Sarah Elwick

Sarah graduated from Winchester School of Art with a 1st class degree in knitted textiles, then going onto the MA in Menswear knitwear from the RCA in 2005. 

Sarah currently works as a senior lecturer in Textiles and Business Studies at the University of Brighton, alongside her own practice which now focusses on using waste materials, mending and upcycling garments. 

Sarah's approach to teaching
As someone who learns and gains haptic knowledge through doing and making, I have a hands-on approach to my teaching. I like to show examples of my own work, and then I demonstrate these techniques. I believe that then the participant also learns through doing, so I encourage everyone to get started and then I like to work with and help individuals on a 1:1 basis, to problem solve and give more personal guidance.
I believe mending is a creative and mindful act, adding personality and beauty to your existing wardrobe. 

What inspires your work?
My first love has always been working with colour, andf the interplay of different colours and yarns together. However, the driving force behind my work has become issues around sustainbility, and the huge global problem of waste textiles. Hence my work has now become focussed on mending, repair, and upcycling, prolonging the life of our clothes, and gaining a closer connection with our wardrobes. I am also beginning to develp a new body of work with waste yarn.