Modern and Traditional Embroidery Dress

Here in London the nights are drawing in as a winter chill spreads through the city. It may no longer be sunbathing weather (although I'm not sure if we really even have that in our summer!) but it is perfect weather for stitching! Liz Payne's gloriously colourful embroidery has brightened our day and I hope you find it inspiring too.


Bold and bright patterns of colour and shape are integral to Liz Payne's work. Her work is densely textured with hand embroidery, beading and fringing, which all form additional pattern within her designs.


Commonly, Liz will start out by painting fabric and canvas which are next adorned with embroidery. Known widely for her art pieces, Liz also embellishes shoes and designs her own range of bespoke jewelry.



Liz talks about her work: 'I’m not shy of using colour in my work (sometimes every colour!). Using stitch I’m able to introduce a textural dimension to my work, drawing the viewers eye into and across the intricacy of the details.'

Take a look at her Etsy shop 'Flirting with Yellow' to see more of her work.

Take a tour through these beautiful illustrations by Australian based artist Laura McKellar. Her passion for different artistic mediums is evident in her work, which includes photography, textiles, fashion and graphic design. Laura's stunning textile pieces are initially worked and edited on the computer often incorporating photography then digitally printed onto fabric to be further embellished with hand embroidery. Her colourful palette is sure to brighten any chilly, Fall morning. Find out more about her work here.

When I first decided to teach myself embroidery, I ran out and immediately purchased Jenny Hart's Sublime Stitching book. One of the techniques that Jenny introduced in her book was to start with an already patterned piece of fabric, and simply embellish it with embroidered details. (Anna Maria Horner does this to great effect, as well.) What a simple (but brilliant) idea!


I still haven't done it myself yet -- it's on my ever-growing list of to-do-somedays -- but I'm newly inspired by what Becky (aka MyFabricObsession on Flickr) has created. She started with an already-striking print from Tula Pink's Parisville line and went to town with her needle and thread.

Stunning, no? And that added flower? Genius.

What about you? Have you done this before with your favorite printed fabric? We'd love to see what you've created. And it sounds like a wonderful stitch-along idea for a future month, don't you think?

Hmmmm ... I'm slotted to host a stitch-along soon ...