Sabina de Oliveira Lima

2023 QEST Cordwainers' Company Scholar - Embroidery combined with shoemaking
London

Sabina is an award-winning hand embroiderer with a background in architecture. She is on a mission to combine embroidery with shoemaking to create bespoke, luxury shoes.

A well-respected embroider from Brazil, Sabina works as a freelancer for Alexander McQueen in London. She completed a BA (Hons) Hand Embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework and has won the Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery twice.

Her QEST training programme includes one-on-one training with master shoemaker Daniel Wegan where she will make two pairs of shoes, intermingled with participation in day-to-day production. She’ll also embark on two study trips to shoe museums in France and Leeds. Over the two-year training with Daniel, Sabina will refine her skills in bevelled waist, hand welting and sole stitching, hand building stacked leather and wooden heels, edges and bottom finishes.

By fusing shoemaking with embroidery, Sabina will develop her own artistic voice, push the shoemaking industry in new directions and compete with the best internationally.

Learning shoemaking technique from the best is a long-time dream come true. It will provide the springboard for future exploration and development, as I embark on the journey of merging these two venerable craft disciplines.

QEST Sanderson Rising Star Craft Award

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