We welcomed Susie Finlayson at our Lochcarron of Scotland Visitor Centre, Selkirk on the 6th of September with the tapestry panel for the Galashiels Interchange Panel Project. Holding this event allowed many of our colleagues and visitors to get involved and add a stitch to the beautiful panel.

Picture: Phil Wilkinson / Lochcarron

The Interchange Panel Project

The aim of the project is to create a hand stitched panel to be featured in the Galashiels Interchange building. The project is commissioned by the Border’s Railway Community Partnership, funded by Cross Country Trains and will link the Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels with the Border’s railway. The railway being a common method of transport for visitors to the Scottish Borders.

Picture: Phil Wilkinson / Lochcarron

The stitching of the panel is led by Susie Finlayson, a hand embroiderer based in the Scottish Borders. Susie has been engaging with individuals, venues and local schools across the Borders and Edinburgh where members of the community can add a stitch to the panel. Once you have added your stitch, there is a book where you can record your name to share your contribution. So far over 1000 people have gotten involved. This includes Her Majesty Queen Camilla who added a stitch when she visited Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh while the King and Queen were touring Scotland during Holyrood Week. Currently, Susie has been stitching the tapestry for 18 months and it is due to be completed and hung by Easter 2024, where it will be framed and displayed in the Galashiels Interchange.

Picture: Phil Wilkinson / Lochcarron

About Susie

Susie has over 40 years’ experience in cross stitch but only started to embroider while volunteering for a project at the Great Tapestry of Scotland in 2011, where she became a stitcher. This led to a complete career change from working in IT. Now, she has her own business teaching embroidery techniques, through hosting workshops and she is currently on the board of trustees for the SWI (Scottish Women’s Institutes).

The Tapestry Panel

The tapestry is in two halves and the total length, once completed, will be 2 metres in length by 1 ½ metres wide. The fabric used is Linen Union, a robust, durable material making it difficult to rip/damage and Appletons Crewel wool is used in the stitching of the panel. Although referred to as a tapestry, as Susie described, the panel is not necessarily a tapestry but surface embroidery crewel work.

The Panel Design

The panel has been designed by Andrew Crummy MBE, designer from the Great Tapestry of Scotland. The design was drawn out on paper, in colour and a lightbox was used to trace the design onto the tapestry. Currently not all the imagery has been added to the piece and the side sections will been hand-drawn in as the design development progresses.

Susie discussed the inspiration behind the imagery used in the panel. The Tapestry tells the story of the journey taken by the Border’s railway from Edinburgh to the Galashiels Interchange and local surroundings, showcasing the people’s story of Galashiels. The design composition features the main figure at the top of the stairs, she becomes the landscape, following the railway journey which then turns into weaving loom when reaching Galashiels, linking to the Great Tapestry of Scotland. The composition incorporates distinctive features you may witness on your railway journey and the imagery in the sections down either side of the tapestry piece will correlate to each train station on the Borders Railway.

The tapestry is all about telling little stories. Susie showed where she incorporated the rugby score into the trees when Scotland bet England earlier this year and described that in the section where she had stitched the Leaderfoot Viaduct, little details will be included in the panel to reference Indiana Jones since some of the scenes were filmed there, for example his whip. This creates lots of hidden intricate details in the stitching you have to look closely to find, you will always spot something new you didn’t notice before each time you view the final piece.

There is still time to get involved, if you would like to join in and arrange a stitching session, please contact Susie and add a stitch!