Hand-embroider a double-sided silk floral bookmark in three hours. Silk materials and a take-home kit included. No experience needed.

Hand-embroider a double-sided silk bookmark of the chrysanthemum — November's birth flower — in three hours. All silk materials and a take-home kit included. No experience needed.

2000 years of silk technique, in an afternoon you can actually do.

In three hours you'll learn Su embroidery — a rare, ancient art of silk shading — and hand-embroider a double-sided silk bookmark, guided by the Royal Chou studio. Everything is provided, and no experience is needed.

Why guests come

Unwind and switch off

Keep what you make

Learn a rare skill

Your tutor

A very experienced, skill-sharing tutor — scored 9/10 by our July 2026 guests.

Why the chrysanthemum?

The chrysanthemum is November's birth flower. In the Victorian language of flowers it stood for friendship and good cheer, and in China it is one of the 'four gentlemen' of painting, admired for blooming when everything else has faded. Stitch one for yourself, or as a birthday present for someone born in November — a gift they will not find in any shop.

What makes it different

Most embroidery has a front and a back. Double-sided Su embroidery has neither — worked on sheer silk with every thread end hidden inside the stitch, so the piece reads perfectly from both faces. It is a technique still seldom taught in the UK.

What's included

Three hours of guided teaching in a small group

Fine silk threads and silk gauze — real materials

Your double-sided chrysanthemum bookmark, with a tassel

A take-home kit so you can keep stitching

Threading aids and guidance at every seat

Complete beginners welcome. Places are limited.

“Best part? All of it.” — recent workshop guest, July 2026

Scored 9/10 by our July cohort. Our October 2026 workshops at Knit + Stitch London have already sold out.

Some of Royal Chou's embroidery kits are endorsed by the Royal School of Needlework, founded 1872. We are a British Library partner.

From £42 per person plus Eventbrite booking fee; silk materials, tuition and a take-home kit included.

royalchou.com/pages/silk-shading-workshop

Description supplied by the event organiser.