go out with a bang, not a whimper."

We had 11 exhibitors take part in Meet the Artists, demonstrating their process, and many more of them in the gallery for the day, chatting, meeting old, and new friends creating such a great atmosphere, so many smiling faces!

Mindful Stitching was a table full of diverse conversations about stitching, needle felting, and Japanese paper thread making!
We had so many visitors, too, to help us wind up Stitch by Stitch 2025

Suzette, Alison (co-curators), and Anthony (Willow Gallery) want to thank everyone who gave their time so generously throughout this 8-week exhibition to make it such an amazing event
We had coachloads of visitors who travelled long distances to the
@willowgalleryoswestry throughout the exhibition and over 45 exhibitors give us a day each to meet the public

We have a few loose ends, some walls to paint, and some admin this week before we resume our normal lives!
For all those people who asked, yes, there will be Stitch by Stitch 2027
Getting stitching, everyone!

#artexhibition #finearttextiles #embroideryart #embroidery #artistsofinstagram #artgallery #stitch #StitchByStitchExhibition #oswestry #Shropshire #celebration #artistssupportingartists #textileexhibition #textileartist #handstitched #freemotionmachineembroidery #collageandstitch

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Come and join us for the last day
We have so many artists for you to meet today!
Help us celebrate textiles by joining our Mindful Stitching at 2.30pm

Saturday 30th August
10am to 12noon
Ellie Burkett
Caroline Nixon
Esther Montero
Jo Hill

12.30pm to 2.30pm
Darren Ball
Ali-Lou Field
Grace Gatley
Vinny Stapley
Sylvie Millen
Morgaine Cron

Mindful Stitching 2-4pm - everyone welcome to this informal group activity to round up the whole event

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FEATURED ARTIST ✨

CARRIE GRAINGER
Spectral Substrate
Wall sculptures
26cm x 27-31cm
£95 each

The term ‘spectral’ refers to something that is ghostly and intangible in contrast to ‘Substrate’ describing something that is physical and material. A form of Substrate such as soil is inhabited by various organisms that grow and draw nourishment from it. An unnerving concept when an intangible presence starts tampering and drawing from a natural source in order to make itself known.

Grainger’s works explore different cultural superstitions, folklores, artefacts, ritual practices and symbolisms through multiple forms such as mask masking, sculpture, documented performance and film. Grainger draws from histories, occurences and belief systems largely centred within the British isles. In more recent years she has a particular interest in engaging with specific placial connections such as historic accounts, local heresays, hauntings and atmospheres and how these can be unearthed and recyled through contemporary art practice.

@carriegraingerart
www.carriegraingerart.com

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