This article is brought to you by Brown Paper Stitch, my business that makes your wardrobe pawesome by embroidering your pets on clothing.
This article is part of a series on how to take your embroidery to new heights.
Over the many years that I’ve written on Brown Paper Bag, I’ve seen a ton of stitching. It’s inspiring but it can also make me feel a bit lackluster—there are so many talented people out there!
If you’re someone who scrolls through Instagram and feels totally envious of all of the beautiful stitching you see, you might be wishing you could harness even a little bit of that creativity.
So, where do you start? Over the next many Mondays, I’ll be sharing lessons of what I have seen and learned.
The first lesson: Think beyond the hoop.
Feeling creatively stifled by the embroidery hoop?
The embroidery hoop is not a rule. It’s merely a suggestion of where to stitch. You can create awe-inspiring effects that extend outside of the circle. Heck, maybe you get rid of the hoop altogether.
Whether you are braiding thread, attaching felted wool sculptures, or merely using the hoop for stable stitching, think about how you can go bigger. Maybe it’s keeping the hoop and having floss extend beyond it. Maybe you are stitching on clothing (like me!).
Check out some ways in which artists working in embroidery have thought outside the embroidery hoop to create original designs.
Embroidery on discarded tennis rackets by Danielle Clough
Stitching on ceramics by Caroline Harrius
All over cross stitch jacket by Ignacia Jullian
Jellyfish tumbling tendrils by Yuliya Kucherenko
3D braided hair portraits by Sheena Liam Zacharevic
Squirrels on clothing by Juno
Embroidered collars by Señorita Lylo
