Millie Smethurst
Textiles in Practice BA Hons
Manchester School of Art MMU
Specialisms: Textiles - Knit / Sustainable Fashion/Textiles / Textiles
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Millie Smethurst
First Name: Millie
Last Name: Smethurst
Specialisms: Textiles - Knit / Sustainable Fashion/Textiles / Textiles
Sectors: Fashion/Textiles/Accessories
My Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
University / College: Manchester School of Art MMU
Course / Program Title: Textiles in Practice BA Hons
About
Final year student at Manchester School of Art and Design studying Textiles in Practice. My textiles speciality is knit with a focus on sustainability and colour.
'A mother's love' is a knitted exploration into the translation of emotions and memories. Drawing upon all the techniques, skills and feedback I have received in my three years on this course, I aimed to showcase this in my final project. My relationship with my mother is something I feel passionate and proud of, she has dedicated so much of herself to supporting and caring for me. Therefore, to me, it felt only fitting to dedicate this project to her. It takes from 3 main emotions that were then explored with in the context of knitting. I working with techniques such as partial to give the visual of braids, representing the emotion of being deeply intertwined & connected. As well as elastic yarns to act as the feeling of a tight embrace. One of my final larger samples consisted of 15 handmade clay charms, made with my mum, inspired by memories we share and associations we have of one another. I used monofilament to give the visual of these samples floating, playing with the emotion of 'support'. Just because we cannot see something, does not mean it isn't there. All the yarns used within this project were bought second hand or already owned.
Competitions
TEX+ 2026
'bringing the outdoors within'
Knitted textile project centred around biophilic design and 'bringing the outdoors indoors' in the current hectic climate within society. Working with all pre-owned or second-hand yarns to ensure the aspect of sustainability was attained within this project. Visualisations for this project were interior based, aiming to bring grounding and calming environments into the home.