Stories in Thread
I get asked a lot about my transition from Tattoo Artist to Machine Embroidery. They are actually remarkably similar. When I create bespoke embroidery, like tattooing, there is always an interesting story that weaves its way into the piece. I’d like to share two of those stories, one because it involves embroidery and the other as it was a real challenge but involves another love of mine, motorcycles!
So grab yourself a cuppy as this is a long one.
After a wee feature in The Courier newspaper a couple of weeks ago, I got contacted by quite a few people who were looking for a bit of bespoke embroidery. Most had reached out to several companies to no avail, as most embroidery companies offer workwear logos etc, so bespoke pieces tend to get ignored. I can totally understand as nothing in embroidery comes cheap, so it mainly boils down to where the high profit margins are.
My 25 years in the tattoo industry however, has given me a different perspective. People really do want bespoke design and something very personal that they can cherish forever, so i’m hoping my creative skills I’ve gained can fill that weeniche.
Now being completely fascinated with the story I was very excited to create something for Denis. Using the motif, I mirrored it and tried to replicate some of the textures within the leaves, after Denis’s approval on the design and a couple of test stich outs, I went onto do the final pieces. Again like tattooing, I only had one chance at these as the fabric already held great sentimental value. The final stitch outs came out perfectly.
I had embroidered leather before but making upcycled coasters from my mums old sofa wasn’t quite comparable to this. The artwork is extremely detailed and lots of layers of colour, something that is a challenge to successfully digitise at the best of times but add thick, buttery soft leather, with a mind of it’s own into the mix, definitely tipped the balance here.
I approached it layer by layer, really trying to imagine were every stitch would land, to avoid it becoming really dense and unmanageable and after 5 hours, I had a design ready to stitch out.
Normally I would do several test stich outs before the final piece but on this occasion, I only had one shot at it as a test on anything else but the leather would have given me different results. Again my tattooing background helped me hold my nerve and I might add, I’d already explained to Deniss, that I was happy to give it a bash but it may be a disaster, so he was aware that it may be just too ambitious.
After another 4 hours of bum clenching moments and a broken needle drama, I got there and it was looking way better than i’d anticipated!
The final proof would be in the end results, whether the upholsterer could work with it. From the photos I just received from Deniss, they absolutely nailed it and it really does compliment the rest of the bespoke art on his custom cruiser.
Bespoke embroidery is a time consuming affair, it’s a difficult thing to put a price on as there are so many anomalies, so i can absolutely see why the majority of embroiderers give it a wide birth! But taking on these jobs makes me really try to perfect the process and learn as much as i can to achieve great results on whatever comes my way and like my years in tattooing, i find it enriching to know, i’ve created something really special for that person, a one off piece that they can cherish forever.
Huge thanks to Denis and Deniss for making me use the old grey matter! and for allowing me to tell their stories and share their photos.