I came across this on Colossal this afternoon. Take a look at this magical embroidery – the butterflies are simply wonderful. Wish I had the patience to try something like this….
Magical Butterflies and Insects Stitched in Dense Thread Paintings by Emillie Ferris
Artist Yumi Okita layers hand-painted fabric, embroidery thread, feathers, and faux fur to create large sculptures of insects. Each handmade moth and butterfly is one-of-a-kind, with coloration and patterning often inspired by existing species.
Moth Sculptures Hand-Crafted by Yumi Okita
Check out her work – it’s quite wonderful.
Natalie Ciccoricco takes a vintage photo and embroiders multi-coloured circles on them, matching the shades of embroidery thread perfectly. Very interesting artwork results.
A Multi-Faceted Colour Swatch by Natalie Ciccoricco
You really must take a look at her work. This is not something I’d have ever though to do myself but seeing her work I might have a try! Ciccoricco’s colour sense is amazing – the embroidery threads replicate very closely the colours found in each photo.
I thought this worth sharing!
My sister Donna has returned from a two week visit to NYC and she just sent me photos of some astounding embroidered portraits done by the artist Cayce Zavaglia.
Embroidered Portrait
Step back and you see the portrait. In the gallery, step close and you see the craft – a gazillion stitches using silk, cotton, yarn threads to create tone, depth, texture. I can’t imagine how long it takes to complete one of these portraits – perhaps months?
In any case, if you’re interested in learning more take a few moments to watch her at work:
Spectacular.
Embroidery to hide moth holes
Friday afternoon Joyce showed me the wool sweater she was wearing – a couple of moth holes in the front. She wondered whether they could be repaired. I assured her they could (there were two smaller holes near the first one as well) with a well placed machine embroidery.
I spent some time locating an embroidery design that would sit over the holes, not be too dense, and I could set up to curve toward the shoulder. I turned the sweater inside out, used “Whisper Web” interfacing (a light, cut away), hooped the right front side, chose mauve/rose rayon embroidery thread, then stitched out the design. I added two small sections of close zigzag to obscure the larger hole further, and stitched out a single leaf over a second small hole nearby.
The completed embroidery is subtle but it does the job.
PS: I just returned the sweater to Joyce, she tried it on, and she’s thrilled with it! I’m happy she’s happy.
jmn 