Patchwork Of My Life - Sara Cook

Sara Cook progressed from having the best-dressed teddies in town to dressing the opera stars at Glyndebourne. Now, this talented quilter and teacher is exploring the traditions of the Korean textile art, Bojagi. Here she tells us what gets her creative juices flowing.

The first sewing machine in my life was blue and, when my mother found me as a child trying to get the bobbin thread through that little hole in the throat plate, she knew I longed to know how to sew. It was set in a teak sewing cupboard and I can still remember the smell of the drawers filled with paper patterns and mysterious sewing equipment like bodkins, rolls of bias binding and a leather patch for an elbow.

I was born in London and at an early age discovered that I had an enthusiasm for all things sewing-related. Toys and teddies alike had clothes made and scarves knitted for them. With a professional seamstress for a mother, and a Saville Row tailor for an uncle, I was never far from fabric and sewing advice.

As an adult I honed my creative skills training as a theatrical costume-maker in Liverpool before heading to the Opera House at Glyndebourne. Whilst there, I enjoyed the most demanding and rewarding job in theatrical costuming and also learned a love of teaching.

As a qualified teacher I established Brighton Fashion and Textile School in 2012 to offer accredited courses where I teach the City & Guilds qualifications in patchwork and quilting. Training as a Quilt Judge for the Quilters Guild meant I was once again the student and continuing my journey of learning even more about this wonderful world of stitching.

Attending the Korean Bojagi Forum in Seoul in Korea in 2016 gave me a further opportunity to research Korean Textiles. Inspired by Chunghie Lee’s work, No Name Woman exhibited at the Festival of Quilts in 2009, I have been developing my own work influenced by the historical and cultural traditions of this wonderful textile art.