Alexandra Lester-Makin

(Dr) Alexandra Lester-Makin is a professional embroiderer and textile archaeologist who trained at the Royal School of Needlework (Hampton Court Palace, London). She then completed an undergraduate degree in Archaeology at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. After training as a teacher and spending a number of years working in special educational settings, she went on to complete her PhD, 'Embroidery and its context in the British Isles and Ireland during the early medieval period (AD 450-1100)', at the University of Manchester. In 2019 her book, 'The Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World: the sacred and secular power of embroidery', was published in Oxbow Books Ancient Textiles series. Her most recent book, 'Textiles in the Viking North Atlantic: analysis, interpretation, re-creation', was published by Boydell in 2024. At present Alexandra is working on the Bayeux Tapestry re-creation project. This practical project explores the working methods of early medieval embroiderers through the re-creation of a montage of motifs from the Bayeux Tapestry. Updates of her progress are posted on her YouTube channel, Early Medieval Embroidery. Alexandra is also working on a number of journal articles, book chapters and co-editing a book based on a popular session she co-organized and ran at the 2023 Leeds International Medieval Congress. Alexandra is interested in all early medieval material culture, but especially embroidery, and its place in society.