Another Pencil Case!

I promise there won't be as much writing as last time(!), but, I will say that this one is a lot neater and more precise than the previous one. Definitely building up more skills and confidence on my sewing machine, plus learnt a lot from having done the first one. I followed a different tutorial this time, to test out another way of creating it, but the result is quite similar. Love my fabric choices on this one, too! Couldn't resist some cute giraffes in my favourite colour! Anyway, without further ado, here are the pictures:

Embroidery: moths continued...

A few more ideas- these are a mixture of POSCA Paint Markers and embroidery (various stitches). Decided to step outside my comfort zone more with these ones, as went for a load of techniques I wouldn't usually go for, despite whether I'd think they would look 'good' or not. I just had the ideas and went through with them. That's the best way to work, in my opinion. It's the way you get your best creative ideas I think, when you let loose and don't hold back. I know I haven't reinvented the wheel or anything here(!), but they're definitely a bit different and less 'safe' than my usual stuff... And to be honest, there's a lot I quite like about them- obviously not all of it works, but that's what this development is for. What's the point in trying out ideas only if you know they're going to work out?

Hand Sewn Pencil Case!

So after the trouser patches I made last week, I wanted to move on to creating a full sewn project. Which was one of two pencil cases I plan on making. I have a load of pens that need sorting out/ some I want to keep separate, plus I don’t actually have a case for any pens/ pencils to take around with me- they either come with me loose in my bag, or they don’t come with me at all. Mainly the latter. Which is why pretty much everything I draw is done with a single black biro! But I do like the idea of adding colour to my drawings, hence the desire to make a pencil case for this exact reason.

The first one I made was for my POSCA Paint Markers. I wanted to keep these separate from the rest of my pen selection, because these are slightly more premium and are also for different uses, as opposed to general felt tips or gel pens etc.

I’ve made a box style pencil case several years back and they are often what comes up as a good ‘beginner’ sewing project, when you search for such things. The one I made prior though, was all hand sewn, because I didn’t own a machine at that time. But obviously the idea of this project was to use the machine to give me experience, confidence and practise. And wow, using a machine is so much quicker isn’t it?! I’m really enjoying the capabilities of it thus far, so don’t mind going through a few of these ‘learning’ projects to get to the good bit, if you like. I said it in my last post about this, but I’ll say it again: I’m seriously excited about the prospect of being able to make my own garments!

I followed along to this tutorial on YouTube, because it was one where all the seams were hidden inside the lining, so there would be no visible seams on either the inside or the outside. So, this would be a total new challenge for me- I don’t think I’ve ever made a project where the seams have all been hidden.

I’m super proud of this piece (even though it is a little rough around the edges- don’t look too closely)! And there was a lot of challenging sections to get through in the creation of it. The whole thing was actually quite fiddly, with it being quite small, plus like I said, I was using techniques I’ve never previously used. I also decided to ad lib with the size of it, to suit my needs. Plus the style of zip: as illustrated in the photographs, I decided to go with a chunky one (as opposed to the more ‘regular’ style used in the tutorial).

WIP- sewing the zip

I saw an image online that someone had used a chunky zip similar to mine and I thought it had such a cool effect. But, the zip I originally bought for this was a concealed zip, because I thought it might look nicer. But after some practising sewing it, I thought it was better left for a project that suited it better (such as on some kind of clothing or alteration). So the concealed zip is now, urm, concealed in my haberdashery draw! A bit frustrated that I had wasted money on a zip, but I actually found that I had a couple chunky zips at home already- which I had saved from a couple of tops I discarded a few years ago. Always save your zips if you’re getting rid of worn out clothes! So ended up not feeling quite so bad about losing money on a zip (which will get used in a future project anyway).

concealed zip sewing practise

Another big mistake was me attempting to machine sew through said zip. Yeah, apparently machines can’t sew through chunky bits of metal like this and will result in a broken needle- I learned this the hard way! But, at least it meant that I now know how to change a needle on my sewing machine (it’s actually pretty easy).

I was a bit apprehensive using the chunky zip to begin with- and all the way through to be honest (until I turned it the right way out at the end), because I wasn’t sure how well it would hold it’s structure. But, as you can see from the pictures, it actually does so quite well. Yes, maybe a little interfacing inside the layers may have assisted, but I still think it holds a decent shape.

I also had to get over my fear of top stitching in a contrast thread using the sewing machine. The contrast thread was my choice, by the way, because I wanted to tie it in nicely with the zip. My machine sewing is slowly improving, but still no where near as neat as I quite want to be! But, practise makes perfect as they say. Or practice makes permanent- a phrase one of my old cricket coaches use to use, which I think is a better phrase than the original, because if you practise a lot, but practise wrong, then you’re going to make getting the stuff right harder. Anyway, phrases aside, I’ve still not quite finished analysing my latest sewing project!

I’m pleased with my achievements here anyway, despite the improvements I want to make the next time around. Oh, and before I forget, this was also the first project I had sewn where I pressed the seams. It makes it so much more crisper and also easier to sew, because the pressing does a lot of the work. So, from now on, I’m never not sewing with the iron out! I’ve done it again, haven’t I? I’ve written 1,000 words on a pencil case! Why do I always do this? Can’t I just make something and let it be?! I’ll try not to be so analytical with my next post. Maybe just pictures only? Let’s see..!

First bit of (actual) sewing in a while (not embroidery)!

Sew yeah- basically the title! Inspired by my brother having recently purchased a sewing machine, combined with the fact that I've neglected to use mine in I-don't-even-want-to-know how long, as well as having completed all the visual work on my animation (woop!) freeing up some time, I decided to get over my fear of the dreaded machine and get to work on a project.

I'm way more confident with hand sewing, because it feels much easier to control and there's less to learn- needle and thread, you're all set. Pretty much. But what good is the machine just sat there taking up valuable desk space? The only thing really stopping me using it at this point is myself. But, like with anything, the first step is usually the hardest and the more you do something, the easier it becomes. So I dusted it off (literally) and decided to really delve into learning it properly this time round. After a lot of practise and threading/ rethreading, I decided I was finally ready: with a clothing alteration.

I ripped my trousers skateboarding (quelle surprise) a week ago- pesky stones, causing me to fall! Knee has almost recovered- it's always the knees, I swear. Anyway, instead of patching over the hole like any normal person might, I decided to go full Flora Martyr and turn it into a project. Of course I did. Knees tend to be one of the points where the concrete is most attracted to when I fall, so I decided to turn this into an opportunity and create a 'double knee' style trouser, which is quite common on a lot of skate/ work wear. Picture below of the pretty small hole:

I thought it would just be a case of cutting out two large patches, hemming them and sewing them on. But nope, it wasn’t quite that simple.

After having cut and created the patches using the machine to hem them (see above pic), I presumed the next job would be a hand sewing task to attach them to the trousers. But, this was taking ages:

I estimated to sew on each patch it would take approximately 3-4 hours. Do I really have time for that? I can’t say I do, however much I like my trusty thread and needle. Plus it also meant there was no shying away from using the machine again. Though, turns out, without ripping the seams, it would have been almost impossible to attach them. Something I had no idea I’d need to do for this project. But, I do love a good learning opportunity, so the seam ripping prospect kind of excited me.

Ripping the seams was a genius plan. I was able to stitch the patches on in no time, after choosing the correct stitch length on the machine to match the sewing I had started by hand.

Voila- I now had two patches attached. Just need to sew back up the seams now, right?! Well, firstly, not quite that easy, because for some reason I had like zero black thread. Such a standard colour- how did I not own any?! Emergency trip to Hobbycraft ensued. Now just to sew the seams up then? Well, kind of: I managed one, but when it came to the other, urm I realised this had happened:

Yep, clumsily, I had mistakenly stitched one of the corners onto the underside of the material. So, I unpicked that, restitched it by hand, then it was time to complete the final seam. On both, I used a straight stitch and then as I don’t have an overlocker machine, I used a zig zag in place of that:

Turned them right sides out, and I am now the proud owner of some contrast double knee skate trousers!

I’m honestly so pleased with myself for having completed this project, because it made me look straight into my fear of the sewing machine (rather than the safety net of hand sewing) and complete a few tasks going into this project I didn’t expect myself to be doing, such as the seam ripping. It’s all a bit rough around the edges and I’m still getting to grips with creating neat lines with the machine, but nevertheless I am proud of my achievements here. I am actually really excited to continue sewing and getting to the point where I’m comfortable enough to make my own garments: I have loadsss of ideas! But, can’t get too carried away at this point or go too fast with it all- need to build my way up on small projects, before creating made to measure clothing. As always, watch this space, and stay creative xo

Embroidery: more moths!

Variation on a theme- trying out some more ideas and seeing what works if I were to do a lot (1000) of these. See previous posts on this topic for context!

Two are using backstitch with single colours only: I really like the black one. The other is satin stitch, with a dark blue outline. I do think it looks nice, but it's a lot more time consuming to sew. The black one is simple and effective. The pinky/ purply outline one is ok, but it doesn't look so 'clean' as the plain black one. I've a few ideas for some more, so to be continued...

Embroidery: moth

Don't worry- the BIG short film update is in the works, but first, enjoy some more embroidery:

I finished this one yesterday- it's part of a larger body of experimentation. This is Posca paint markers on cotton (bed sheet), with a dark purple backstitch (single strand) outline. Moth design by me.

If you cast your mind back to March 2023, then you will remember me writing about a moth film. Despite having drawn the required 1000 moths for it, I am still to complete the thing- more on why etc in the linked post. Anyway, a mad idea came over me as they often do, to perhaps sew each drawn moth, so I'm currently in the process of figuring out what that might look like in terms of techniques. So I'll be experimenting with several styles of application over the next few weeks... The idea may or may not be too mad, but I'm going to explore it anyway!

Embroidery: band patch

Hello blog! It's been a while hasn't it?!? Film update hopefully mid next week (it's a big one), but first, some new embroidery:

My first hand sewn band patch, of one of my favourite bands The Mountain Goats. Would have been quicker to buy one, I know, but then where's the fun in that?! This was a super enjoyable project and was a relaxing piece of work to do in between animating. Definitely going to do more...

Embroidery: Variation on a Theme

I alluded to this in my last post about embroidery. Basically, I've loads of spare hospital gown fabric left over from my film as I used it as a prop in that, so now tying it in to some embroidery projects. Here's some flowers embroidered between the gaps in the original pattern on the gown:

The printed pattern made me think of flowers when I was wearing it to film in whilst shooting the reference material for my short. So I decided to take that and run with it and sew flowers in the gaps. Plus it is also in contrast to the negative/ unhappy connotations surrounding a hospital gown, so these flowers kind of cheer the whole thing up! And the fact that when recovering in hospital, flowers tend to be something you get sent. So yeah, that's basically what this one is about. Would be amazing to embroider the whole thing like this, but that would take for absolutely ever!

New Embroidery

Started these little stars towards the beginning of the year and finished them only yesterday morning! But you know, been super busy making my film(!) so my embroidery output has significantly slowed of late. Hopefully that should all pick up again soon as my film is drawing towards the finish line and I have a LOT of exciting and fun embroidery ideas, so watch this space!

The stars were embroidered on a scrap of hospital gown I cut off from the one I bought for my film as a prop. I've a load more fabric from it left to use and quite a few ideas for it, so there will be a fair amount of 'variation on a theme' kind of stuff from me this year...

The pics below is the 'before' and 'after' where I washed off the dissolvable stabiliser. It definitely needs a good go over with an iron, but I don't really like how the stabiliser leaves the stitching: it always feels pretty crusty and leaves it looking puckered. I guess I need to do a bit more research into using it- maybe I'm not washing it out thoroughly enough or just don't have the right technique for it yet- I'm still pretty new to the process. Any tips, drop them below!

Embroidery- Soluble Stabiliser Test

I didn’t think I’d be doing any more embroidery this year, but I clearly underestimated my creative endeavours!

I had been reading about Solvy (brand name) Fabric Soluble Stabiliser of late: a wash off/ water dissolvable stabiliser that you can transfer your design to and put on the front of your fabric whilst you embroider. This to enable you to stitch onto darker or thicker fabric in which the usual means of tracing your design won’t be possible (or a lot harder at least). It’s hard to find an appropriate pen which shows up on dark fabric, or even if you can, it’s difficult to trace your design on, as seeing your design through dark (or opaque) fabric even with a lightbox or up against a window, is not easy!

The stabiliser, hoop and the fabric

The stabiliser above the pattern- you don't even need a lightbox to trace it

Anyway, with this stabiliser, you can trace your design with ease onto it: it is a thin, translucent, white material. You then put the fabric and the stabiliser in the hoop together (stabiliser on top) and stitch your design as normal. When fully stitched, rinse your design in water (I think both warm and cold work- though cold just takes a little longer), leave to dry and then enjoy your embroidery!

The stabiliser (with the traced design) atop the fabric in the hoop

I wanted to test it on a small scrap of fabric, as I didn’t want to go into anything too extravagant or complex without having tested the stabiliser myself first and understand its properties. So I chose a bit of denim I had as an off cut from a previous project (and piece of clothing), and the design I selected was a quite basic star. I wanted something I thought would look nice when embroidered, plus something that wouldn’t take too long to stitch. This definitely satisfied both those requirements! The design was from the DMC website, where they have a load of free downloadable patterns for both cross stitch and embroidery. I should say at this point I purchased the Solvy from a UK based online shop called embroideredjust4u.

The fully stitched design, before washing away the stabiliser

Because denim is a fairly bulky fabric, plus the added thickness of the stabiliser, stitching onto it took some getting used to as I usually sew on cotton, which is much more lightweight. It was also a little harder to hoop and stay taught- again because of the thickness of the material. Though I think this would be the case when using denim regardless of whether I used the stabiliser or not, because on the whole, the stabiliser is extremely thin. These comments aside, it was pretty much just straightforward from there on in.

I was a little apprehensive before rinsing away the stabiliser- I was concerned that it might ruin my design or the stitches would come out bad. But when I washed it away, there were no issues with the stitches- I think they sometimes can turn out a little baggy though- because if they aren’t pulled tightly enough, then once the stabiliser is washed away, then there might be a little spare tension in the thread making up for the extra layer that the stabiliser provides. So just make sure if you’re using something like this, then pull your stitches a little tighter than you would do otherwise.

Cutting away the stabiliser before washing off

I would say though, that after washing the Solvy off, the design feels harder as opposed to the silky feel that embroidery usually does. This might be because I hadn’t washed it thoroughly enough, or maybe that’s how it just turns out- I’m not yet sure as I’m still quite new to the process. It doesn’t affect the look of the design, but it definitely does with the feel of it, so that’s one thing to bear in mind. Though I would say this as an advantage in some circumstances, such as if it’s for a clothing patch, or on a piece of clothing, then you might actually want a tougher feeling design as it might be more durable. Anyway, something to think about…

Overall, I think it is an excellent piece of material to have in my sewing drawer and I will be making a lot of use out of it. It feels like a bit of a game changer for my embroidery and how I don’t need to feel constrained to only a few types or fabrics or colours.

The finished design, after washing

Christmassy Cross Stitch

A little thing I made using a cross stitch kit I purchased from Hobbycraft a few weeks ago. I know I usually do my own designs, but I wanted something not so serious/ fun to do on the side. Plus I do quite like getting myself these little cross stitch kits from time to time as it feels like a nice, relaxing, cosy activity. I decided to make it circular and use some felt to back it, which I attached using a blanket stitch. So it's now a Christmas decoration- the felt backing was red and I used gold thread for the border, so it definitely gives Christmassy vibes! I have a few more ideas for some embroidery projects in the works, so watch this space as usual, though likely not for a little while...

More Embroidery!

Continuing the current abstract theme of my embroidered creations, here's one I (mainly) made on holiday, finished off this morning. Just a load of nice colours together, kind of inspired by the sunset/ sea! Note to self: must stop using cheap bamboo embroidery hoops esp. if the inner hoop is warped. This impacts how it holds the fabric- evident towards the top of the hoop where you can see the thread doesn't quite reach the sides of the fabric due to differentiation in tension.

Update on my short film coming towards the end of the week- for those wondering!

Latest Embroidery

This one has taken a while, hence the lack of embroidery posts of late, but wanted to carry on the thread (pun very much intended) of doing more abstract pieces. Especially now that I'm back working on another short film, it's nice to have a project which isn't quite as 'ordered' and something that I can really just relax into. I like to have an embroidery piece on the go like this at all times- I tend to do some each morning for twenty minutes or so whilst my porridge cools (stay away, Goldilocks) and then occasionally throughout the day if I find a spare few minutes or want a break from animation.

I absolutely LOVE the result of this one. And I used all my favourite colours! More soon... Oh and for anyone wondering, it's a 5 inch hoop and used DMC thread.

Embroidery: 'Covid Abstraction #1'

If you are a regular here, then you will know that my embroidery (and the majority of my other work) is extremely calculated and planned out. I like order, what can I say! And it’s also to do with the whole perfectionism thing I’ve got going on and probably a wealth of other things. But, last week I managed to contract Covid. Slap bang in the middle of summer and during my birthday week. Yes there are worse problems to have, but it was still very un-fun.

To get rid of the illness quickly, rest is best, but lying in bed all day for two days straight had me yearning to do something creative. There’s only so many trashy films and Sudoku puzzles I can take! I decided I wanted to do some embroidery. It’s a low effort(ish), high reward activity, not messy, and fairly easy to get set up (my box of threads, scissors, fabric, needle). Though I really didn’t have the energy (physically or mentally) to create a pattern or even trace a pre-existing design onto the fabric. So I thought: well why don’t I just sew? And that’s exactly what I did. No pre-planning, no sketch, no pencil guides. Nothing.

As you can see from the above image of what I created, I decided to just do squares/ rectangles as they’re the easiest- I mean who wants to mess about with circles or wavy lines when unwell? Not me, no thank you! And to keep it even more simple, I used just one type of stitch (Satin Stitch), which also happens to be my favourite! I used no outlines and just switched colours when I felt like the one I was using had even coverage. It sort of evolved as it went on and I thought of new ideas as it developed- i.e. filling the gaps with white squares at the end- this was because I thought if I do full coverage in all different colours, it might end up looking a bit messy/ murky. Though maybe I will make another one exploring that idea…

I actually liked this different way of working, or at least I did for this project. It was quite freeing just deciding what to do on the spot and working to no specific pattern or design. It was more like a ‘doodle’ in fabric or a stream of consciousness. And it also backs up the notion that just creating up something (anything) leads to further ideas/ inspiration. Before this I wasn’t that inspired with the embroidery as I had just finished a rather large project and was unsure what to produce next. Now I have ideas flooding to me! Picking up the needle/ pen/ pencil/ insert chosen medium here, really does lead to ideas, especially if you’re feeling stuck or lacking in motivation.

I’ll definitely be working this way again, but that’s not to say I’ll not be returning back to my more organised creative endeavours! It was a really fun ‘no strings attached’ way to create something, which I don’t often entertain. Watch this space for more…

Embroidered Animation (another)!!

Remember in my last post I said I had been working on a super secret embroidery/ animation project? OK, well, I have finally finished it! Ta-da!

A 21 frame embroidery/ animation/ skateboarding mashup. So basically all of my favourite things combined into one 2 second clip. Was it worth it? Well kind of…

I must admit, I felt the result was a little anticlimactic or at least on having immediately finished it. I think because I had spent so long creating the piece, I thought I’d be super ‘wowed’ by it on completion, but for some reason it fell a little flat. Though that is often a quite common feeling after any big project (or at least in my experience): like when it’s done, a random all-singing all-dancing fanfare isn’t going to suddenly appear and you’re not going to get your favourite producer calling you up out the blue asking if you want funding for a feature film (though one can dream). In reality, you’ve just finished a piece of work and then the day just carries on!

Perhaps it’s a sense of a loss/ emptiness (of finishing the project) juxtaposed with expectation vs result, which is why I felt a little underwhelmed. But also, because it’s not my first embroidered animation, I have something to compare it to and on the whole, I feel the first one I did was much more impactful. Maybe because the previous one was fully hand stitched, whilst this one was only partly hand stitched, part mixed media, so not quite as impressive?

I’m not saying I dislike it, not at all and I am extremely proud of the accomplishment- to hand stitch 21 frames of animation is quite a feat and if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. I think because the sewing is neat, it perhaps looks too ‘clean’ and not ‘hand made’ enough for my liking. Especially when viewed on a phone screen- I feel the detail disappears. You can’t really tell it is sewn unless you play it frame by frame (or watch it on desktop), so it feels like all the hours I spent hand stitching each frame have kind of got lost. And as an animated clip itself (say if it wasn’t sewn), it’s a little straightforward.

I also think the choice of using plain white fabric wasn’t the best for the background- because once scanned in, the texture of the fabric is so blown out. This of course I wasn’t to know going into the project, but perhaps I could have thought ahead and done a scan test of the fabric to see how it might look. Anyway, what good is an experiment such as this if you don’t learn anything from it? I didn’t want to recreate what I did previously because I had already done that, so here I was trying something different, which is (often) always the point of these small clips I make. Perhaps the next one I try will just be stitched outlines- though that might be a short while off, as I’m pretty deep into creating my next narrative short…

Below are a few of the frames before I edited them in post: outlines, hair and shoes were all hand stitched; for the jeans I scanned in some denim and added it in post, the t-shirt and wheels I coloured with gel pens on the fabric and everything else coloured in post and used a ‘multiply’ blend mode, so the texture of the fabric showed through.

Several of the frames

Close up

Final comp image

Embroidery Test

I’m about to embark on another short animated embroidery piece, though this time using mixed media rather than being fully embroidered. The reason: the last one I did was ‘just’ a 12 frame walk cycle which I felt I could embroider in full, in a (reasonably) timely fashion. However, this latest piece is 22 frames and is slightly more detailed. I didn’t want to give up on this piece before starting by being put off with the amount of frames and the detail involved, but I knew that embroidering it in full would just be too much. After all, this is meant to be a fun little side project and something which I don’t want to dedicate 100% of my time to at this point. So I was thinking of a few workarounds.

As well as the reasons listed above, I also thought there was little point in using full embroidery again as I had already done that now. I know what it looks like and I know that it works- so why create something similar? What would I learn or gain from that? Very little… And then the idea of mixed media popped into my head- I can’t remember how or why (perhaps from the embroidery sub-Reddit maybe? I love having a nosey on there to get fresh inspiration and to see all the cool projects emerging from this community). Regardless of how the idea got there, I have now decided how I’m going to produce this next piece.

It’s the first time I’m working in mixed media for embroidery (I think, or at least in recent times), so I wanted to test out a few techniques first to see what works (or doesn’t) and how I might go about it. Paint was my initial idea, but then I thought what about pens of some kind? They’re less messy, don’t need much drying time and I already have them readily available- my stationary collection is prettttyyyy big!

So I tested out several different types of pens to see which would look best on the fabric and if any would bleed, dry weirdly or anything else that crops up! In the end, it actually turned out that good old gel pens worked the best. I only tried them on a whim towards the end of my experiments. They drew on the fabric well, they don’t run/ bleed and the fabric retained the colours nicely (looked nice and vibrant).

For this project, I bought a cotton bedsheet to use as my fabric as I need a fair amount. I thought bedding would be a perfect solution to getting a good amount of fabric at a reasonable price. Better so if I had an old one which I could up-cycle, therefore being more environmentally friendly, but unfortunately I didn’t have anything which fitted the bill this time around. The bedding is a lot thinner/ delicate feeling than the fabric I usually use, which is much more robust. The fabric also has a tighter weave, so I wanted to test out how that felt, before I dive straight in. I also wanted to get a feel for stitching next to the inked sections, as I have never tried it before. Another reason for using the bedding was that I actually wanted something with a tighter weave as it’s less ‘gap-py’ and would make for a smoother final result.

I tested out the main three stitches I use: satin stitch (both single and double stranded), back stitch and long/ short stitch. It definitely felt different embroidering on this fabric, though I’m sure I’ll soon get used to it. The main thing I found was that because the bedding material is much more lightweight, using single stranded thread worked a lot better for all the stitches, rather than the double strand which I usually use on my regular fabric. The double strand just felt too ‘heavy’. The single strand took a little longer to sew as it filled up the spaces slower due to less thread, but I felt the overall result was preferable, so that is how I’m going to progress with this… See you in about 8 months for an update!!

Below is the test piece- just a load of circles in different pens and stitches!

Recent Embroidery

Hello hello! Pretty much the title of this post: I have some more embroidery to share! This first one I completed back in February, but as it was made as a gift I only wanted to upload to here once the recipient had received it:

It's the main character from the most recent TV show I worked on: The Rubbish World of Dave Spud (currently streaming on ITVX- go check it out, it's the best)!

And then the piece I finished this morning was just for fun- maybe I'll stick it on Etsy and see if anyone buys it, but not sure yet... It's the Dreadful Flying Glove character from the 1968 Beatles film: Yellow Submarine. At the start of the year I completed a jigsaw puzzle based on the film and really liked the eye catching design of the glove and thought it would look cool as an embroidery. I have seen the film but years ago, though the animation has long stayed in my memory. I reckon it's due a rewatch...

Pretty much all the embroidery I do seems to be either animation inspired or part of animations I make. I think I quite like animation!

Hand Embroidered Animated Background

Helloooo! I finally have another new piece of animation to share- yay! It was November last year since I last completed a moving clip. So, yes, new work is still going quite slowly, but that’s not to say I’m not working on anything bigger behind the scenes (more on that in another post)…

If you’re a regular here, then you’ll know that embroidery is quite a big thing in my life at the moment. So naturally, I wanted to test out how an embroidered background would look against some animation drawn digitally. Back in February I started a short animated clip of someone walking up some stairs- just to kind of get me going again after having worked on a 16 month contract as an editor. I liked what I created for the character side of it, but I was really struggling to know what to do for the background. I have had the thought in my head for a while of trying an embroidered background, so a few weeks later, I put two and two together and decided that’s what I’ll do to finish this piece!

The hoop was big- like 12 inches big, so of course it took it’s sweet time to complete. But I do really enjoy the process of embroidery, I find it super relaxing and love just sticking on a podcast or album as I watch my fabric laboriously take shape and become a picture!

The original background was quite boring in my opinion- a grey wall, which didn’t feel that appealing to make an embroidery of. So I decided to ‘jazz it up’ a bit and make the wall at the back into bricks, using a colour scheme of five different threads. I personally think the result looks really vibrant and eye catching.

The original background

The background I created

At first when I comped the animation and background together, they didn’t really gel that well, but after drawing in a shadow under the feet, it really tied the piece together and integrated the background with the foreground animation nicely. This definitely has potential as a way to go about creating backgrounds for a longer project in the future. I am also thinking of a few ideas for a fully embroidered animation. And yes, I am a bit mad. But I am inundated with various project ideas currently, so I think they’ll have to come before this one! Anyway, as usual, keep your eyes out on here for all my latest project updates/ ramblings etc! Here’s the animation:

Latest Embroidery

My most recent creation out of thread:

This cute little Totoro: a birthday gift for my Mum. I'm extremely pleased with how this one turned out. I went for a pretty abstract background, because I didn't want to take the attention away from the character and feel this really focuses the piece on Totoro, without the background being too plain or empty. Absolutely loving embroidery at the moment!

January Embroidery

First embroidery piece of 2024! Really like how this one turned out and love the colour scheme I used- the colourful background really makes the black and white bird stand out. I made this as a gift for a friend, the bird is based on one of her lino prints: check out her Etsy shop here (spoiler alert: she's really, really good) to see her work.

This was made in a 6 inch hoop, and I used satin stitch for the background, with a combination of satin, long/ short and back stitch for the bird.