One day Paul Nosa, having no prior applicable training, started using a sewing machine to express his own imagination. The result is Free Motion Embroidery, which he demonstrates at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011. Taking cues from customers, may of his items are made to order, and watching him perform his craft is as rewarding […]
Mary Corbet from Needle ‘n Thread may has solved one of my most frustrating crafting problems: transferring embroidery patterns—or any pattern, for that matter—onto felt. You can find her prick and pounce embroidery design transfer method here, then check out her suggestions for using this method on felt. Plus, if you’re careful, you can just […]
This crewel rendition of the Presidential Seal from Katie of Under the Red Umbrella first caught my eye for its meticulous stitching, but the story behind it ended up being equally mesmerizing. She was commissioned to stitch it as a replica of crewel piece made for President Nixon by his daughter. I never knew about […]
I did a double take when I walked by this photo-realistic machine-stitched image, by Carrol Shinn, before I realized that I was looking at a piece of fabric embroidered with thread. When a composition is ready, I scan it into the computer and transfer it to fabric. Then the piece is stitched with a basic […]
I love the color gradation and lettering on this piece by twin-sister design team MaricorMaricar. They say, “It’s a play on the Filipino gusto (want) and the English gusto (enthusiasm, zest, energy) … Sometimes you need a little helpful reminder to keep going, don’t give up, be persistent.” Beautiful!
I found this great set of McCall’s embroidery transfers during one of my thrifting hauls last month. Dated 1946, this animal set is heat activated. Realizing I could get only one transfer for each design due to the age, I started to think of ways to preserve the images so I could use them again […]
Feeling Stitchy has a fun profile of Craftster member, Love and a Sandwich, who created these Star Wars applique stitchery pieces. I’m particularly fond of the “Laugh it up, Fuzzball” one.
