Artist launches worldwide embroidery project

Mia Hansson has completed 54m (177ft) of her replica of the Bayeux Tapestry and has about 14m (45ft) to go to finish it in 2027

An embroidery artist has sent a sheet of linen flying across the world asking people to stitch their creations on and send it full circle back home.

Mia Hansson, from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, says her one-metre square of linen is due to visit 50 artists across three continents.

She has also sent off a handmade glove puppet, named Stella, and invited people to upload photos of the mascot to a Facebook page.

The 51-year-old, who has also been creating a replica of the Bayeux Tapestry since 2016, said Stella has been to "amazing places".

"Everywhere that Stella stops, she will invite her host to add something to her piece of art," she explained.

Stella is dressed in traditional 11th style century clothing and Ms Hansson embroidered Halley's comet on the piece of fabric to start things off

The Bayeux Tapestry tells the story of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, where William Duke of Normandy challenged King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings.

Ms Hansson has completed 54m (177ft) of her copy of the Bayeux Tapestry and has just over 14m (45ft) to finish what will be an 11-year project.

The parcel containing the 1m (3ft) square material and Stella are in Australia and they are due to be returned to Ms Hansson in 2027, via New Zealand, Canada, USA, and their last stop in Battle, Kent, where the Battle of Hastings took place in 1066.

Ms Hansson said she was overwhelmed with artists wanting to take care of Stella and make a contribution to her travelling embroidery, which is passed from one host to another using the regular postal service of each country.

She put a cap on the amount of hosts because she feared she would never get Stella back.

"The host regularly post updates on the Facebook page, including photos of what [Stella] has been up to and where she has been," she said.

"Stella has been to such amazing places and met up with some incredible people, I'm a bit jealous of her really, and wish I could have been included in the package...but I'm too big."

The one metre square of material has so far been to Scotland, France, Belgium, Norway, England and is currently in Australia

Ms Hansson learned to sew from her grandmother when she was about four and has been hooked ever since.

In 2001 she started making Viking re-enactment clothes, but a pause in orders led her to consider a longer-term project, which is why she started to hand stitch a copy of the Bayeux Tapestry.

"Stella and her artwork are due to be back with me in 2027, which is the millennium anniversary of [the birth of] William the Conqueror, so it will tie in nicely," said Ms Hansson.

Stella enjoyed the delights of a silver princess gum tree in Australia