Lockdown lessons of the Great Tapestry of Scotland

Dorie Wilkie was one of the driving forces behind a team that stitched together an artwork which tells the story of a nation.

The Great Tapestry of Scotland's 160 panels stretch to more than 140m (450ft) in length and took more than 65,000 hours - and 300 miles of wool - to complete.

Dorie, from Eskbank, near Dalkeith was one of the core team behind its creation in 2013 and says the lessons learned can be valuable during the current lockdown.

Dorie Wilkie was one of the core team behind the tapestry

The women led hundreds of stitchers through a "very intense period" which Dorie says honed her skills in diplomacy and ended up producing a "beautiful work".

The creative process also proved to be beneficial in other ways as the team worked together towards a collective goal.

"We all found it meditative and soothing and that unconsciously helped us sort things out in our minds," she says.

"When you're stitching, you can be in your own world for however long you want and that may be helpful for others worrying about Covid-19."

It is a sentiment echoed by Susie Finlayson, who now works as a professional embroiderer in Hawick, but learned some of her skills working on the tapestry.

Susie Finlayson now works as professional embroiderer

Her husband, a subsea engineer, survived a helicopter crash west of Shetland and she stitched a small helicopter into the panel she worked on at the time.

"It was a horrendous experience," she says.

"Not knowing if he was involved, then not knowing if he was OK.

"However, the friendships I'd formed with tapestry stitchers near and far really helped me through, and the process of stitching the tapestry helped me to channel my fears in a therapeutic way."

She says that now, during lockdown, those bonds of friendship remain "stronger than ever".

"Though everyone is in isolation now, it is more important now, more than ever, for people to keep in contact and really strengthen their own communities through building bonds like this," she says.

Great Tapestry of Scotland

• It was the brainchild of author Alexander McCall Smith and along with historian Alistair Moffat and artist Andrew Crummy they formed the team to produce it

• It took more than two years to complete and the finished work toured Scotland from September 2013

• A new visitor centre being created is hoped to attract 50,000 visitors a year

• The building housing the tapestry is seen as part of wider plans to help regenerate the town of Galashiels

Creative camaraderie

Dorie says she has noticed many ideas similar to the tapestry project surfacing during lockdown to help bring people together.

"These often harness similar creative camaraderie to support positive mental health of individuals in isolation, and the continued vital recording of Scotland's present-day history," she says.

"People will be talking about this time for centuries to come."

Susie is now leading a new group of stitchers to produce welcome panels for a multi-million pound permanent home for the tapestry being built in the Borders.

It had been hoped the public could contribute to the panels but plans have now been amended due to coronavirus - which may even feature in the final designs.

The Fair Isle Panel of the Great Tapestry of Scotland

Susie says working on such projects could be an "excellent way" to get through a time of crisis.

She describes stitching as "therapeutic and frustrating in equal measure".

"Being able to pick up a needle and thread, knitting needles and wool, or paper and paints and create something is a process that we can control," she says.

"And it can also be a great way to express some of the frustration and anxiety that may be building up inside.

"It doesn't matter what you make, just the act of creating can be calming."

One stitcher who is particularly looking forward to seeing the tapestry's new permanent home open is Annette Hunter, as it will be in her hometown of Galashiels.

"The new attraction will be a great facility for inspiring generations old and new to try something new, and to tell their own stories of Scotland in a creative way," she said.

The attraction - to be run by director Sandy Maxwell-Forbes - should open in 2021, an event already eagerly anticipated by the stitchers.

"After a tour to see the work in progress it brought home to me how important the tapestry is," says Dorie.

"A national treasure, and a legacy to all the stitchers involved."