‘The real fabric of the city’: Hull in Stitches creator to give talk on community project

‘IT’S ABOUT GOOD PEOPLE DOING GOOD THINGS’: Miranda van Rossum, left, with Charlotte Theill at Hull’s Danish Church

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

A cross-stitch crafter who has completed a year-long challenge to capture some of the attractions of her adopted home city using her needles, threads and imagination will share the stories she has uncovered when she returns to the venue where she started her journey.

Miranda van Rossum will present a talk about the Hull in Stitches project at the Danish Church in Hull on Saturday, March 29.

The event will give people a first chance to see the 100 cross-stitch pieces she created between her first session at the Danish Church on Friday, March 1, 2024, and the last leg at Hull Kingston Rovers on Thursday, February 27, 2025.

The collection covers all aspects of the places and people of Hull including heritage, health, education, culture, sport and more. The welcome Miranda received as she toured the city, coupled with the feedback from people who fell in love with her work, has prompted her to try to put all the pieces on public display.

But first she wants to tell the story of her remarkable journey, and she’s expecting an enthusiastic response from the people and organisations who helped her complete the challenge.

She said: “I have been to all sorts of social groups, coffee events and voluntary organisations and as I completed the pieces I took them with me in a book. Every visit sparked huge interest and new conversations, so I want to give people a chance to come along and find out how it turned out.”

Miranda came to Hull nearly 30 years ago from Utrecht in the Netherlands. Originally she planned to stay for a year but she stuck around, got a job at the University of Hull in the Dutch studies department and became aware of the Danish Church through her visits to the annual Christmas market.

As she embarked on her project, Miranda was captivated by a relic from the first Danish Church which was bombed 70 years ago last year, and she recreated a stained glass window which had been restored using fragments from the original.

The rest of her subjects for Hull in Stitches have included other churches and a chip shop, parks and gardens, a book shop and two brass bands, theatre companies, libraries and festivals.

The people Miranda has featured include Jean Bishop with her trademark Bee Lady design, rugby league legend Johnny Whiteley, musician and broadcaster Wolfy O’Hare and BBC presenter Kofi Smiles.

But the message to the audience at the Danish Church will be about how the project came to be about so much more than images, and how Miranda found that the real fabric of the city is the unique strength of local communities.

She said: “I realised very quickly it was about much more than stitching locations. It’s things that represent those locations rather than just stitching buildings. It’s about good people doing good things.”

The scale of Hull in Stitches also forced Miranda to rethink her plans to stick all the pieces on a standard map of the city. She couldn’t find one big enough so now she plans to make her own, measuring about 7ft wide and 5ft high, and find a way of putting it on permanent display.

Miranda said: “I came across all sorts of organisations who see a need that they can meet so they just get on with it. Certain themes kept coming out of the conversations, people saying a place was their second family, a lifeline, combatting loneliness. Some of the stories are so moving. Things like that deserve recognition.”

Charlotte Theill, manager of the Danish Church, said: “Just hearing Miranda talk about her work is amazing, how it has just grown from the first day here and what amazing people and places she has encountered.

“It really is worth sharing and letting people know about all the amazing places and the people behind them.”

The event will take place at the Danish Church in Hull on Saturday, March 29 from noon until 3pm. Lunch including a light main course, cake and tea or coffee is £10 per person. The talk from Miranda will start at 1.30pm and is free of charge but people are advised to reserve their place in advance.

To book contact Charlotte at the Danish Church on 01482 225469 or email hello@nordichousehull.co.uk