The Embroidered Sculptures of Heather Collins

I get a distinctly calm feeling when I look at these incredible works by fiber artist Heather Collins. By using a variety of textiles and embroidery techniques she pieces together sculptures that recreate the natural world in unbelievable detail. She describes her unique process in a terrific interview by TextileArtists.org.

I use free machine embroidery, mainly straight stitch or zigzag, taking a few threads at a time. I intensely machine them together incorporating snippets of wool and fabric to create a new piece of cloth. I’m not too precious about my work, often cutting it up and reworking it, using a heat gun or soldering iron to distress the work to achieve the desired effect, and embellishing with hand stitch as required.