What a thrill to hear from embroidery artist Kathy Bean! Kathy liked a piece of art by our own Lauren Lowen so much, she rendered it with needle and thread. So cool! Here's the story in Kathy's own words: "I learned the basics of embroidery as a child but only picked it back up again recently after seeing so many beautiful things others were making on Instagram. When I began teaching myself some specialty stitches, I wanted to challenge myself further than the samplers and patterns that were already available on the Internet. Last summer I began following Lauren Lowen's Instagram feed. I don't remember exactly how I stumbled upon her work but I fell in love with the whimsy and playful colors right away.
So when I decided to try my hand at a more intricate embroidery pattern, I thought of Lauren’s artwork. I chose the girl because of the movement in the composition and the color palette. Plus, she makes me smile! I messaged Lauren to ask if it would be okay if I used elements from her images as a template and she agreed!
In the photos you'll see my process, which I think is fairly standard. I chose selected elements from Lauren's painting and transferred them onto tracing paper. Then I cut them out and rearranged them into a somewhat smaller composition. I used the window as a light box to trace the images onto my fabric with an embroidery marker. The fabric I used is from Cotton & Steel basics.
Then I selected a color palette in DMC floss that complemented Lauren's original work as well as the fabric I chose. Since I was using this project as a way to practice certain specialty stitches, I tried to repeat the same motifs throughout the piece. Some of the specialty stitches I used are burden stitch, blanket stitch, satin stitch, leaf stitch, double chain stitch and French knots.
I quite enjoyed making this delightful little piece! I appreciate Lauren's enthusiasm about the project as well. Now I have to decide just how to finish it so I can hang it up!”
- Kathy Bean (you can follow Kathy on instagram as: emi.roos